Five a week

The sun finally made an appearance for one of our runs this year. This was the first time we were intending to do five runs in a week - really we should have started doing this last week but the trek changed our plans. We decided to do the long run on Saturday instead of (as planned) doing it on Sunday because the weather forecast for Sunday was pretty grim.

Saturday's run started in warm sunshine - in fact within a few kilometre we were removing our running jackets; it felt great to be running in short sleeves for the first time this year. Our run took us along our usual route west along the river Thames. For those of you familiar with London, our route takes us past the Tower of London, Millennium Bridge, Houses of Parliament, Tate Britain (formerly known as the Tate Gallery) and then a long boring stretch, continuing along the river to Chelsea Docks where we turn around and head home.

Weather got a little cooler after we turned around - so Jo put her running jacket back on, but it was still dry. Jo found the last five or so kilometres of Saturday's run difficult - most likely the legs were beginning to feel the strain from a hard week of training, especially after the effort of last Saturday's trek. Even though my legs felt heavy towards the end I still finished strongly.

Got home...and then it started to rain (good timing or what).

Managed to go out to the shops to get some more running gear; Jo needed new trainers and I needed to change my rucksack. Earlier in the week I had bought a new rucksack, Deuter AC Futura 28. It seemed comfortable enough in the shop but once I ran with it...man was it uncomfortable or what. Jo tried it and after about 50 yards declared that I absolutely had to take it back and try and change it. I was very pleased when "Snow and Rock" allowed me to change it. I ended up getting an Osprey Talon 33 - wow what a comfortable rucksack. The longer you run the more problems you get if you run with gear that isn't right - so it was important to get the right rucksack. I'll try and do a proper posting about gear in the next week or so - so as to share some knowledge on the subject.

We were knackered so the rest of the day we just crashed out in front of the TV to watch my beloved Liverpool take on Arsenal in the Premiership. Final score 1-all...think that ends Arsenals title hopes; shame really as I hate Chelsea and Manchester United!! Roll on Tuesday when we play each other in the really big game - for a place in the Champions League Semi-Final - got butterflies in my stomach already :(

Woke up on Sunday to a big surprise - mega snow falling in London. This is April isn't it? We had breakfast and, after a couple of hours to allow digestion, we headed our for our shorter weekend run, in the snow. It wasn't too bad to be honest - at least the bad weather kept the tourists off the streets (it can be a nightmare trying to avoid them while you're running in London). We had to head out while it was still snowing because the Olympic Torch was expected (along with thousands of protesters) in London later that day. We, therefore, ensured we finished our training run before the commotion kicked off in London.

We got home...and then the sun came out (bad timing or what).

Judging by the news coverage later on (some of it along the route we had run) we had made the right decision to avoid it all. It was serious chaos. I am, however, glad the protesters were allowed to make their protests heard. Some would say politics and sports don't mix, but I think it's impossible to separate them when politicians use sports to boost their profile and to infer some sort of global acceptance via the sports. In this case the Chinese government does seem to want it's people to think everything is great and rosy with it's country, after all that must surely be the case since the global community is coming to their Olympics! Don't get me wrong - I don't think there are many countries in the world that could hold the Olympics with a clear conscience about their human rights record. Also I understand that our view of China is clouded by the one-sided media coverage shown in the west. I don't know what the true facts are but there were enough Tibetan protesters out on Sunday to imply they have a serious problem with China's handling of their country and it's people.

On a lighter note - I bumped into my old boss yesterday. I hadn't seen him in over 9 months...the first thing he said to me was "blimey you've lost a lot of weight - you're half the man you were". Guess the training is paying off :)