December Canal Run

Acer palmatum red fire, a photo by ultraBobban on Flickr.

I wasn't really expecting to be running as an expectant father-to-be, but yesterday at a nice boys afternoon down the pub I avoided brain-hemorrhage cider (well for the first 5 pints anyway) which seemed to set me up for the rest of the day with Charlie who had come down from Oxford and the running club crew for an afternoon of proper drinking. Needless to say we concocted a nice 20 mile run along the canals for 9am the next morning which meant getting up to run up and over the hill from 8.30am.

Cokkie, Tom P and I met up with Mangioni and we took the back ways to Greenwich foot tunnel. Half anticipating a hungover bimble I was taken by a 7.30s surprise as my heavy legs struggled to cope with the 9 pints from the day before and the 56km odyssey at Gatliff the previous Sunday. I soon warmed up and then the banter on the way down to Greenwich started. Good craich.

Mang turned back and we hooked up with Phil and Harley. Harley was on a 3 hr run prepping for the Big Sur marathon in California in a couple of months so we ran with her for a bit, then after a banana/donut/coke break we took Limehouse Basin and up the Regents canal to Islington. It is utterly ace to run in London for 10 miles and not cross a road. lots of runners use the towpath but bidding good morning to EVERY SINGLE RUNNER became farcical as about 3/4 TOTALLY ignored us! Possibly the reason I moved from Islington to 'dirty-South' in 1999. Nevertheless, we progressed, only to bid farewell to TP and Cookie at Haggerston. PB and I cruised along up to Islington and across the City where we hunkered down for a coffee and then continued via some bad trains towards our own homes. Cutting short a long run was necessary, albeit not for long-dissipated hangovers but a need for house chores and off to an Xmas party at our good friends Andy and Mike's. 19 miles in the tank was enough although it has left me fresh for the week, ready for a good week of running before hopefully a smooth birth of UltraBaby-1