Out into Kent and back

Central Park pathway, a photo by ultraBobban on Flickr.

Now not wishing to go far as the bby is now 3 days overdue, Phil came over for a no-nonsense run out to Kent and back. I decided on no back-packs as we might have gone much further. All said, when you head out of London, you lose the luxury of not worrying about where to get fed and watered as there are so many purveyors of coffee, sugary snacks and thirst quenching drinks. We headed on the steady incline through Beckenham, Wickham Way and West Wickham. After a steep descent of Corkscrew Hill it was up to Layhams and a quick decision not to go on the winding country road in the drizzle left us a cross country path to Keston Common. I had opted for road shoes so was in a bit of a tizz as I slid around in the wet, claggy mud and drizzle. After a mile or so we hit tarmac again and up to Nash, past oncoming horses.

We took some steep options up to keston ponds and then a quick refuel at Keston. Had there not been a potential birthing to prepare for, we would have gone on to Sevenoaks and taken the train back. The only issue was sunday service, work on the lines etc and neither had phones so could not anticipate any delays. Opting again for as much mixed trail as possible before sub-urban mundania we managed to cover 17.5 miles in good quick time. The downside of this was a tight hamstring. I said goodbye to Phil and then had a long hot bath and a stretch.

After Sunday lunch had gone down and afternoon chores were done, feeling virtuous, I returned to the pavements of Crystal palace and Forest Hill for my second run of the day, this time in the pouring rain. It is just nice to get the miles in at the moment and the hamstring is feeling less tight.