With only one run completed this week I knew that, at the very least, another one was required and Saturday wasn't an option given my race the next day. So today was pencilled-in and on the face of it conditions were ripe for spending more time in the park. Then I remembered that the Thames Festival is on this weekend and that set me wondering - would there be anything to see along the riverbank if I set off downstream? So my plan was made and if I'm honest the scheme pleased me - it's always nice to have a reason to run beyond the quotidian response of "to stay fit, duh!".
So off I went down to the Embankment and over Waterloo Bridge - the idea being to avoid the crush of tourists that always exists beside the London Eye, day or night. This deposited me on the South Bank and, wow, it was really busy with office drones enjoying the sunshine and foreigners enjoying the weak pound. However it didn't really matter as I wasn't setting any records and in a way dodging around people gives my muscles an unusual work-out! Outside the Tate Modern a large stage was being constructed but that wasn't what caught my eye; instead I love looking across the river, past the Millennium Bridge and on to St Paul's Cathedral. Magnificent.
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| No more wobbling here! |
From here I wiggled my way past Southwark Cathedral, then City Hall (also known as The Onion if you're feeling polite) and onto the always impressive Tower Bridge; which is even more beautiful now that they've finished repainting it and removed the scaffolding.
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| Can you get that shade of blue in B&Q? |
Sadly the north side of the river is less interesting to run along, once you've got past the Tower of London, and so I just put my head down and beavered away. It was surprisingly muggy at this point, and kind of warm, so I was glad of the stiff breeze blowing down the river. Even so I was beginning to flag a little by the time I returned to Embankment Gardens; however rather than skip back to the office I decided to slip my shoes off and see how long it would take me to lap the park barefoot. Sure there were lots of people watching with interest but I've never been one to concern myself with public opinion! As it turns out a lap takes about 5 minutes and there's some cool grass to be had - so I'll be returning shoeless in the future I believe.
Distance: 5.5 miles
Time: 39m 28s