Last week I was in London for 3 days through work. It gave me the opportunity to mix up my regular running routes by running in a completely different city! Unfortunately my location near Tower Bridge didn’t lend itself to the best routes – it’s a pity I wasn’t close to any of the big parks. Each time, I ran across Tower Bridge, along the Thames to Monument, passed by The Tower of London and back across the bridge. It was a decent 5km route to keep Marcothon going. Running in London was notable for the following highlights (lowlights?);
· It was utterly freezing! I mean seriously. For some reason I assumed it’d be warmer in London than in Edinburgh. I was wrong to assume this. There were a lot of runners, I was the only one in shorts. Fortunately I’d packed my windproof top so tat afforded some top half warmth, but my legs and fingers were frozen.
· London is busy. The first day I ran in the evening and it was just chaos. I couldn’t get running at all really for all the people. The next two days I ran in the morning and that was a bit better. The route along the river was up and down stairs too which wasn’t ideal. I didn’t break any speed records I suppose is what I’m saying. The best part was when a woman (a grown woman) was roller-skating on the pavement at rush hour while texting. I am not making this up. She nearly ran (skated) into me and I had to stop dead in front of her because I basically didn’t want to be moving towards her when the collision happened. I was and still am stunned by this. When she saw me 2ft in front of her she looked surprised. She was a good roller-skater though because she weaved around me in a very tight space t very short notice.
· There are a lot of roads in London. There is a lot of traffic on these roads. Crossing roads takes time. Jogging in London is very stop, start.
The Tower of London
Tower Bridge
The Square Mile
The Tower of London Again
It wasn’t particularly enjoyable due to the business, the rubbish route, the freezing cold, and my sore ankle.
London. Nice place to visit, wouldn’t want to live there. Next time I am picking my hotel based not on it’s proximity to my office, but it’s proximity to a big park.
