I’ll bet hardly any of you remember that legendry song from Bow Wow Wow!
It partially sums up what I was up to this morning though. I was up before 9am (which is pretty early for me), as I was putting in a bit of final preparation for what was soon to come – yep, I was building up to my first ever proper run! The gratuitous eating and boozing that are part and parcel of the last three days had taken their toll – I was feeling washed out, flabby, sluggish, not too mention just plain tired. To overcome these Christmas excesses, my mate and I developed a cunning plan – to go for an early morning run in the fair glade that is Richmond Park.
The initial signs were encouraging – the new bits of kit I had bought felt comfortable, and I was able to assemble my other stuff that I needed pretty easily. Before long I was in the car heading out of New Malden, and was pulling into the Kingston Gate parking area of Richmond Park way before the agreed time of 10am. As I waited for my mate to arrive I tried a bit of stretching. The air felt cold and crisp, but the base layer I was wearing protected well against the chill. At 10.15am I returned to my car – the temperature seemed to be dropping slightly. A text from my mate bore bad news – his car wouldn’t start so he was unable to make it. I was running solo.
Where it all started...
I made my way from the car park to my starting point, the area of ground just beyond the Kingston gate entrance, and after checking my watch, started to jog. The plan was to run for 15 minutes exactly, and then to run back to the car. As I hadn’t run for years, the route planned was the downhill one, going clock wise around the park perimeter, towards Ham Gate. As well as being easier, this route was also pretty scenic – the bright winter sunshine was spilling through the branches of trees, giving a dappled, slightly hazy effect. The lack of even the slightest of breezes created an air of chilly calm that was perfect for running, which is probably why there were quite a few other runners also out there braving the elements. En route I passed a couple of very pretty woman joggers, and a man bid me good morning as he ran by. I felt very much part of the running community.
As I entered the stretch of ground that formed the approach to Ham Gate, I was surprised to find that I had only been running for about 6 minutes! Time had really slowed down – it seemed like I was running for ages. I jogged across the road passing Ham Gate – only two more minutes had passed. I found this phenomena a bit unsettling as I was starting to tire. As I ran on, I began to sweat pretty heavily. I slowed my pace slightly to conserve energy. The 10 minute mark was reached, and after what seemed like an age, 15 minutes were clocked up as I reached the approach to Petersham Gate. I rested a bit on a nearby bench for a few minutes, and then started off on the run back.
This was a lot slower than the run down, mainly as my course was now up hill, and also due to the fact that I was seriously knackered! My legs felt leaden, causing my pace to slow down quite a bit – just as well I wasn’t running against the clock. When I eventually slowed down to a halt I found I was only a few hundred meters away from Kingston Gate – I was back! I managed an ambling jog back to my starting point, and then gratefully returned to my car, where I did a bit more stretching to try and revive my tired legs.
Apart from feeling a bit tired I thought the run had gone pretty well – there were no serious aches and pains, so I’ll definitely give it another go – the whole experience did highlight how unfit I’ve got though…
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