Lockdown - Week 5

Well, here we go for Lockdown Week 5. Running (ha ha, ha) out of inspiration here, so sticking with the theme of a Good Thing each day for another week.

Day 28 - Monday 20th April, 2 x 5 km
Good Thing - I completed Monday in one piece. Which is a fact not celebrated often enough. I had got myself in a tizz over the weekend, worrying and dreading being trapped in the dungeon office on my own, with a load of (virtual, for me, yet still very real) stresses kicking off, and not seeing the sunlight for hours and hours.... As it turned out, it was OK, and I realised another Good Thing, that as there is no-one else in the office, and everything is virtual now, I now don't need to bother taking my shower things to work for after my run commute 😂 Or even put on make-up, or even brush my hair I suppose, but I should maintain some standards (for in case of in promptu video calls, more than anything else).

Day 29 - Tuesday 21st April, 2 x 5 km
Good Thing - it's still sunny, and I got to run twice today.

Day 30 - Wednesday 22nd April, 2 x 5 km
Good Thing - it's still sunny, and I got to run twice today.

Day 31 - Thursday 23rd April, 2 x 5 km
Good Thing - it's still sunny, and I got to run twice. OK, OK, there are good things happening, yes there are, I just have to think. Think think think. Oh yes! My Mum has found my missing Marathon #1 medal, thank goodness!

Day 32 - Friday 24th April, 2 x 5 km
Good Things are always easier to find at the weekend, and now it's Friday and it's STILL SUNNY. Which is an Extra Good Thing...... sitting in the sunshine with a cold glass of rose (another Good Thing), looking up at the clear blue sky, with a two day break stretching ahead into the sun...

Day 33 - Saturday 25th April, 6.5 miles
I miss the City Runs in the week! So it seemed prudent to get back to running there....

...you just can't trump it...

So I chose my Good Thing today, as being able to get back here, and managing not to be bored with my limited routes yet. There's always something new to see if you're looking for it.

Went in the evening so it was nice and quiet....

.....so made it all the way to St Paul's....

...without getting into any trouble...

Found a new building (The Guildhall, which has been there since 1440, but this is the first time I've been):

And another Good Thing - I learnt how to make bread with no yeast, for those lockdown times when you need emergency bread.

Day 34 - Sunday 26th April, 12 miles
My second longest run of lockdown = Good Thing. Up early to avoid people, through City....

...to St Paul's....

....then on down to the River, over it, some miles past Waterloo and looping back towards the Shard...

...before turning around and heading back. It was a blooming lovely run...

...which was really no surprise, as the signs were all there.

Weekly total: managed my best weekly mileage, 50 miles, of Lockdown so far - and I earned my first goal badge on Garmin after hitting the target I set myself at the beginning of the week, after I decided I should get back in to having targets. 

Lockdown - Week 4

Not a bad week running wise. Even exciting in parts! I've changed my Lockdown Diary to record daily runs and distances, plus something good that happens each day. I am so sick of the news, which is depressing and overly focused on the negative even without Covid. Whilst the subject of Covid is, by nature, depressing and negative, we all know that by now, and I'm fed up of being reminded of it at every minute of every day. When I look back at this period of my life, I want to remember that there were actually good bits too, and there are!

Day 21 - Monday 13th April - 6 miles to the City and St Paul's. Good thing: Being quiet there is time to stop and look at places, reflections, read the signs. I so love the City at this time! The shiny glass of the new building like a lake, reflecting back the terrific history surrounding them.

Day 22 - Tuesday 14th April - 5 miles
Whilst today in theory I did get older, having a birthday during lockdown means that you don't age this year, and you get a day of cake and prosecco for free (GOOD THING!)

And, instead of the 5 ultras in 5 days that I was planning on doing at this time (to train for the 100's over the summer, which now aren't happening, so I guess I don't need to train for them), I got to run 5 miles. Which sounds like a let down, but the 5 miles were to and from Florin Court, the building that was Poirot's flat in the TV series (Whitehaven Mansions) in Charterhouse Square. Quick bit of research, it was built in 1936 in the Art Deco style. It has a basement swimming pool. Parts of the inside of the building were used for filming in Poirot too, and Poirot's flat went up for sale in 2016, priced at only £699,950. Maybe, I will get his for my birthday next year, when I turn 21 (again etc etc), or even actually now that should be when I turn 30 (again etc etc), but we won't dwell on that. 

Day 23 - Wednesday 15th April - 10 km
Back to running to and from work, which means, back to work. The thought of this, and the subsequent and inevitable reality, are not overly stupendous, but Andrew ran with me for the first time, and I got to show him my route which was kind of fun. I think I've got my route down to perfection now, all but the 1/2 a mile on the canal, and it's pretty quiet. And since running to work every day for the last few weeks, I've saved 15 minutes in the morning, which can be used for 1) sleeping, 2) drinking coffee, 3) faffing (this is definitely a good thing). Plus, I ran a PB (on my watch, not an all time PB, and I've only had my watch a few weeks, but not to worry) for both 1 miles and 5 km.

Day 24 - Thursday 16th April - 10 km
Same as yesterday, and Andrew came again, and on a route I've been walking or running for 2 years, within 1 day he found a way to avoid the canal. And it's better. Which is kind of annoying, but then it is actually a lot better, so I won't hold a grudge. And now I avoid all the canal crowds. On the run home, it rained, kind of hot stormy rain, which I quite like. It hasn't rained for ages, come to think of it. It's quite nice to feel the rain on my skin (good thing), but it's still hot - winter seems to have gone, which had kind of passed me by with all that's going on. As it was Virtual Art Night (good  thing!!) and I was late, and ran fast home and set new PBs for the 1 mile and 5 km again (good thing!). So many good things!

Day 25 - Friday 17th April - 10 km
Same as yesterday and the day before. Which I was feeling a bit bored about, but actually, you've always got to do a commute (well, lots of people do), so how good is it to have one that you can run (good thing)? Better than getting the tube or a train. I haven't been on any public transport now for over a month. It's going to feel so odd when this is finally over - I can't imagine descending the spiral stairs at Holloway Road, into the deep dark dusty depths, sandwiched in with hundreds of other people. Another good thing - since being around the local area more, I've every day been seeing the wisteria in the park across the road,and it's colour and scent is stunning right now!

Day 26 - Saturday 18th April - 6 miles
An evening run to St Paul's getting there just as the bells chimed 8pm, and the scent of the tulips in Festival Gardens was dancing in the dusk. Heavenly! I really enjoyed this run, haven't run at night for a bit, and seeing the city light up is always magical.

Good thing - had time to organise my medals right from marathon #1 (which I've actually lost, which isn't so good, but I'm hoping it's somewhere at my Mum and Dad's). So satisfying with my spreadsheet and putting them all in order and thinking of each run!

Day 27 - Sunday 19th April - 6.5 miles
Morning run to St Paul's, just as the bells were chiming 11 am. My good thing for today, I chose as the secret garden we have found, hidden between to shiny office buildings by St Paul's. It's like paradise, and is it best place to do some body weight exercises mid run. 

Weekly total - 42 miles. All in all, a week of good things.

As always - take care and stay safe 💙💚💛💜💖

Isolation Easter - a poem

It's feeling very odd, 

To have Easter trapped at home, 

Last year, ten marathons in ten days, 

But now we run alone. 

As Covid sweeps the World, 

Causing fear and misery, 

We join together (2 m apart),

Show solidarity.

Because although I'm sad, 

To miss friends and family, 

What with Facebook, Zoom, Whatapps and Skype, 

We share the love, for free! 

Long runs now are shorter, 

But I love them every day,

Time to be creative, find new routes,

Quiet ones, so safe we stay.

My favourite place to run,

Right now is in the City,

The usual noises, now fall silent,

It's cool stone streets feel eerie.

Without the usual crowds,

There is time to stop and see,

The ancient places, tiny alleys,

Secret gardens, birds, a bee.

As it's Easter Sunday,

The place to which we must run,

Is iconic St Paul's cathedral,

Standing empty in the sun.

The chiming of the bells,

And the blue sky clear and bright,

The sweet smell of tulips in the air,

It is the perfect sight.

I miss you all my friends,

Stay safe in the Easter sun,

I hope we'll be reunited soon,

And life will carry on!

Happy Easter!

The Not The Paris Marathon

Today was meant to be the Paris Marathon.

Feeling sad it didn't happen as it was meant to, but also feeling grateful for lots of things. Like, that just before all this happened I had the best trip to Malta for the marathon there, plus we can still do running outside in the sunshine so long as we are careful to stay away from people, and (perhaps most importantly) I have loads of toilet rolls. 

Life is a little weird, but feeling a bit more used to it now. Work days are a 5 km run to work, do work (I work in a community NHS service, which has been drastically cut back and most of my colleagues are so amazing and have moved to the hospital to help - I'm carrying on for now with my current role, with the tube feeding patients - so I feel bad about not being at the hospital helping, but then there hasn't been much change in the volume of work to do, and there are many more discharges than normal, which need a lot of work to get people set up and settled on their tube feeds at home, so I guess I'm still being useful). Then after that, a 5 km run home. For the first time ever I managed to run to work and back every day this week. I found a new route which is much quieter, and I feel quite safe doing that, and it's much better than getting public transport would be. So that's 10 km every day. And then some weights/ yoga/ core work after getting home. 

Yesterday, the start of the weekend, I was getting anxious looking out at the canal and seeing lots of people on the towpath. Last weekend getting up at 04.00 to run when it was quiet didn't really work out for me, so I was wondering how to run and stay safe, but not get totally knackered doing it. Thought about running to the City, which usually is busy, but I wondered....if many people are working at home, maybe it would be quieter....

So gave it a go, and it was so quiet, it was ace! Did 7 miles yesterday and 9 miles today and it was quite spooky, but also magical, running through the city, and past places like St Paul's, London Wall, The Royal Courts of Justice, with hardly any people and virtually no cars.

So, it might not be the Paris Marathon, but it's not a bad substitute, really. 

I suppose it's not always such a bad thing to have a bit of time to think about things that you've done and be thankful for them, rather than always doing more and more things so quickly that you don't always have time to really appreciate them. My Granny, when she was poorly and moved into a care home, used to say, that she'd done all the things that she'd wanted to in life, and was lucky to have done that, and now she was happy sitting and thinking back through all the memories. I always loved that she said that! Of course, I don't want to stop doing things, but whilst we are a bit of enforced "reflection time" it's a good habit that I'm trying to get into. For example, rather than adding to my marathon spreadsheet just now, I'm going through it and remembering about each race and finding the medal/certificate/badge etc. I'm remembering loads of stuff I'd forgotten!

Take care, and stay safe! 💙💚💛💜