London Calling

Usually at some stage in my marathon training I do a run through various parks down to Tower Bridge and back home along the Thames Path. This year was to be no different, but the afternoon it was planned for was one not best suited for running – torrential rain and wind gusting up to 50 mph.

With my last long run out of the way, I caught a train to London Bridge and ran home along the Thames dodging the odd shower.

A couple of hundred metres past Tower Bridge and the crowds disappear and it is a delightful run, even if some of the views require a look back over the shoulder around the houseboats at Shad Thames

It isn’t easy running through Bermondsey and Rotherhithe due to the twists and turns and poor signposting of the Thames Path but it offers a mixture of original wharves, refurbished LCC estates and 1990s developments that have aged reasonably well, plus some interesting public art – including these two Mayflower related sculptures ….

A lot of the run is dominated to the north by Canary Wharf

There is a big gap in the Path where Convoys Wharf – other than the Olympia Warehouse, the site is a wasteland; while the proposed redevelopment will cut out the detour into Deptford, it will be at a terrible cost with an inappropriate development – the Deptford Dame’s post on this sums up the issues well.

Then it’s on towards Greenwich

… and a final look back before heading home – a good run which included 4 miles at 10k pace a decent achievement given the ‘parcours’.

Earlier in the week my last long run before the marathon didn’t go quite to plan – the plan was 22 @ 8:15, but I realised at about 10 miles that my legs were feeling really tired at a point I was expecting to be just going into cruise control. I gave it another couple of miles and then reduced my pace quite a lot – it was a struggle towards the end but I kept it going for 20 miles.

It was a bit disappointing, but not a disaster – I think my legs are still tired from last week’s long run and combine that with feeling a bit under the weather this week as well as a lot of running into a string wind – so it wasn’t that surprising. I think my body is ready for the taper ….