The Spectacular Spectacled Avenger

Found this courtesy of Anarchangel:

http://www.cpbintegrated.com/theherofactory/

Great fun.

Resounding Success

Happy Valentine's Day, all. Mine is proving particularly happy so far on account of having sustained my 7 minute mile over 13 miles. I am especially chuffed, as I was hoping for 7.5 min/mile which is what I got in ideal conditions last summer.

I think this success is owed to three things:

• Firstly, consistent pacing. I've run enough lately to have a good grasp on what 7 m/m (=13.7 kph) feels like. For the first four miles I was holding back, not over-exerting myself. For the middle four, I was giving it all I comfortably could. For the final five, it was a constant exertion to squeeze every last sniff of pace out of my body. My pace was probably slightly slower at times during those final five, but I finished strong and I was quite steady over the distance as a whole.
• Secondly, preparation. Despite the ups and downs of the last six weeks, I have worked hard, concertedly tracking progress towards my goals. My average speed in the last three weeks has been consistently higher than in the first three. Training has such a big pay-off over time. As I said, my run last May was 1h37m, compared with 1h31m today. However my first 13 mile run, as I recall, was in the region of 2h10m in March 07. I most pleased that my performance over shorter routes has paid off on long distance. I've done 20 runs this year and the average length was just over 6 miles.
• Thirdly, that old cliche: attitude. I had such a drive to do this today and it undoubtedly sped me on my way. Running for an hour and a half is such a mental battle, and setting oneself up to win that is so important. I was also spurred on by the desire to clock a good time. I had a 1h20m vocal trance mix that I'd recorded specially, followed by some "power tracks", on my iPod Shuffle. As the end of the mix approached, the urgency to cover the remaining distance increased and the power tracks got me through the final couple of miles. It was an effective combination.

I had a great route - basically a trapezium down Edgeware Road, along the edge of Hyde Park, through St. James' Park, Green Park, over Westminster Bridge, along the embankment and back up through Hyde Park via Sloane Square. A lot of these areas are fondly remembered from runs in years gone by, not least from several 13 mile routes. I limited myself to just a few photos, not wishing to break up my running flow too much (my 91 minutes admittedly comprises a small deduction for taking these pics. I suspect, however, that one of the reasons my time was so good was a considerably higher distance-to-photo ratio than usual.)

The lake in Green Park was particularly manky. Been a while since I'd been there.

Battersea power station. Always an icon of the Southbank. Both sides of the embankment are simply stupendous running routes, understandably popular - throngs of runners. I suppose 11am on a Saturday is probably not the most exclusive time to run anywhere, really.

View across the river to Battersea Park. You can see the Peace Pagoda in the distance. Battersea Park is great for running - I was sorry to have been able to include it this time.

Further to Monday morning, I remembered another waterfall, albeit more contrived than in Holland Park. This one is in the nice little garden area at the south eastern tip of the Serpentine in Hyde Park.

All in all, a resounding success. I'll have to see if I can replicate this performance over the same distance again several times. It remains to be seen whether I've actually got a shot at running even faster on the day. While cutting off six minutes to get 6.5 min/mile would be amazing, I'll nonetheless be satisfied doing as well as I've done today.

After an especially fast and gruelling uphill final mile, not to mention the symptoms of a cold I'm brewing, I was, needless to say, not a little worse-for-ware upon arriving home. Warming-down felt tremendous, however.

Schizophrenic Day

I got drenched cycling home this evening. The heavens just opened (fortune vomits on my eiderdown once more) and I had no wet weather gear. What hurt most was the betrayal this represented - the weather forecast said it would remain clear and the morning was breathtakingly beautiful; cold, frosty and clear.



I ran to Gladstone park and took a different route home. I'm really yearning for some new territory. I'll hopefully be able to satisfy this as my runs lengthen in coming weeks.



View while running along Dollis Hill Avenue


I did a 6.7 min/mile (14 kph) over 5.5 miles, which was pleasantly swift, but somewhat irrelevant. Distance wise, I hunger for bigger game. Getting lower than 7.5 min/mile over 10 miles and more is going to be a lot more challenging that scoring below 7 within the 6 mile watershed. I'm thinking, with two days rest ahead, that I'll give the full 13.1 a go on Saturday. Hopefully I'll be able to settle on a suitably climactic itinerary.

Dutch Run

"Moisture is the essence of wetness... and wetness is the essence of beauty."

Derek Zoolander

Here is one of the few waterfalls in that I am aware of in central London. (There's probably one in the centre circle of Regents Park, and I'd be unsurprised to find one or two up towards Highgate, but that's getting a bit further out. If you know of any others, let me know and I'll have fun tracking them down.)

I overslept this morning, waking to a cold gray rainy day. I'd nonetheless committed to run - I really need to be picking up the pace (both metaphorically and literally) not least given that I got so busy last week that I only made it out twice (what great runs though!) - anyway I wanted somewhere a bit different and Holland park was the first place that came to mind.

Hidden between Notting Hill and Kensington High Street, the park is inextricably linked in my mind with the surprise I first felt at discovering woodland - of all things - in such an area. Better still, for those who venture into the centre (not really challenging in any respect, I grant you, but one could get distracted by the Manor grounds (a further portion of absolute juxtaposition) that comprise the southern portion of the park, or one might be averse to mud) is the Japanese Garden.

I absolutely adore Japanese gardens. While it would have been breathtaking in the snow this time last week, this is otherwise just about the worst time of year to see it and it isn't particularly big, but nonetheless it is great and I heart it. Unsurpassingly peaceful and delicious early on a summer's morning (which regrettably this morning was almost as far removed from as it is possible to be).

Holland Park was a hearty 7.5 miles which I ran in a healthy 55 minutes (~13 kph). I'll be attempting to maintain the same pace over longer distances later in the week. I want to get out on Wednesday, and hopefully I'll get myself up to the full 21K on Saturday in honour of having then passed the halfway mark to Prague.

A miserable time of year, really. Here some less-than-half-hearted blossom and some shooty-flowery-type things were making a rather pathetic-looking attempt at spring. I got absolutely drenched after only the first few minutes this morning. Rain was coming down quite relentlessly at times. I didn't mind it too much though. There is a certain enjoyment and release to be had once you pass that threshold of wetness.

Ice Age: Part 5 - Paradise Lost

"I stumbled upon what I thought was a mass grave of snowmen...

It turned out to be a carrot field."

Milton Jones          

No more snow overnight. Freezing temperatures left the carnage of yesterday solid underfoot.

Primrose Hill was a contender with the Heath for run-of-choice yesterday. It was quite the abandoned battle-ground this morning, strewn with the corpses of improvised sleds. It lent itself well to a lovely sunrise, however, and I'm glad I took the opportunity to experience the less-frequented parts of the Heath in their paradisaical virginity.

Transport networks are back online near enough in their entirety, though cycling on crunchy ice will be less appealing and more hazardous than snow. I imagine the gritters will promptly vanquish a substantial amount of the lingering ice on main roads, however.

 <.Gratuitous west country accent>

Yarr, I loves the taste of salty spray, so I does, me hearties.
 <./Gratuitous west country accent>

Things were still really quiet quiet for what is normally the raging rush hour. Though regular running will shortly resume, I'm going to hang on tenaciously to the memory of yesterday's magic tranquility.

More pics on Picasa.

Ice Age: Part 4 - Traction Control

I owed it to myself to venture out by bike.
http://picasaweb.google.com/sebdick/LondonUnderSnow

Snow thieves had already targeted the railing to which my bike was locked. Unfortunately they'd failed to finish the job by cleaning by bike at the same time.

A number of people on the quieter and more snow-covered streets around our neighbourhood observed how brave I was setting out on bike, to which I would reply suavely with "You noticed." It was actually really quite safe. The few skids I undertook were deliberate and controlled. And stylish. Salty slush coming up of the road was the biggest obstacle. Fortunately I was dressed for the occasion.

Exhibition Road. My department was a bit of a ghost town - not unexpectedly. The ride in and out was still definitely worth it.

Judicious salting had cleared a path through Hyde Park. It didn't help cyclists, as that's where everyone was walking. Not that there were any cyclists at all besides me.

I'm back in now for an attempt at productive study. There is the offer of a snow ball fight later on which might be entertaining as the snow is still coming down unabated.

It's most unusual to find everyone chilling out in the apartment at the same time.

"We should have these snowy days more often," says Rob.

Ice Age: Part 3 - More Heath Pics

As these pics are all web hosted, simply clicking on any of them will give you three point two glorious megapixel resolution. Anyway, I though some more were a must, but do check out the lot of them.

Here was my favourite entrance to the West Heath.

Considerable crowds had gathered atop Parliament Hill to descend by means of sledges, snowboards, skis, tea trays, dustbin lids, frisbees, dinner plates.

Ice Age: Part 2 - Texture Fest

The run was quite sensational. All my photos are on Picasa: http://picasaweb.google.com/sebdick/LondonUnderSnow.

This was Platt's Lane on the way up to the Heath. I didn't photograph much of the way there, but West End Lane was astonishingly quiet. There was minimal road traffic and with no public transport, there were large numbers of people on foot. The snow deadened all background noise and the only sound was that of people talking and school-free kids in high spirits. It was strangely utopian.

Here's a frozen lake in the West Heath. Beautiful.

Here's our road. Those routes with less traffic made the snow feel that much more special, in addition to remaining unexposed the Cult of Slush that we forget accompanies snow on main roads.

Ice Age: Part 1 - The Last Run I'd Ever Do

I woke up this morning to find

uʍop ǝpısdn pǝuɹnʇ ƃuıɥʇʎɹǝʌǝ

by four inches of snow.

A run was a must. Jogging in the snow is hard, and I was tempted just to hit up the local parks, but the snow is such a rare experience that I thought if I was having the last run I'd ever do, where would I go? It had to be the Heath. So I've just got back from 9-10 miles, with a plethora of photos.

London is in upheaval with all transport at a standstill. I'm still planning at this point to make a bit to ride in to college - on my hardtail, certainly not on my hybrid.

Anyway, full pics of the winter wonderland coming up later.