Pre-Snow Long Run

Sunday 24th Jan 2020

Weather Condition: Clear, 0C, Humidity 87%, Wind 11 KM/H

Location: Hampstead, London

Running Structure: Long run 18.45 km 1h41min

Feeling: Legs a little sore to start with

Heart Monitor: Garmin Fenix 5 Sapphire + Garmin HRM-Run Heart Rate Monitor Strap

Running Apparel: Mizuno  Half Zip Merino Wool Running Top with OMM Contour Race Fleece Running Top, Asics Gel Kayano 27

I have found that my motivation to do a long run is helped by preparation the night before. I made sure I decided the night before which warmup yoga routine from YouTube I was going to do so I had less excuses to delay and get out on time.So on Saturday night I looked at a weather app and saw that it was going to start to snow at 10 am. So I contacted my friend and asked would he be willing to run a little bit earlier as it was forecast to be -2°C, so again like last week I had to wrap up really warm.

Leaving the house, I was struck by some wonderful views and had to stop a couple of times to take pictures as you can see. The fiery sky apparently is indicative of snow. I ran through Primrose Hill Regents Park in order to pick up my my friend we then proceeded to run in Hyde Park at a gentle pace this morning as it was colder and my legs were feeling a little bit stiffer. When I got to Primrose Hill the fiery sky was still there and quite a few people had congregated on the hill taking pictures so I was actually running a little late to meet my friend.

The nice thing about setting off about half an hour early was that it was a bit quieter, less people out. It is actually really nice to see London so deserted, I felt a bit like a tourist. Which brings me to one of the things that I like about running is actually a little bit of sightseeing. During the pandemic when I haven’t had a specific event to train for some mornings of my long runs I decide on certain landmarks to take in for example today DT and I decided to run towards Buckingham Palace. 

So I didn’t run quite as much as last week but I did break my target of making sure that I have a 10 mile (16km) run once a week. I was glad that I made the effort to get out early,  as the snow started about 15 minutes after I got home. This meant that after showering I enjoyed playing in the snow with the kids.

Happy running.