A bit too far

I finally went on my third run of the year, the recent British weather made things impossible for a while, the ice on the roads were often cleared but the pavements were pretty slick with week old ice.

I stayed at a friend's house in Raynes Park on Saturday and on Sunday morning we got up and went for a run. Considering I was out of rhythm the ensuing 12km was probably a little too much too soon but it was a good run.

There was three of us, of different abilities but we kept an even pace, I once again used my phone's CardioTrainer app and it tracked our run which gave an average pace of 5.47 min/km. I have since discovered I can upload my run to the program's website and look at them in more detail which is pretty sweet, being able to look at the satellite map of the run and see where went went is nice.

The run took us from Richmond Road up to Wimbledon Common which we crossed length ways before looping back on ourselves to run to Wimbledon village then back towards Raynes Park station and Richmond Road. The run took an hour and 15 minutes and we covered 12.86km.

I don't think I have run that distance before and it may be why my right knee is aching today. I run with a knee support on my left knee after wrenching it a few years ago. My running and exercise being intermittent it is not as strong as it could or should be.

It was a fun run with a big hill at the beginning and one towards the end, running on the common was nice, the paths took us through forested areas and across open ground and we crossed paths with a lot of other runners. in places the ground was waterlogged from the recent snow, ice and rain and we jumped over a number of puddles and ran through wet ground ensuring cold wet toes for part of the journey. I was glad to finish and was ready for the end a good 20 minutes or so before we finally finished, running with others does help you go further even if you perhaps shouldn't as the case may be. We ran through Wimbledon village which I don't think I have been through before, it is very middle and upper class with lots of boutiques and the like.


I did spend some time stretching afterwards, not all my usual ones and the fact I spent a chunk of the rest of the day sitting on a couch may have led to me cramping up. I did go for a walk in the evening with my dog and take a few journeys up and down the stairs but there was some pain last night. I think I need to be running regularly starting with more modest 5km and then moving towards 7, 8 and 10km distances as my body gets used to the running. I will definitely be stretching before bed tonight.

Final run stats:
Distance: 12.86 km/h
Time: 01:14:24
Av. pace: 10.37km/h



I'm pretty pleased with those figures but the pain is a drawback, I want to get out on the road again and can't see it happening before Friday at the earliest (due recovery and social outings...)