long sunday..

10m at 7:20 - through Lewisham and Greenwich, up into the park and round - back out across Blackheath and down through Kidbrooke Park and Blackheath Park, then trace back through Lee and Hither Green - weather was ok, pretty cold, but not too windy; no sun, very overcast. good feeling to the run and had to hold myself back a fair bit from going faster. tried to run with no pressure, but found that i was constantly thinking about some part of it. stopped three times for a pee and twice for a drink (at the fountains in G Park). spent a good few intensive sections thinking about pointing my toe to reduce heel strike and increasing my heel lift behind. don't know what progress i made as it felt like i settled back into the old style as soon as my mind wandered, but at least the thought to change is planted. the new style seems to project me forward quite a bit more - especially when i straighten my back and lean slightly forward. this only makes keeping the form harder and i soon fall foul. the other thing i tried was to straighten the swing of my arms to reduce body rotation. the guy on a video i watched (not the one from the last post) talked about body torque - if you swing your arms across yourself, your legs have to compensate for that. when i straightened my arm swing, that also had that forward projection. seems like there would be quite some gains in speed to be made if i concentrated on these things in the future. will have to try hard to keep it up.

funny how my mind strays while i run. i thought about all sorts of things today. other days i can get back and not recall that a single thing went through my mind. for some of the long runs in the training for Brighton i wore headphones (Sennheiser PMX80, which are fantastic - believe me i've tried quite a few..) and listened to the radio (less praise for the reception round here). that's fine, and it's a welcome change, but i usually run with as little on me as possible. i don't like carrying anything - even when i'm not running - and even a clip on ipod shuffle can annoy me. i also like to get my head into my runs. i like it when i come back recalling nothing. it means i've got immersed and involved in it. but when i think about things - mostly sporadically and rarely deeply - i'm happy.

today i was aware of my surroundings. especially in G Park and through the rich areas after. in the park, spring really started. there are all sorts of blossom, and even though the daffodils and magnolia are dying back now, there are camellias and rhododendrons out. i don't recall now all the lovely things there to see, but it's surely one of the loveliest places i run - and i'm through a lot of the Royal parks.. along Blackheath Park there's hardly a single big place without wisteria in bloom. it's a lovely sight. there were some nice dogs to see in the park too, especially one of those fantastic Australian sheepdogs.. he was a little lost, having followed a trail too far, and was looking furtively for his owner - then sprung off in what i hope was the right direction.

yesterday was a rest day - almost out of necessity. i guess i would have run a 4miler given an opportunity, but one didn't arise. i took the kids off to Bluewater in the morning so i could shop a little and they could get out with me. i like taking them out on my own on the weekend sometimes when we don't have plans. they actually enjoyed it. we got there early, so there was hardly anyone there. they got to trace the Thames map all the way from source to sea.. which they really liked. i picked up some sunglasses and work shoes. useful trip. saves me a work lunchtime, in which i can run instead!

today i ran early and we saw off Polly's friend, who stayed over last night, then we took off to Ikea with the usual plans.. obviously we came back with much less than planned and different things than we went there for, but not surprised. was actually ok. lunch there can be quite healthy and cheap. they bake their own bread it seems, and the soup was good. we went on from Lakeside back over the river to a country park on the outskirts of Meopham. we've been there before - in the depth of summer last year, when there were blackberries to pick. this time it was considerably greener and damper, but was a nice refreshing walk after the shopping. we found five trees in blossom that must be similar to apple trees, but the blossom was deep red and they seemed to be ornamental, not fruit-bearing. would like to go back with a book to work out what they are.