Saturday 21st April…… the first day of the start of my new life…… oh, shut up Gavin, that was a bit dramatic!
Actually I’ve not been eating between meals and drinking less for about a week now, and am starting to run two runs during the week of 30 minutes each. It’s a start!
What a beautiful day for a park run. I took the motorbike to Ally Pally, and spent too much time walking around the park, as I suddenly realised that it was 8.58, only 2 minutes from the start of the run! Where is the f**ing start??
Luckily a nice man in a yellow hi-vis who turned out to be one of the friendly volunteer marshals pointed me in the direction of the start line. I ran there and was just in time for the whistle…..
I reckon there were about 200 people doing this run. A very north London crowd. Not really sure what I mean by that. Just felt very familiar.
Here’s some useless information on Alexandra Palace:
“Ally Pally” is a grade 2 listed entertainment and sports centre. It was built in 1873 but then destroyed in a fire just two years later, and had to be rebuilt.
It was originally designed as the competitor to Crystal Palace in the south.
Ally Pally sits in a beautiful hilly Park which is nestled between Muswell Hill and Wood Green in North London.
There is a lovely run which goes from Ally Pally along a disused railway line called the Parkland Walk all the way down to Finsbury Park. It’s a must for runners!
The run…..
Just as with Highbury Fields I felt awful running round the hilly park in terms of shortness of breath, aching, and a feeling of gradually encroaching lethargy, the climax of which came at about the 4km mark.
But i finished! And despite the hilly terrain I knocked 30 seconds off last time and came in at 30.21.
Lesson learned and osteopathic helpful tip!
After the race i realised that my calves were really tight yet again, just like after the Highbury Fields run.
A foolproof way of preventing calf tightness at the beginning of a run or relieving it at the end of a run is to walk on your heels for 100 steps on the spot. Trust me it works! By activating the muscles at the front of your leg your calves will automatically loosen off, a process called reciprocal inhibition.
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