Hampstead Heath
8.3 miles in 1:06:57
Route: Hampstead Heath circuit 1
Ah, Sunday on Hampstead Heath - the trees, the air, the residents of Hampstead and Highgate pushing little Oliva and Dominic around in their 'off-road' pushchairs!
Today's run was a bit of an experiment - I've never run on Hampstead Heath before. I had always considered it to be a bit far away for my needs, but, given that I'll soon be pushing the distance up well beyond 10/15 miles, I thought I should check it out. I had a quick look on the Serpentine Running Club website (such a good resource - check out the link to the right) for a suggested route and figured out the best way to link it back to my flat. I've only been to Hampstead Heath a few times, but I figured I would be able to make it around, if not exactly on the Serpentine Route then somewhere near it.
Sure enough, it was a really fantastic run. The only real drawback is that it's a bit hilly! The run from Gospel Oak up to Kenwood House especially is a bit of a killer! I did a fair amount of 'route finding' too and had to double back once or twice. I completely messed up the section at the far end of the heath and ended up on top of Parliament Hill - an amazing view for those who have never been there. I kind of made up a route home, back through Gospel Oak and Kentish Town, which worked quite well. All in all, an excellent day's run. I only stopped twice - very briefly - and more because I wasn't sure where I was than because I really needed to. A couple of times, I felt my legs take over and carry me along. Magic!
Plenty of potential for extending this route too - either by going further around the Heath (I only covered about half of it today) or by linking in Primrose Hill and Regents Park, for those extra long runs I'll be doing after Christmas! Can't wait...
Also tried running with a bottle of energy drink today. I think it was helpful to have, but the rate of flow from the bottle to your mouth is so ridiculously slow that drinking on the run is quite difficult (having your arm up in the air for the amount of time it takes to get a proper drink is really quite annoying). I'll try it again next weekend.
Today's run takes my distance for the week up to 20.8 miles - not even marathon distance! Still, it's pretty good for this stage in my training and I'll be pleased if I can keep it up. New job starts tomorrow. I wonder what they'll make of me warming up in the corner of the open plan...
Route: Hampstead Heath circuit 1
Ah, Sunday on Hampstead Heath - the trees, the air, the residents of Hampstead and Highgate pushing little Oliva and Dominic around in their 'off-road' pushchairs!
Today's run was a bit of an experiment - I've never run on Hampstead Heath before. I had always considered it to be a bit far away for my needs, but, given that I'll soon be pushing the distance up well beyond 10/15 miles, I thought I should check it out. I had a quick look on the Serpentine Running Club website (such a good resource - check out the link to the right) for a suggested route and figured out the best way to link it back to my flat. I've only been to Hampstead Heath a few times, but I figured I would be able to make it around, if not exactly on the Serpentine Route then somewhere near it.
Sure enough, it was a really fantastic run. The only real drawback is that it's a bit hilly! The run from Gospel Oak up to Kenwood House especially is a bit of a killer! I did a fair amount of 'route finding' too and had to double back once or twice. I completely messed up the section at the far end of the heath and ended up on top of Parliament Hill - an amazing view for those who have never been there. I kind of made up a route home, back through Gospel Oak and Kentish Town, which worked quite well. All in all, an excellent day's run. I only stopped twice - very briefly - and more because I wasn't sure where I was than because I really needed to. A couple of times, I felt my legs take over and carry me along. Magic!
Plenty of potential for extending this route too - either by going further around the Heath (I only covered about half of it today) or by linking in Primrose Hill and Regents Park, for those extra long runs I'll be doing after Christmas! Can't wait...
Also tried running with a bottle of energy drink today. I think it was helpful to have, but the rate of flow from the bottle to your mouth is so ridiculously slow that drinking on the run is quite difficult (having your arm up in the air for the amount of time it takes to get a proper drink is really quite annoying). I'll try it again next weekend.
Today's run takes my distance for the week up to 20.8 miles - not even marathon distance! Still, it's pretty good for this stage in my training and I'll be pleased if I can keep it up. New job starts tomorrow. I wonder what they'll make of me warming up in the corner of the open plan...
posted by Jonathan @ 5:53 PM
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