I only had a little time to spare on Sunday morning, as I had to trek out to Oxshott to see my friend Dom, who I was taking to see Jimmy Carr in the evening with another friend Nick. Dom's had the shitty misfortune to have a stroke and getting around is on the tricky side for him, but we had a good night. I always feel guilty at not seeing Dom often enough and it was great to get him out and about. He retains his ability to combine an incredibly acerbic wit with an amazing disarming boyish charm and is one of the best people I know, though obviously life can be understandably trying for him post-stroke. He's definitely going to be one of the beneficiaries of MdS sponsorship when the time comes...
as seen from the wobbly bridge. Nothing as grand as a cathedral, but I find it quite striking - it reminds me so much of Brueghel's "Tower of Babel" (right) every time I see it.
Having spent the latter portions of last night in the York and Albany trying to decide whether my favorite cocktail was a Sazerac, an Old Fashioned or some kind of modified Negroni, I wasn't in much of a mood to run this morning. However, I only had a limited time before I had to head off for a great lunch with Gus, Ali and 3-week-old Jess, so I had to get my skates on...
The Regent's Canal was looking especially cool, still frozen although this probably won't last much longer. I really love running along the canal. It's like you're no longer in London - the view above really doesn't look like you're in Zone 1. I wish I'd known about the canal when I was training for the marathon three years ago, rather than running endless laps of Regent's Park. And I also enjoyed the prancing dog at the top of Primrose Hill (below), with the amazing skyline behind. Worth clicking on for the full image I reckon.
I've already got the feeling that it's going to be hard to take enough good snaps to keep this blog really interesting, but I did manage to take a few on a cold and hazy night on Thursday. It was a quick run along the South Bank of the Thames to Westminster Bridge and back along the North. I stopped for pics quite a few times and must have looked pretty odd to the passers-by - a jogger in shorts, probably steaming a bit with sweat, stopping occasionally and taking photos of London. It proved tough to hold the camera steady for long enough to get decent shots given that it was night-time, but I did manage this one after running across the Wobbly Bridge to get to the Tate Modern.
