Back in the Running Shoes; Olive gets Raving

I decided it has been far too long to go without a run leading up to the Brighton Marathon in only three weeks time.  I had been ill in the past, but this time, to say I was ill was fooling myself.  I wasn't feeling 100%, but that was no excuse.  So learning the BBC iPlayer hadn't downloaded the latest Grand Prix highlights, I scarpered out for what turned out to be about a 22km run.  My GPS wasn't too effective throughout, so I certainly don't trust the distance it gave me of 19km, given the time taken.

It was a slow run at 2:07:05, but the net result was I felt good for doing it, and really need to put in those miles leading up to the event.  To add to it, I did put in a lot of work knocking those stumps out in the garden the day before, and I was aching in places I never knew it was possible to feel sore.

I took some pictures along the way.  Trying to stick to some of the more interesting features as I ran along the Green Chain Walk to Lesnes Abbey, then into Southmere Park, beside Erith Marshes, onto the River Thames, and ran along to the Thames Barrier, into Maryon Wilson Park in Charlton, before crossing Woolwich Common, and up Shooters Hill home.

Lesnes Abbey ruins, originally founded in 1178

To give an impression of what running in London can be like, on one side of Lesnes Abbey is some lovely woodland, on the other, you run directly into this, a concrete mecca. 

A bit further along is South Mere, which is the setting for a scene in A Clockwork Orange.  I only discovered this after, so will get a photo if I head this way again:

I then got spooked when I ran into a few of these equine characters roaming around the estate and Southmere Park

I finally reached the river, there was little wind, and a lovely clear day

I continued further into Woolwich, and found this Schooner moored up where the Thames Clipper usually stops, I tried to use the sun specs as a filter again, because the glare was too bad for a normal photo

Also, something I haven't shown before are some statues I quite like bumping into by sculpture Peter Burke at the Royal Arsenal.

I took no more pictures after this, as my legs were feeling heavy, and I knew I wanted to go straight up Shooters Hill. 

When I finally got home, I came across Julia and Olive in the garden, and I thought the way Olive was dressed, she looked a couple of glow sticks short of heading to an illegal rave back in the '90s.

Well, it certainly brightens up the day.

Perfect Weather for Picking up the Distance; Another Ride on the Didicar

We had plans to meet up with friends this afternoon, so I got up early, and embarked upon my Sunday run.  This time it was a mere 27.5km, and I decided to take a long route to the River Thames, and follow it through the dockland path south side all the way to Greenwich, through Greenwich Park, and back home.  Again, I wasn't looking for pace, and did it rather comfortably in 2:41:06.  There was a spot of rushing to do once home to make sure we got to our friends on time though.

Again, as it was a lovely day, I thought I'd share some photo's of the route:

The Woolwich Ferry.  Normally it is on the water

Panoramic around the Woolwich side of the river.  Tate & Lyle factory on the opposite side

River Thames flood barrier

In between Thames barrier and Greenwich Peninsular

A random riverside factory of sorts

Ravensbourne College & O2 arena (aka the millennium dome)

Behind the O2 arena looking towards the Isle of Dogs (Canary Wharf etc)

Greenwich Power Station

The above Greenwich Power Station is something I will have to look into at some stage.  It was one of the three main power stations dotted along the River Thames in London, with Battersea, and the one which is now the Tate Modern Art Gallery.  I have been led to believe this one was built to power the underground once upon a time.

Woolwich Common

Woolwich Common has always looked an open unkempt piece of land.  I never really visited it too often, but when I do now, all you get for a focal point are these lumps of white buildings.  A bit of a sour blot on the landscape really, not to mention I'm sure with the long grass, and dense bushes, it houses more than foxes and dog faeces; it can only have an impact on the local habitat.  I will get a closer image one day (because they are very nouveau, and photogenic), they are where the Olympic Archery and Shooting will take place in the summer.

Once we arrived at our friends for lunch, Olive and their son Felix had a lot of fun playing with each others toys.  We then headed out to Dulwich Park, and we took Olive's Didicar once more.  Julia was pushing her along a path, when I pointed out that there was a gentle slope, and there was an opportunity to capture the moment on a video.  So here is a video of Olive getting a driving lesson in Dulwich from her Mummy.  I was running as fast as I could to keep up.

Nice Weather; Easy Running; Olive, and her Didicar

With the sides off of Olive's bed now, we are starting to get used to the early morning wake up call.  We don't mind to some extent, as she's quite good at getting into our room about 5-10 minutes before the alarm makes its noise.  Yet, on the weekend, we kind of got used to getting up when we were ready, and fetching her at our convenience.  This is, and forever shall be, no more.

It was the usual drill of taking Olive swimming first thing in the morning; have a play with her friends for 30 minutes after; meet her Mum; go shopping (Olive stayed awake on this occasion, so I had to endure 'the supermarket').  It was at this point, once home, I thought we could let Olive have her sleep, and I could go out for a 16.5km run.  As it happened, Olive didn't have her sleep, and I had a very slow 17.5km in 1:43:22.  I must confess I did spend a lot of time enjoying the run, so not caring about pace, as well as get reacquainted with some old friends of ours who used to live next door to the Woodlands Farm on Shooters Hill.

The route is one of my favourites, as it predominantly follows the Green Chain Walk, through  woodland, parks, and beside paddocks.  All in all, on a beautiful day, it's nice to get off the road, and see the greener side to London.

I started off running up to the top of Shooters Hill, which is marked by a water tower on the top.  From here, I always run into the park surrounding Oxleas Wood, and head through into Eltham Wood, and Eltham Park North, then Eltham Park South.

Oxleas Cafe at the entrance to Oxleas Meadows

Looking back towards the cafe; water tower; and Oxleas woods

Pond in Eltham Park North

From here, it's a case of following the Green Chain Walk, along towards Eltham Palace.  Unfortunately, I failed to get a good picture of the place as I was running alongside the moat that surrounds it.

I did run past the original water supply system to the palace.  It's an interesting structure, and sits with its pride of place.  I am surprised it doesn't show too many signs of vagrancy.

Some of the nice housing around Eltham Palace

Once past Eltham Palace, there are tons of paddocks.  I wasn't able to get too close to any of the horses.  I did come across some old friends of Olives.  These donkey's are used to do rides at Blackheath, outside the entrance to Greenwich Park.  They used to live in a paddock next door to Woodlands Farm, but have since been moved due to a project for the Olympic legacy.

The plans are to build an equestrian centre in its place.  There has been little support for this project, as it will be an elitist sport introduced to a non-elitist area.  It will also impact upon the farm no doubt as construction goes underway, and it has already impacted on the lives of these Donkey's who used to live there.  I was glad to read in a local newspaper they were re-housed here, and to see them again was nice to get some photo's to show Olive when I get home.



Just as inquisitive as ever





They get a lot of space, and a long view of the city

After this, it was a case of getting past half way, running through Avery Park, back into Eltham Woods, up Shooters Hill, and home, where I had a nice surprise waiting for me.

Avery Hill Park

Oxleas Wood

Eltham Woods, not far to go

I found these two on my door step

After this, I decided to take Olive out for a walk, and for her to use her Didicar.  This was a Christmas present.  If you haven't come across one, it's a car where you can make it move, just by turning the steering wheel.  It does work, but when you live on a hill, gravity comes to effect, it's not easy to go up hill, unless you invest a lot of leg effort, but coming down, well, that's well worth the going up.  I took her to Shrewsbury Hill Park and Woods, at the top of our road.  There we had a nice walk and run around, then the great ride home.

Olive was enjoying playing on her Didicar

I wasn't able to take a picture, but if we do this again soon as a family, I want to get videos of this.  The Didicar is designed to be used by adults, at the same time if need be.  I couldn't resist, but push the boundaries.  Just how far could I take the poor girl?  The truth was, there is a nice little slope at the top of our road with a footpath that kind of slaloms down.  She was screaming to "go faster Daddy," so I was in luck that I didn't scare her. 

I will wear shoes that I don't mind ruining next time.



All in the name of play.





Perfect weather for giving the phone camera a test

We had a friend staying over last night, who will be with us for the week.  It made the timing for the bathroom etc that little more hectic, but we managed to all get away at a good hour, I dropped the ladies off at the station, took Olive to nursery, and then went home to get the bike out for the ride to work.

I'm now going to venture down a particularly English avenue, and discuss the weather, if you'll forgive me.  Personally, I like the colours as nature blossoms in the Spring; the relentless sun and the warmth of the Summer; and the colours in the woodlands that only Autumn can bring.  However, for me, there is nothing like a true Winters day.

The sun was as low as can be when I got home, no blemish tarnished the perfectly clear blue sky up high, there was a nip in the air, with no breeze.  Everything was calm, and your shadow seemed to stretch to infinity before there was an end to it.

Shrewsbury Park

Consequently, I thought this would be a good time to test out the camera on a new phone I got through work just before Christmas.  Some results were good, others were appalling (it certainly cannot handle being pointed anywhere with this sun in front of it), I learnt it could even do 180°.  

So avoiding the urban jungle, and tower flats of South Bermondsey, I thought I'd share some of the images from a cycle that made me late for work.  It was a shame the view from London Bridge didn't work, I must save this for the ride home when the nights get longer.  I did compensate by legging it up Charring Cross Bridge for an alternative view looking further west.  

To start, here's a South London resident up in the tree.  The woodlands south of the river Thames are home to Parakeets.

Shrewsbury Park

Entering Greenwich Park

Greenwich Park

 Riding Beside the Greenwich Park bandstand

Greenwich Park Bandstand

View to the Isle of Dogs... Canary Wharf is the pyramid topped building in the middle.

Isle of Dogs from Greenwich Royal Observatory

Greenwich Royal Observatory, where I like to say, time was invented.  Certainly the home of the Prime Meridian

Greenwich Royal Observatory

180° view from the Greenwich Royal Observatory, L-R... Observatory; London City; National Maritime Museum (foreground); Isle of Dogs and Canary Wharf (background); Greenwich Power Station; O2 arena aka the Millennium Dome (you probably need to know it's there to see it beside the power station). Click photo for larger image.

180° view from Greenwich Royal Observatory

180° view from Charring Cross Bridge, L-R... London Eye; Westminster Bridge and the Palace of Westminster; PS Tattershall Castle (blue boat on the river); Savoy Hotel; Carring Cross Station.  Click photo for larger image.

180° view from Charring Cross Bridge

As a quick aside, the PS Tattershall Castle is an old ferry that was used to cross the River Humber, along with its sisters PS Wingfield Castle and the PS Lincoln Castle.  The ferry service was made redundant after the Humber Bridge was built and opened in 1981.  The PS Tattershall Castle is now a riverside bar moored on the Thames.  The PS Wingfield Castle is now preserved at Hartlepool's Maritime Experience.  The PS Lincoln Castle used to sit on the River Freshney at Grimsby, until it was scrapped in 2010.