Welcome to London, legs

Dreams of stepping off the plane and straight into an easy six-minute per mile pace run soon evaporated as the reality of a London "summer" and the after-effects of a nine-hour flight with all the associated travelling trimnmings, took hold.

But today I finally got back into running shoes with a 6am loop round Hyde Park. There was a break in the monsoon rain, so much as it goes against the grain, I heaved myself out of bed and out of the door without so much as a cup of tea.

Hyde Park is almost dead flat and more than 5,000 feet lower than I'm used to running, but even so it was hard. My legs felt stiff, my back and shoulders are aching. Fast cadence grudgingly made an appearance. 9-minute pace`felt a struggle at first. My body seems to be totally seized up from the travelling. After a long consultation, the various parts of me agreed that 8-minute pace or just a bit slower was acceptable. Personally, I felt this was disgusting, given that's what I run in Boulder, at altitude, up and down hills, but who am I to argue. Where's the euphoric speed blast, as Steve experienced?

So, 6 miles, in around 48 minutes. Note to London runners: you need to lighten up. Hyde Park was heaving with runners, most of them moving more slowly even than me -- and their faces were masks of blankness or serious effort. After the first ten attempts were met with total indifference, I gave up my Boulder habit of sharing the joy with a cheery greeting.

The happiest person I saw all morning was a homeless (I assume) man who I first saw pushing his shopping trolley into the park as I set out. He seemed in a hurry to get wherever `he was going. As I finished my loop, I saw why. He had commandeered a prime spot in a brick alcove overlooking some beautiful fountains, in just the right place to catch the full morning sun. I grinned a good morning back at him as I passed. It was the only smile I saw all morning.

* In London? Run with me in Hyde Park. Email me here at YourRunning.com to set it up.