BEASTING LONDON: WITNESS

It’s a strange world we live in. Bowie can be dead, Donald Trump is touring as a stand-up comedian and today (on a Saturday) I was awake and running at 8:30! Believe it or not I limped round a pretty looking London for a tidy 6 miles. For all those, like me, who are sane and have not done running as a hobby, that’s a 10K. So the next time you hear a runner bragging remind yourself it’s 6.2 miles and even I can do it. Not sure when people in the UK started measuring distances in ‘K’. Perhaps it’s because no one wants to run more than 6.2 miles and '10' sounds better. It’s going on the banned list of terms. The marathon, in case anyone was wondering, is 42.1K. A bit of sick came up typing that. Another gross bodily function occurred today whilst running with the temperature dropping somewhat. The condition I experienced I’m going to name ‘Snotpop’. That’s when, whilst running, your nose streams into your tash (unbeknown to you) and freezes. Similar to those intrepid explorers of the poles. It feels good!

Not so hot when you are running with your betrothed, who kindly supported my plight by joining me on an evening run on Wednesday. I hid it. Conversation has to remain short when running with others. One or two word answers and strictly concise stories and questions. A bit like if you were paying for a personal add by the letter. I do like having someone join me while I train. If anyone is a fan of moving slowly through the streets of London and fancies running, cycling or skating alongside me leave your details in the comments section and I’ll be in touch.

To stave off the boredom of longer distances on my own I have developed a new game called ‘RockyBomb’. Basically, pull a pose like Rocky as you run past a tourist taking a picture in the city. If you have already had a dying man in sweatpants ruin your snaps why not post them with the hashtag #beastinglondon

A strange thing happened in my leg as I crossed London Bridge today. My leg hurt and then got really tight. I’m either injured or I have grown a muscle. I slowed and considered stopping. However then I thought about Eddie Izzard running 43 marathon’s back to back and I had a word with myself. I read that a nice marathon technique is to think about someone you admire each mile. It worked a treat today. I will compile a list and add to it over the next 14 weeks before the off. Another motivational factor came into play today thanks to the beauty of iPod shuffle. Roots Manuva winning with this little beauty Witness. You’re welcome sports fans.

Don’t forget the point of all this is to raise loads of lovely money for a brilliant charity called Solace Women’s Aid. You can donate and keep me sweaty right here via my donations page:

www.virginmoneygiving.com/beastinglondon