My longest run ever

As one of my goals for this week was to run 7 miles in preparation for my running commute home next week, I mapped out a route on the Gmap Pedometer website which I thought might be about 7 miles but it said it was 6.1 miles so I thought well, that’ll do, that’s longer than I’ve run before, except for the one 10k I did in October.

My new route took me through the usual bit of the marshes where I didn’t see any daisies but I did see these things.

And I didn’t see any crows (crows are big and have black beaks, yes?) but I did see a blackbird (blackbirds are small and have yellow beaks, yes?) but it flew away before I could take its pic but I did get a picture of a woman taking her horse out for a walk.

Then I had to leave the familiar part of the marshes and cross the road and rejoin the marshes where they turn into Hackney Marshes. I followed the river hoping I was going the right way and wasn’t going to get lost or shot or thrown into the river. In the middle of the marshes was this. What is it and why is it there?

When I got to the edge of the marshes, I saw they have a funky information board. We don’t have one at our part of the marshes. Not fair.

Across the road it looked like the marshes continued but as I didn’t know where I was and wasn’t sure if the road I had reached was the road on the route I’d planned, I decided not to go deeper into the marshes but to follow the road round and hope it would take me to somewhere I recognised.

I ran and ran and ran until I saw in the distance what I thought I recognised as the flats opposite the gym and so I followed them and then I came across Leyton Orient Football Club.

I thought hurrah, I’m not lost anymore. Although I’ve never actually been up close to the football club but sort of knew where it was as I used to be able to hear the football matches on a Wednesday evening in the house where I used to live.

So I continued down the back streets of Leyton and then came to the road I run down on the way to and from the gym and then a little bit further on I see the finish line in the form of the Texaco garage and I get home and my Garmin says I’ve just run (give or take the occasional photo emergency) 6.42 miles. Yah!

Today’s route

Stats:
Miles: 6.42
Total time: 1:16:02
Average pace: 11:50 minute/mile
Total calories: 504
Reedy things: lots
Blackbirds, not crows: 1
Strange sculpture things: 1
Funky info signs: 1
Longest runs ever: 1
Things done from to do list (out of 13): 10
Music:
Maximo Park – Gone Missing
Depeche Mode – New Life
The The – Uncertain Smile
Levellers – One Way
Seahorses – 1999
Cristina – Drive My Car
Graham Coxon – Are You Ready
Stereo Total – Musique Automatique
Patrick Wolf – Bluebells
The Damned – Nasty
Scissor Sisters – Filthy/Gorgeous
Adam And The Ants – Vive Le Rock
The Shining – I Wonder How
Kaiser Chiefs – Try Your Best
XTC – This Is Pop
Babes In Toyland – Laugh My Head Off
The Cult – Shape The Sky
The Fiery Furnaces – Tropical Ice-Land
Freelance Hairdresser – A Diff’rent Stroke Of Genius
Hole – Playing Your Song