Juneathon Day 16: Lunchtime running

At the weekend, I raced. After the race, I got talking to a runner I’d been chasing for most of the run (he came third), who mentioned a weekly handicap run in Oxford on Wednesday lunchtimes. So, I thought I’d give it a shot…

A couple of complications, though. First, I needed to get down to University Parks from work, which meant a 3km warm up. Except I was running late, so I had to belt it down the Banbury Road – running the first mile in 5:53. When I did get down to the park, I realised I didn’t actually know where the runners were meeting. D’oh.

After a bit of aimless running around, trying to find other runners who looked like they were going in laps of the park, I eventually bumped into them. Granted, they had already started, so while they ran two laps, I ran a single lap, but it was good to stretch my legs in the sunshine.

Run round the park done, I had to belt it back up the Banbury Road to get back to the office. Another 3km.

Back in the office, I was twarted – twice – in getting to the shower. (This is the problem with lunchtime running.) It meant that I had to sit in my pod, a sweaty mess, typing emails and checking manuscript, while keeping an eye on the shower door to pounce the moment it became free. Naturally, apologies to my colleagues, because I’m pretty sure that can’t have been pleasant.