On Sunday morning I had 8 miles on the cards, I had somewhere to be at 11.30, so I knew it would have to be an earlyish start. Luckily Leah was also up for an morning run and didn’t mind getting up early. We decided that we’d run along the Thames near me and I could show her the route that I spent a lot of time on during marathon training last year.

We met up at the tube station just after 9am and set off to run about 8 miles. It was nice and sunny along the Thames tow path, but with a lovely breeze. Perfect running weather!

Our aim was to settle into a comfortable rhythm and just enjoy the run, which is exactly what we did! We’ve come a long way since we were unable to run and talk without sore abs the following day!

I love the tow path because it feels like you’ve left London for a bit and are out in the countryside. There is a well marked path, and plenty of runners and cyclists and rowers out there too. There is something so calming about running along a body of water!

This was my first long-ish run of half marathon training, and although we set out to do 8 miles, we decided to bail on the Salomon event, and therefore skip out the last two miles, meaning we finished on 10K (6 miles) for the morning. It was a beautiful day, and I was feeling great so could have kept running, but I didn’t want to be late for my 11.30 meeting, and Leah’s family are in town and she wanted to make the most of them being here. We treated ourselves to an iced coffee at the end of our run, so so good!

I’ve really missed weekend long runs, and being out there on Sunday morning reminded me so much of marathon training, and has me itching to sign up for another! I know it’s easy to forgot about the long runs in less than ideal conditions during the winter when you’ve had a great run, but I am looking forward to upping the mileage again on my favourite running route.  Leah and I already have another, longer run in the diary for a couple of weeks time!

Did you run this weekend? What’s your favourite running route?