Tom is away this weekend (on a Stag Do, I dread to think what the boys are getting up to) but it meant that I had the full weekend to myself. I knew I had my long run on the schedule, and that I wanted to catch up with a number of friends that I haven’t seen in a while, so I planned my weekend around refuelling with friends from my 20 miler. Unsurprisingly, they were all on board.

Yesterday morning I started my run about 8am, with the plan to run from Chiswick to Battersea, scoop up my friend Loz then run to somewhere for brunch in Pimlico.

I ran to the Thames path along the river, then up to Hammersmith Bridge, before crossing the river and heading down towards Richmond. I love running along the river in the early morning, it’s such a hive of activity, particularly when the sun is out. Plus I don’t have to stop and start to cross roads-just a straight shot from Hammersmith to Richmond, and further if you want!

I was listening to an audiobook whilst running, ‘The Invention of Wings’ by Sue Monk Kidd- the author of The Secret Life of Bees. Audiobooks aren’t cheap but they make long runs fly by for me, much more so than music.

I left the towpath and headed towards Richmond Park, then onwards through Sheen and to Battersea to meet up with Loz. I picked her up at her house and we ran through Battersea Park to Pimlico to have brunch at Number 11 Pimlico. I had to run past it, and run up and down an adjacent street to get it up to the 20 mile mark. Finished with an average pace of 8.50 min miles, faster than I was expecting from myself.

Brunch was delicious, I chose eggs benedict with spinach and avocado. Number 11 is actually a little smarter than we anticipated so we did look a little out of place in our running kit, especially given how sweaty we were. I’d love to go back when I’m a little more dressed up for lunch or dinner.

After brunch I headed home to shower and meet up with another friend for froyo. Our local froyo lets you add the toppings yourself and I went crazy. I think it might have been my heaviest bowl to date, my friend Char got a bowl the third of the size and I still finished before her. Running makes me hungry!

Here’s my route from yesterday, let me know if you want any more details. I find that whenever you plot a route it comes out shorter than when you actually run it- obviously I don’t run in a straight line!