Of Canals and Conkers

25 Weeks to Go (28 October)

Week two of regular jogging and my enthusiasm sees no sign of waning.

Jogging is surprisingly fun.  Because I’m not taking it at all seriously I’m relishing every second that my stamina can keep me out and about.  It’s great thinking time, I’m actually listening to music properly for the first time in years rather than just having it in the background.  And above all, I’m loving being immersed in the best London has to offer.

In the 30-40 minutes that I can currently manage I can make it to Hyde Park, Regent’s Park, Holland Park; along the Thames, or the Regent’s Canal; to Chelsea, Maida Vale, Oxford Street.  London is so much smaller than I realised and for the first time since buying a bike for my daily commute, I’m building up a clearer picture of how it all fits together. There's always something new popping up, and even my regular lap of Regent's Park throws up the occasional surprise find.

A lot of London is beautiful, too.  Since ‘discovering’ Hyde Park I want to spend as much time in it as possible and each time I go something new catches my eye.  There’s so much more there than I’d ever realised, from horse training and the Italian gardens to the convent and pet cemetery  How can you not want to jog about the city, when a twenty minute route can take you past so many stunning buildings and iconic places?

I’m Yorkshire by trade, which means I started off greeting every runner I came across with a cheerful ‘good morning’.  That went a-begging on day three, the lack of responses draining my enthusiasm to engender a sense of community only marginally less than the young lad threatening to chiv me up by the Houses of Parliament.  But I’m not disheartened: It’s just nice to be out in the city, watching the gypsies and squirrels foraging for food.

When I get into the office and talk to my colleagues, it’s hard to keep the smug disbelief out of my voice.  What, you mean you didn’t get up at 5.30am and go for a jog?  It seems crazy that people wake up and go to work without taking the time to do something for themselves first, like I’m in on a secret shared by a chosen few.  It gets to the point that I’m almost evangelical about it, holding new-edition Hyde Park conkers in my palm and marveling at the idea that people are passing by within a few hundred metres every day and never stop to enjoy the nature at their doorstep.   

You can’t get a fresh London conker in Australia and I post one to my friends there to let them know it’s not all bad here [Lesson three: You don’t have to rely on the postman to get hold of a Hyde Park conker] [Lesson four: You can’t rely on a postman to get hold of a Hyde Park conker, as they destroy it at border control to avoid the spread of invasive species].

London is so much more accessible than the tube would ever have you believe and I wake up each morning excited about what I’m going to jog past today.  Like butter on a cat’s paws, this is distracting me enough that I’m forgetting to be as depressed as I should be about the weather and the constant darkness.  Its inspiring me to see and do more and I don’t have time to be miserable, I’ve got too many projects on the go and things to look forward to.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the Islington canal path to pick up a kilo of Sloe berries for Christmas gin.