A proverbial walk in the park

Sunday morning I wake up and the knee feels fine the rest of me however feels shagged as Claudia is teething and we spent most of the night up and down to her, comforting, feeding and plying with calpol. I think next time Sharon, (who has noticed that her name is usually proceeded with "stressed" in this blog) and myself will simply share the Calpol and have a good old medicated sleep. The whole family get up at an un-godly 6:40am and head downstairs. At least this early start means I'll be able to get out early and Sharon and the sleepless wonders can get to early mass so we'll still have a decent day together afterwards. Whilst I feed Claudia porridge George and Sharon feast on boiled egg and soldiers, I then eat my toast and jam and cheerios, down some orange juice and prepare for my run. Today is 17 miles and I'm going to run up to Hyde Park do a few laps then run back. I'm trying out my new trainers, practically identical to my existing ones so no worries there.
I leave the house paranoid that my knee will buckle or swell to the size of a tree trunk and for the first mile or so passing the fried chicken outlets, co-ops and Polish deli's of Uxbridge Road there is discomfort which really worries me. I decide if it worsens or isn't improving by Shepherd Bush tube I'm heading for home. Luckily bas I reach the tube the pain lessens, this could just be the endorphins kicking in or my pig-headed brain overriding the pain but I carry on. It's very quiet around Holland Park road at 8am on a Sunday, Rupert, Jemima and the little Tarquins are still inside eating quails eggs on artisan granary bread. Soon the run is uphill taking me to Notting Hill, it's not too bad though I glad it'll be downhill on the way home. After just under 3 miles I enter Hyde Park. The sun is shining, the birds are singing and I'm sweating like a pig - I've had a number 1 crop so the sweat from my bald head streams straight into my eyes. Hyde Park is a great place to run, a lap round the outside is 4 miles so it's 3 laps then home. The first lap is quite empty, a few joggers and dog walkers and a mad fat bloke trying to do Tai Chi but falling over every time he tries to balance on one leg. As I start lap 2 the park is livening up, especially a lot more tourists. For about a mile stretch I run with a group of squaddies from the nearby barracks, they then turn off for home obviously aware that they cannot compete. As I pass Speaker's Corner for the second time a few regular speakers are setting up and at 8.5 miles down I open up my carbo-gel sachet I've been carrying up my sleeve. It's a fairly thick sticky orange gel which delivers quick energy. I carried one in the waist band of my shorts for last years marathon and I still have the scar on my hip where it rubbed me. The gel seems to help and I start my last lap with renewed vigour. The park is busy now though the paths are wide enough for everyone and his dog, apart from the fat bloke doing Tai Chi who is now seeing how high he can get his leg up a tree. With just over 14 miles covered I leave the park and head back to "da bush". The next mile and a half is slightly down hill, this is better than uphill but still a challenge as there is more pressure on the knees. It's largely incident free apart from a slight argument with a tourist bus in which I had to rapidly increase my pace for a little bit. I hit the home straight, Shepherds Bush Green and Uxbridge road. Half a mile to go and suddenly there's a massive stabbing pain in my knee which makes me shout out an expletive as I jog passed a line of people queuing for a bus. I press on and the pain goes away. As I reach my house the Garmin says 16.93 miles so it's straight passed the house until 16.97 miles then back down.
I return only 15 minutes after the clan return from mass. I feel good though the calfs are tight and I have dried sweat i.e. salt all over my slap-head and another less comfortable place so desperatley need a shower. George however has other ideas and he "needs" me to play football in the garden for "just a little bit daddy". So my 15 minute warm down is kicking a ball in the garden for my 2 and a half year old son to pick up and throw into the flower beds.
All in all it's been a good morning, eventually I get to have a shower and decalcify my body parts......