Gongoozling!

Apparently ‘to gongoozle’ is to stand around watching canal activity. So we want all you gongoozlers out there to stand around and cheer us on from April 14th to 17th.

There’s lots to report here.

Last weekend I tested out the relay route, and myself, from Denham to Paddington. A sunny day and an irresistible opportunity for a training run of 21 miles all along the towpath with regular stops for photos, now up on the Flickr site, and on the Facebook pages.

F meanwhile was approaching things from the other end, at Greenwich, and we rendezvoused at the Core cafe deep in deepest Paddington Basin. I was really impressed with the beauty of the trip. It helped that it was fine weather, but cool enough for running to remain pleasant at noon. Despite the almost four week gap in training, the legs stood up well to the challenge. The cough resurfaced, so the virus hasn’t gone, and I can’t get the hard training miles in, but I’m still hopeful I’ll make it round the marathon in under 3:15.

There was a bit of a stressful return to the car at the end of the day as we realised the gated car park shut at 5pm. An unending trip on the Picadilly Line back to Uxbridge, realisation that the bus wouldn’t get us there in time, a visit to the Travelodge – reception on the 2nd floor? – and a taxi determined to take us to Denham golf course. I was wearing sports kit, and probably smelled a bit, but honestly, do I look like a golfer? We made it, with five minutes to spare, and received more assurances that yes indeed, the car would have been clamped and locked in overnight after 5pm.

On Monday, Faith was due to talk to the Healing Foundation in Birmingham about her experiences as a patient on the Burns & Plastics Unit, so we caught up with Wendy and Rose, two of runners (Hi!) and the lovely folk at the charity at QEH at the same time. While Faith chatted, I pedalled off down the towpath through the smart Gas Street Basin and down past dark and gloomy locks before emerging into a more open landscape of brick industrial buildings, overtowered by gleaming modern structures. The first couple of miles of the route are going to be trickier to navigate than the rest. Luckily, Karl is running it, and has gained unplanned advanced map-reading training at one of his latest marathon adventures in Devon.

Coming soon . . . final timings on all route legs, T shirts for runners, and we still have one final leg free – 10 miles from Uxbridge to Greenford in London. A lovely jaunt along the canal, ending at a pub – what better way to spend Saturday afternoon?