Jessica Robson 8/29/19 Jessica Robson 8/29/19

London, I'm leaving you.

I'm leaving London to travel America and Europe. I don't think I'll be coming back. This blog explains why :)

In August 2018 I moved into the flat I had purchased, with a man who I thought would be my "forever" (eye roll), and committed myself fully to the fact I would be in London for another 5 years at least.

After all, this is the place where you're meant to have your career, right? This is the place where you're meant to find your man, your home, your success, before leaving for the countryside for family-making and "settling", right?

Well, that was my plan. And it was going so well. After 5 years here I had found the flat, I had found the man, I had found the fulfilling purpose-driven career. But then the man fell out of love, and everything kinda deflated in an instant. The life I thought I was building, I thought we were building, was kinda just... gone.

I didn't have a plan B.

So I did what I thought was expected of me. I threw myself into making London "work" for me as an independent woman. I didn't need the man, I didn't need the flat. I could make this work. And to be honest, I know that I can make this work if I really want to. But that's the point... I don't think I do want to anymore. I am tired of London.

Moving to Bethnal Green was my knee-jerk reaction of "HA, just look at me succeed here in this stressful city despite everything telling me I should have given up by now". But that's not a good enough reason to stay.

My Plan A didn't work out, and that's ok.

But... I don't want my Plan B to be a carbon copy of Plan A.

I've drawn a line in the sand. My Plan B looks different now.

I've decided to take myself and the Run Talk Run mission to America, traveling around for 3 or so months to meet running communities in other cities. I want to show myself that London is not the only vibrant city I could happen to find myself in. I want to spend some time with me. I want to show the States just how flipping awesome the RTR approach is. I want to leave little breadcrumbs behind me of 'non-judgey' running and I want to have candid conversations about mental health maintenance with people from all walks of life.

I want to then replicate this (funds allowing, hehe) all over Europe.

Why? Because I can.

Because I think the world deserves more Run Talk Run.

Because it's about time I saw a little more of this awesome world.

But mainly, and importantly, it is because I am so so done with being in London and pretending that everything is how I want it to be. There, I said it.

When I return from my travels I don't see myself coming back here. Not because I don't love it, but because it just doesn't fit right anymore. It's like a jumper that you wore loads last winter but now feels too snug, too close, too uncomfortable. It's making me squirm a bit.

I've got a hell of a lot of thinking to do about where I see myself living when I come home. At the moment, Brighton is seeming like a terrific idea. Brighton is "home". But who knows... time will tell.

(If you know any keen runners living in the States who you think would love to hear about Run Talk Run, please put me in touch! I'm relying on you, running community, to help me make this happen!)

Jessica Robson 6/23/19 Jessica Robson 6/23/19

RUNTHROUGH HYDE PARK CHASE THE SUN REVIEW

My honest review of the RunThrough Chase The Sun in Hyde Park.

I always start these posts by explaining my personal standpoint in terms of the race. And this blog shall be no different.

This run came at possibly the best and worst time for me. The worst time because I was feeling rather sad and tired. The best time because I was feeling rather sad and tired… and it made me feel better!

This run formed a part of my training for Budapest Half Marathon, and it has given me a pretty good benchmark to go from.

It isn’t the first time I’ve run this course. I also came and ran it last summer with my good friend Lucy (school friend!) and that was a much more sunny affair than last week.

Last night it was muggy and greeeyy, and the rain arrived when I was on my final mile. This wasn’t necessarily such a bad thing at this point, the cool down was actually very much appreciated!

The Course

The RT (RunThrough) organisers put on a choice of either 5k or 10k at their Hyde Park race. As far as I am aware, you can wait until the day itself to decide whether you’re going to run 5 or 10.

As always, RT ran the event seamlessly. What RT have created is a whole COMMUNITY of runners who just seem to know where they need to be and what they need to be doing. It shows. It feels calm.

However, even with that being said, if you are new to a RT event, it is so so so clear where everything is, and there is always someone with a speaker who makes it clear on timings, and whne you should be heading to drop your bag, head to the start line etc. There is no second guessing or wondering where you need to be!

The course is split into 1.5 mile laps. Therefore 2 laps for the 5k race, and 4 laps for the 10k – pretty simple, pretty easy to follow. I don’t think it was possible for anyone to get confused about which direction they were heading. However, if you are doing the 10k, it be be a gruelling psychological challenge to just continue on and do another 2 laps when you know you could actually just stop and be finished with the run sooner!

Hyde Park is a mostly flat course. There is a very short incline near the start of each loop (and therefore comes up 4 times), but you do get to enjoy the decline about three quarters into each lap too. I definitely think you could PB here… in terms of congestion, I haven’t really had any issues getting around people.

The race is all on park pathways – easy underfoot – but not for the trail runners amongst us.

In terms of scenery, Hyde Park is actually a very pretty park, and you’ll often get the tourists of London giving you a cheer every so often too (who doesn’t love that).

The Organisers/Support

The race is organised by Run Through, and I could not sing their praises loud enough. Their races are well organised, they are held weekly (if not more than once weekly!) so everything runs seamlessly!

The loos are just the park loos – the queue wasn’t too horrendous and they were much nicer to use than portaloos!

Bag drop was really well structured around the pavilion and bag collection was just as smooth. I wasn’t expecting much post-run being that it wasn’t a half mara, but they still provided…

Banana
Water (obvs)
Flapjack

Price

£24

Location

Hyde Park Bandstand W2 2UH

When will they take place again?

Run Through host LOADS of 10k distances on their website, but if you’re set on the next Hyde Park race, it’s coming back on July 24th 2019. You can book here.

Would I run it again?

I definitely wouldn’t say no to a Hyde Park 10K in the future! I might even sign up for the next one…

Jessica Robson 6/5/18 Jessica Robson 6/5/18

RUNTHROUGH WIMBLEDON COMMON HALF MARATHON REVIEW

My honest review of the RunThrough Wimbledon Common Half Marathon.

The RunThrough Wimbledon Common Half has a pretty special space in my mental “running memory” cabinet. It was my first ever half (well, that I actually showed up to) and I have been returning for more of the good stuff ever since.

I’ll run through briefly my personal experiences of the race, then get onto the real nitty gritty – the course, organisers, price, bla bla bla.

MARCH 2015 – Oh my more youthful days of running where I had zero wisdom but so much damn determination. I had not a single ounce of self-confidence to speak of turning up to this half (which at the time was a MASSIVE trek as I was living in Tottenham at the time). I found the whole experience really tough, mentally, and came away with a time of 2:12 which is somehow engraved in my mind. I feel so proud of the old me when I look at this photo. The triumph in my radiant lil cheeks.

MARCH 2016 – I used this run as part of my “first ever marathon” training, and actually ran 4 miles just to get to the start line. The plan was to run 4 miles home again to make it a 21-miler but the hills and the emotional exhaustion got the better of me and I left it at 17. This was the race I met running friend Anthony at (who I still have the pleasure of catching up with time to time!) whilst freezing my chunky plodders off at the start line. We had a good laugh about the ridiculousness of my choice of attire since the weather did not reflect “short and vest” conditions and to be honest I looked a bit of a twat. And that, my friends, is all I remember of that race!

OCTOBER 2017 – I completed the Wimbledon Common Half again last October with beaut best friend and occasional running buddy Meghan. Meghan did incredibly well, ran super strong after putting in hours of solid strength and running training (#warrior) whilst my legs kinda just, well, fell apart. My breathing became a bit of an issue at this race. I was still experiencing high levels of anxiety in my day-to-day life (this was the month I created Run Talk Run actually) and in hindsight feel like my head wasn’t in the right place to take me around a half comfortably.

*smiles can be so deceiving! I was so cross with myself/my breathing*

JUNE 2018 – This one felt hot and hard! I turned up to Wimbledon Common Half in good time, with nerves in check and managed to maintain a pretty steady pace throughout. I came away with 2:05 (17 mins slower than my PB….. buuuuut 2 mins faster than my course PB).