Diplomatic Running

Another good solid weekend of training! I went with Chris to meet the Riyadh runners early on Thursday morning at the Diplomatic Quarter and met some thoroughly nice people. There were ten or so runners who after a chat and a bit of limbering up, set off and quickly split into fast and not-so-fast groups. I was most certainly in the latter.

An outside lap of the ‘DQ’ is just over 10 miles, and Chris had previously agreed with most of the others that the day’s run would be two laps. The pace was comfortable (about 5.10min/km) and the scenery was a pleasant change from the limited views offered by the compound; I felt like a gazelle (or elephant) being released from captivity! The route had a good mix of natural views out over a vast wadi system to the South, the cityscape of Central Riyadh to the North, and some fairly complex and expensive looking landscaping all around the DQ’s grounds. The only downside to the DQ is the occasional guard force soldier with little enough to do, but boss around harmless runners!

The first lap was quite comfortable and I did most of it up on my toes. After about 7 miles I thickened my gait to take the strain off of my calves, which had started to bulge. I seem to be able to go further on my toes on successive runs – hopefully I’ll be a natural bare-foot runner by April?! On the second lap the pace gradually slowed, as Chris had picked up an injury to his foot. By the last couple of miles everyone else had gone on ahead, dropped back or had stopped at an earlier marker. Chris and I had slowed to 6.15min/km, but were enjoying being out and getting some miles on the legs. It wasn’t until this point that Chris revealed that this was the furthest e had ever run in his life! We both managed a sprint finish into the car park, where happy-snaps were had with some of the remaining runners and a beeline was made for the Starbucks.

Training on my own is fine, but it was really good to meet up with and be amongst experienced runners. We gave each other tips and compared notes on all kinds of training and kit issues. Injury prevention is something that I’m keen to learn about and experience like these guys and gals have can’t be bought. It was also nice to meet people from outside my extremely limited social circle, and have a different perspective on life in Riyadh. Hopefully this will be the start of some new friendships.

Friday should have been a rest day, but I could not resist turning out to support ‘Run Together Riyadh’ in aid of Cancer Research. The plan was to toddle around in slow time with some of my colleagues and test out my new Raidlight pack. Unfortunately I picked Peter and Gary to run with. Peter was wearing an inflatable camel, but he didn’t let this slow him down; we got around the two laps of the BAe compound (5km) in 28min 41sec - not setting any world records, but a lot faster than I was planning to run on my rest day! The race was won well by an Army Colonel from the British Military Mission, and the event raised a lot of money for a great cause. Well done to Laura for her meticulous organisation; she really has set the benchmark for me to live up to when it comes to my Team’s half marathon and fun run in February.