Ready or not, Brooklyn, here I come

With a week to go to the NYC half marathon, the weather decided yesterday that my last long run should not be conducted in the breezy Spring conditions of last week, but in proper grey, dank and dreary London weather. I'm hoping that this means I might have kept a bit of weather luck back for Sunday's race but whatever the conditions, I'm as ready as I am going to get now.

Still carrying too much weight, still feeling I missed too much training, still sporting the most disgusting-looking big toe in the history of disgusting toes but nevertheless enjoying the running again - psychologically I'm looking forward to testing myself and seeing just how far I need to progress before Berlin in September. I was reminded yesterday afternoon on my long run of just how tedious distance running can be and thanked my lucky stars I have an unrivalled capacity for daydreaming. It's a skill that gets you to 8 miles before you even realise it's full-on tedium (and one that gets you through the dullest of meetings during the working day). I'm sure I should probably be concentrating on form or pace or some other running-related technique but unfortunately I'm not. Most of the time I can't even remember what goes through my head on my long runs, which I tell myself is a blessing.

I don't get much practice at hills these days, so I decided that my last long run should be a hilly one and headed off to the dreaded Horsenden Hill for an out and back route. Every time I set foot on the bottom of that hill, I berate myself for taking the route - it's a vile steep incline from the start, with a few dips along the way, and really tests the old lungs. It doesn't seem so steep on the way back but I can't quite tell whether that is psychological or topographical. However, I learnt yesterday that not only is it steep, but it's a damn sight nearer my new house than I thought it was, which meant that I had to find an extra 3 mile loop before I headed home.

As a result, I ended up taking in about 5 hills in total. Not all as steep as Horsenden, but enough to feel everything working. No squeaking of lungs, which is good. Some squeaking of hip, which is not so good. I did take in a few new streets as well, and looking at the massive mansions of posh Ealing is quite distracting. I was particularly taken with the huge white house on top of hill 4, which in an ideal world is probably worth a couple of million pounds, but is instead in total disrepair. Every possible bit of paint was peeling off and/or filthy, and it reminded me of Johnny Weismuller's house in Beverley Hills when I took the 'homes of the Stars' tour in LA. Overrun with weeds, run down and filthy, a massive mansion unable to be sold on or developed until Johnny's estate runs out of money - a condition of his will. I remembered thinking that they certainly weren't spending any of the estate money on upkeep, which would have seemed to me a pretty quick way of getting rid of the dosh and being able to sell the house on. It would have costs millions of dollars just to weed the garden.

Look at me, comparing Ealing to LA (not actually possible with yesterday's weather). I should start comparing to Brooklyn first, as that is my destination on Thursday. Will fit one more run in here in London, then the rest of my taper will have to take place on the other side of the Atlantic. What a hardship!

While I wish my running buddy was a bit closer for training runs, it's lovely to think that I'll be running over the Brooklyn Bridge soon in a last minute leg loosener, getting ready for Central Park and Times Square on Sunday. I am privileged to run in such iconic locations, and it makes running round suburban Ealing easier to bear.

NY, here I come!

LON