5,6,7,8.... kms?!

There may have only been 3 of us at tonight's session but it was a quality 3!! We got to meet the lovely Fran who's looking to get into running to complement his cycling. Not being put off by the cold (brownie points!) and keen to push himself I suggest a 4km(ish) run along the north side of the Thames Path (a lovely route we're very lucky to be close to as it's right by the river, traffic free and generally well-lit)....Fran chats about his cycling...and the fact that he has run from Hammersmith to see his Mum in Southfields before..... Mine and Jason's ears prick up....Southfields, but that's 6kms!...(hmmmm, I think Fran could do more than 4kms)...."with a lot of walking breaks"....that's totally fine.... So after a bit of discussion we jointly come to the conclusion that Fran would feel more satisfied with his first run in a while if we finish the 7.5km route with walking stops rather than finish the 4-5km option he knows he will finish - Awesome! I agree to let him know when we hit 2.5kms and 5kms so we can walk is he wants. We set off at a sensible, steady pace and the chat ensues! From rowing to our ideal active holiday (very different opinions here!) and the kms tick away. At 2.5kms I keep to my promise and let Fran and Jason know that we are at the first maker..."Push on!" I hear :) Steadily we push on....Across the lovely Barnes Bridge and we are 4kms in. We get to 5kms and the pace hasn't dropped and the chat is flowing....there doesn't really seem to be a need for a break and so we push on again :) Less than 52 minutes later we have run over the gorgeously lit Hammersmith Bridge (a sure sign that we are nearly home) and we are back at base. The best bit of the evening was Fran's view on his run "I can't believe I did that - I'm so chuffed!".