One odd paradox about this is that although I was tired afterwards, I also felt more energetic. (I get this effect after most exercise, not just running.) I'm not saying that I could go and run the route again, since I was pretty much ready to collapse by the time I'd walked home, but I felt a lot more alert. I think this has something to do with metabolic rates - people who do regular exercise have a faster metabolism. That's good from a dieting point of view, since I burn more calories just while I'm watching TV. It also means that I have more "get up and go", rather than being slumped somewhere, thinking "I could turn the TV off and read a book. But that would involve moving. Meh." There's the old Latin phrase "mens sana in corpore sano" (a healthy mind in a healthy body), and I do believe that the two things are connected. So, hopefully this will have a knock-on effect for my project work. More generally, I want to live up to my full potential, both mentally and physically.
The only real downside to these runs is that they take a lot of time - it's about 45 minutes travelling time to Hyde Park (each way), with another hour for the run itself (since I need to arrive early to register/warm-up). But I think it's worth it, and once I get back into decent condition it will be easier to motivate myself (without needing a group of other people), so I may be able to find a better way of doing it.
Once I got home, I spent a couple of hours watching Drop Dead Gorgeous on TV, which is far more entertaining than I'd expected. When I saw the trailer for it in the cinema a few years ago, I just thought "Beauty pageants - blech". However, the film isn't exactly an endorsement of them :) I think it works because it's played straight. For instance, at one point someone says "We're quite busy in the funeral home at the moment - hunting season". Rather than being a one-liner that Chandler (from "Friends" would say), the character is being completely serious, which is what makes it funny. Then again, I may just have a slightly warped sense of humour...
