The Riverside Running Route

It was the mid of November.

A Monday.

The city of London was on lockdown since the beginning of the month and I was on furlough.

I woke up.

I made my protein drink, I put my sport clothes on and I prepared myself to go for running.

I always loved sports, especially martial arts, boxing, wrestling, long runs and football.

For me exercising is the most effective way to relax and get myself together. It aligns my unconscious mind with my conscious one altogether with my body: It makes me feel strong, sharp and alive.

So I made sure that my bed and my room are tidy, the windows are fully open for fresh air and I went out.

 

It was around 9am.

It was a sunny day, unlike the whole previous week.

I got excited, I started to walk slowly and to move my body in order to warm up.

A minute or two later I was faced the reality: it was sunny but in fact it was less than three degrees. It was freezing cold.

That was nothing new.

Living in London for many years taught me that anytime the sun was out during the winter I should expect a low temperature and a freezing air. Perhaps not a scientific fact but it is a sure thing, at least for me.

 

Anyways, the freezing weather had always its benefits for me.

It woke me up and pushed my brain and my body to switch to the survival mode.

I completed the usual warm up exercises and soon enough I started to run in a slow pace.

I took the Shepherds Bush road which leads directly to Hammersmith Broadway.

I went around the shopping centre and I crossed the road.

Shortly I arrived to the river and to Hammersmith Bridge, I stopped for a moment: on my right hand side was the running route leading to Fulham and central London, on the left was the way towards Chiswick.

I chose the left direction.

 

It was about 9:30am.
I started to run and I had the river view on my right.

It was quite.

I could mostly hear the birds, the wind and the dog owners calling their pets.

I developed a discipline during the last few years of not listening to any type music before 1pm.

It might sound strange to you but experiment made me decide to implement this discipline.

I figured out after reading neuroscience and psychology books, watching lectures and more importantly by observing myself that music can unconsciously interfere with the brain state and the overall mood during the first hours of the day.

It is a very minor effect I believe, at times positive at other times negative. It is hardly noticeable, but it is there.

I wanted my brain to be in a sharp and a clear state in the morning, in order to enhance my ability of organising and making rational decisions on important daily tasks.

I didn’t need music either to motivate me or to cheer me up.

I spent long days and nights of silence trying understand the man I am, exposing my weaknesses only to myself and working to improve or change what I believed that it needed to do so.

To be able to master and command my mind and my soul.

I could perform any task and I could deal with any issue, under any circumstances, thanks to this and many other routines.

 

So, I was running and I left the bridge behind me.

There was just one or two people near that area straight after the bridge.

Of course it was.

Whenever the weather was nice and sunny, I could barely find where to sit!

It was always full of people, kids, runners, drinkers, lovers, beggars.

A whole world was happening there.

But it was winter.

It was cold.

It was not pleasant.

How many friends would attempt to call you to meet up for a coffee during such freezing weather?

How many of them would visit you if their journey would be thirty minutes or more?

During the summer, for many of you, I bet that your phone wouldn’t stop ringing: everyone would love to meet up with you or to take you on a date or whatever.

Because it was pleasant.

It was convenient.

It was warm and effortless.

I have always appreciated the people who made the effort of calling me in a cold winter day asking to meet up, asking to catch up, to drink a coffee or a glass of wine or to have a walk around.

I was surely important to them, to a certain degree.

 

Anyways, after five minutes of running I reached the little dock, where local sailors keep their boats.

The river wasn’t full of water, so I could see birds on the shore either digging in ground for worms and food. Some were simply chilling around.

At that moment, there was four type of birds: the black crows, the white seagulls, the blue pigeons and the little colourful ones that I have no clue what bird family they could belong to.

The seagulls looked peaceful, the crows looked intimidating with their big sharp beaks and their dark shiny eyes, the pigeons and the little birds seemed to take a distance and they were flying around in peace.

I slowed down my speed in order to admire to beautiful view.

Suddenly some seagulls flew very close and nearly dropped their shit on me!

The pigeons and little avoided me and flew towards the other side of the river while the crows remained calm and didn’t even move.

I had a thought.

I said to myself, these beautiful white birds that looked peaceful, friendly and approachable attempted to drop their shit on me while the black scary crows looked at me and didn’t move.

I was a bit surprised by the reaction of the birds.

However, it was the sudden move mostly.

I have learned through life experiences the valuable lesson of not judging by the appearances. But hey, the white and black, the good and bad, the heaven and hell, the ugly and beautiful dualities are engraved in human DNA since thousands of years.

I was thinking to myself also, how many people admired the crows and how many people did not trust seagulls?

I was familiar with the riverside.

I run few times a week.

Whenever I passed by, I saw people merely feeding seagulls and pigeons and stopped throwing food when a crow came along.

I hardly saw anyone taking of a photo of crows.

I bet social medias are full of seagulls and pigeons portraits with the beautiful river and trees background.

But you know what.

Crows were always intelligent, sharp and ruthless.

These birds knew very well how to get food and how to survive in all conditions.

They didn’t expect neither they waited for people to feed them or to like them.

 

Anyways, I carried on my running in the same slow pace.

I started to feel the energy flowing into me, and I got determined as I saw my first checkpoint: the pier near Fulham stadium which was about fifteen minutes away.

 

Some other runners overtook me.

Some of them said good morning and some didn’t even notice me.

I also overtook one or two other runners.

We all were heading to the direction.

But we all had different speed and approach: some looked tense and seemed to run very fast in order to reach there in short time.

Some were very slow, as if they genuinely enjoyed the view and the journey and as if they had all the time in the world.

Some other runners were stopping every two minutes taking selfies and photos.

Some others chose different speed in different parts of route: they were determined to reach the destination, they seemed to have a timeframe and they looked like they enjoyed the journey. Even if they had to push beyond their physical limits on certain parts.

 

I was mid way to the Fulham stadium checkpoint.

I heard a little bark.

I looked at my left side and I saw this beautiful German shepherd dog.

I carried on running and the dog maintained the same speed as me.

It felt cheerful to have this companion by my side.

Moreover, he seemed to be very happy!

He kept running next to me for sometime. I talked to him and he barked back: it put a smile on my face.

After two minute or so, I looked at my side again but I didn’t see him: he disappeared.
I didn’t want to stop and I didn’t look back even I wanted to: I had a destination to reach, a goal to achieve and a promise to keep, or more like an order to myself to stop only at the stadium checkpoint.

The very few seconds after the dog disappeared, my surroundings felt empty.

I somehow got used to my German shepherd companion, even for brief moments.

I wished the dog would’ve stayed by my side until I reach my destination, but I knew that he had his reasons, his obligations, his own path, things that I might not understand.

Anyways, I knew I must carry on my journey.

I run alone most of the times.

I didn’t mind running partners now and then.

In fact, it was very enjoyable.

But I always had a belief that I must be ready and must expect to run alone any day and any moment.

I shortly gained back my focus, and I accelerated.

I reached the buildings where the Crab tree pub was situated.

I strangely felt a presence in one of building’s balconies.

I looked up and I saw this woman at the top floor balcony.

I couldn’t see her facial details very well but she seemed to be smiling, she beautiful and in peace.

She looked at me, she smiled to me and she went back in.

As much as I wanted to talk to this woman, who I felt something pure towards her, I knew I couldn’t.

She was away already and I had path to walk.

I felt that she left her pure peaceful energy with me.

I will not recall her face but I knew that she would be up there living peacefully.

I hoped she might think of me again in the future and perhaps she would send some for energy to way.

 

I had to carry on, however I felt, no matter what came across.

I pointed my focus again towards the pier.

I put a smile on my face, I inhaled the fresh air and I speeded up.

 

Approximately 5 minutes left to reach my first checkpoint, there were two attractive girls in tight sport clothes walking slowly in front of me.

Soon enough I was at less than a meter distance from them.

They both were curvy yet very fit, they had that shape of body that would immediately wake up the man’s deepest desire.

They were wearing light make up, they had very refined and delicate face features.

The moment I was exactly by their side, they noticed me.

They smiled to me, very charming and cheeky smiles I must say.

I smiled back, and for a second I was tempted to start a conversation.

But the second after, my rational thoughts took over, I speeded up and I left them behind.

I had a duty and obligation toward myself.

I knew from previous running experiences that if I would stop and start a conversation, there would be a chance of me no longer caring about sticking to my initial plan.

The two girls could’ve been very nice to know and fun to be around.

However, I was on duty and I had a higher purpose to achieve.

After few minutes of sprinting I reached the pier!

And what a glorious sense of accomplishment it was.

It was not a long run, neither a difficult path but I gave myself the credit of achieving what I planned despite the distractions I encountered.

I did some stretching.

I took five minutes for that, then I decided to carry on the last bit journey that end at the doors of my house.

I was tempted to take back the same river route.

I thought I could’ve meet the girls or German shepherd again that I left behind.
Perhaps I could see the woman in that balcony another time, even for a second.

Perhaps the seagulls wouldn’t attempt to shit on me, and I could change my opinion about these beautiful birds.

Perhaps I could enjoy again the river views, the sight of water and the trees.

But I decided to take an other path.

A path that takes through the streets of Hammersmith, with the typical city views of houses and off licences shops left and right.

The path doesn’t need to beautiful or comfortable. If it surely takes me to my final destination so let it be.

I wasn’t running for comfort. I was on a mission, on a challenge.

I was certain that it would be very unluckily to meet an other German shepherd on the path I chose to take, but I knew that what I encountered in the first part of the journey was spontaneous and unique. It just happened, then gone.

I run often, I met very nice people. I also experienced good moments.

But I never looked back and wished to live those moments again.

Because I always believed that they were unique and I wanted them to remain that way.

 

I started to run in the streets, and I had to be much more focused.

It was so busy.

But that wasn’t the only issue.

People were walking like zombies.

Their eyes were glued to their phones.

I wondered: how skilful are these people, navigating the street with their heads down without bumping into other street users or into walls!

I thought: if a person would put this much attention and focus into the phone, no wonder why it became so easy to brainwash the society and to direct the public opinion.

Looking at these people got even more motivated to carry on my running with more determination.

Looking at them made me appreciate the freedom from certain unhealthy social behaviours.

It was sort of a sign that I am doing the right thing.

It made me feel that I am not part of the herd and that I am my own shepherd.

After fifteen minutes I reached my final destination, my house.

I was tired but very happy that I have accomplished my mission.

The energy of achieving was powerful.

Not matter how small, easy, long or difficult the task was, to me it was very important and getting it done was empowering.

Like these few words I wrote.