Ten Saturday Morning Miles

Yesterday evening a three mile struggle home from work, still digesting my food from a late lunch.
But now it is The Saturday Morning Miles. The sweetest miles of the week.
This is my ten mile run. From the house to the park by way of a shortcut through the hospital and down Clarence Lane to Roehampton Gate, left into the park and then a complete circuit, the longest way around, out the way I came in and back home.
It's busy today as it is every Saturday, walkers, runners and cyclists, alone and in groups, the groups on the go already or gathering by gates, at the cafe, in the car parks.
This morning my first few minutes out the door I feel like a dead man running. I don't feel like I have ten miles in me. But going down the long slope of Clarence Lane I somehow loosen up and my breathing comes easier.
There are three and a half hills on the run and it is the hills which tell how fit I am. The first hill about twenty minutes into the run comes not far beyond Robin Hood Gate. This morning it feels tough but nicely manageable. I reach halfway a couple of minutes quicker than I expect and when I reach the second hill, the toughest of all, I am looking forward to it. I run the long flat section towards Pembroke Gate and then instead of going out of the gate turn right up the hill. It is a long, winding, rough slope, more or less muddy except in the driest of weather. When I am out of condition I can be close to puking before I am half way up. Today I reach the top tolerably short of a full-on stroke.
Beyond that second hill and an hour into the run I am feeling pretty good and really pushing the pace. Fantastic. The rest of the run is just perfect.