Running London to Guildford and a little trip to Berlin

.Despite having serious withdrawal symptoms from the heat, fun and adventures of South America my first week back in London has been extremely productive and I feel like I have great momentum in regard to training and fundraising which I am going to need to maintain until April. I ran to and from work each day on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday along with a trip to the gym (The Third Space in Soho) on Friday evening to do some strengthening work. I have been feeling good and wanted to get a really big run under the belt on Saturday, so after waking up at sunrise I packed my back-pack with enough water, snacks and bananas for the day and set off from London Bridge with the aim of running continuously to Guildford and arriving at some point in the late afternoon before it got too dark, the whole run is a good 33 miles or so. The morning went well and I managed to make it to Kingston (roughly 13 miles) in a couple of hours, I had a quick pit-stop and took on some fluid before pumping Pearl Jam up full volume and heading on to Esher and past Sandown Park, the famous horse racing track, I was still feeling good but my rushed decision to wear a cotton shirt came to bite me in the ass as it started to chuck it down with rain - I arrived in Cobham soaking wet and feeling like the day had taken a significant turn for the worst. I was mentally struggling and began to feel really exhausted; it's amazing what a bit of rain can do! I pushed through it and turned off the main road just outside Cobham to run through the countryside (which was absolutely stunning) for 6/7 miles until I reached East Horsley and then onto West Horsley, where I used to go to prep school. At this point I was only 5 miles from Guildford but it was still pouring with rain and as it got dark the temperature quickly dropped, I could barely run I was shivering so much so not wanting to get sick and with over 30 miles covered in a day I made the executive decision to get a final lift to Guildford. I felt sore but satisfied last night and I am going to enjoy a rest day today at home in Guildford before cracking into my schedule for next week. If my calculations are correct I've had a 45 miles week this week which isn't bad bearing in mind I spent Monday and Tuesday on a plane. Tomorrow I am flying to Berlin with work and I am looking forward to doing some nice long runs in the city, Berlin is a beautiful place and after running the marathon there in 2010 I have vowed to return...what's more on this trip we get to stay in the hotel Adlon, one of the most luxurious and famous hotels in Europe...exciting stuff! My next big training run will be an attempted run to Brighton (around 60 miles) with my good friend Mike Darcy on the 4th Feb - I'm slightly intimidated by the prospect of running 60 miles in a day but I think it will give me great confidence knowing I have covered such a distance when we go into the long 50 mile day in the Sahara. I also have quite a lot of news on the fundraising front but will update you all on this on my next blog when I get back from Berlin. Another quick reminder that you can follow me on twitter @SaharaRun2012