It's June, it's a summer of sorts (the weather's great but I don't want to jinx it) and the evenings are long. Time to raise the heart rate al fresco by heading to your nearest park.
Throughout June I'll be looking at the best green spaces for your favourite sports, beginning here with a triathlon of swimming, cycling and running - albeit with a few hops on the tube in between...
Swimming
Now the temperature's hotting up, it's okay to swim outside without the risk of losing appendages. Surely the most famous public lido must be at Hampstead Heath - their winter swimming club has built a religion out of swimming in these unheated ponds through winter. The public swimming area on the famous Serpentine in Hyde Park comes highly recommended, not forgetting the newly refurbished lidos resplendent at Charlton, London Fields, Tooting Bec and Parliament Hill.
Cycling
Moving quickly through the transition zone, the ultimate park for the cyclist is surely Richmond Park. There's a 10km loop of newly-resurfaced roads (the London Olympic cycling course ploughed through here last year) and bikes rule the cars. Although pay attention to the deer - you've got to stop if they want to cross the road. The fastest recorded amateur lap time is in the region of 14 minutes, but for most people, 3 laps in an hour is considered impressive (my favourite app, Strava, is good for timing this). For a car-free cycling experience, don't forget the Hillingdon Cycle Circuit, Herne Hill Velodrome, Crystal Palace Park or, at a casual pace, the intersecting pathways of Hyde Park.
The spiritual home of the London Dynamos cycling club is Richmond Park itself: www.londondynamo.co.uk
Running
Well, any park is good for running. I personally recommend Greenwich Park for hill repeats - on and off road. Hills are great for building cardio fitness and leg strength, and you can even reap benefits on the downhills. But the true reward is the view when you reach the General Woolfe Statue - historic Sir Christopher Wren architecture in the foreground, the skyscrapers on the other side of the Thames. Battersea Park is flat as a pancake next to the Thames and is popular with runners for precisely this reason - the winning combination of even terrain and waterside views. This park is good for timed intervals (fartlek) and sprint training - crucial for gaining speed, even if you stick to long-distance.
ParkRun.org.uk organises weekly timed 5k runs in hundreds of locations - for free. The slowest runner might take three times as long as the fastest, but the focus is very much on beating your own times.
Got a suggestion? Tweet @ralot and I'll give you due credit :)
