7 Weeks Until the Vienna Marathon

I survived a big week of training for the Vienna Marathon!

Here’s my recap of training (and life in London.)

If you missed it, I shared a recap of our weekend visit to the town of Bath, catch up HERE.

Monday: 7 miles before work, nice recovery run.

The warthogs were out at the zoo playing!

After work, I walked from the office to the Bloomsbury neighborhood to meet a friend from Instagram (i.e. we had never met in person; she was in London for vacation and reached out) for dinner at Noble Rot. It was lovely. It’s interesting when internet friends become friends in real life! I joked that the visitor was showing the local the neighborhoods as I hadn’t explored Bloomsbury yet.

Tuesday: Another track day. I did a short warm-up and then a 10 minute tempo, then 5×3 minutes hard, then a cool-down for 10 miles total. Fun morning on the track!

After work, I did an Iron Strength session- chest and back + core on Peloton.

Wednesday: Ruth and I ran together before work, 7 miles. There are these monkeys in the morning at the London Zoo (which is located in Regent’s Park) that make a very strange laser/screeching sound and it really freaks Ruth out! It’s funny how she moved to London and has met camels, zebras, giraffes, and monkeys! The benefit of running near the zoo.

Thursday: Rest day from running. I had to be to work at 7 am; I could have fit in a short run or even done a run commute, but a rest day felt best. Complete rest, I didn’t even do my 10 min core…though of course plenty of walking, since, well, London.

Friday: Felt great after yesterday’s rest day; I did a repeat of a workout I did a few weeks ago: 12 min tempo, recover, then 2×6 min tempo, for 8.5 miles total. After work, I did an Iron Strength session which was biceps and triceps.

Saturday: First 20 miler of the Vienna training cycle.

Dustin and I started together until we made it to the Thames, and then he did his own thing at his pace and I turned on some some podcasts and finished up the 20 miles solo. I took my time, taking bathroom breaks and photos, but am not worried about it. I did this big loop from Hampstead to Regent’s to St. James/Green Park to Westminster bridge to the Thames, then ran essentially on the same route we used to do from our temporary housing by the Tower of London, taking the Thames Path to Regent’s Canal past Victoria Park back past Coal Drop Yards, Camden Market, and eventually back to Hampstead.

I took three Maurten gels and had my handheld water bottle of Nuun. It was about 40F/6C, so great weather for running. In the last few miles, my ankle (the one that was broken 5 years ago) started cramping and hurting. It’s fine now, so maybe just dehydration. Not sure.

I saw a lot of London in those 20 miles!

Dustin was home and showered by the time I finished, so he took the dogs to the Heath to run around while I showered and then we went to Chinatown to eat some lunch. We ate at Four Seasons Chinatown (not the Four Seasons hotel!) and then explored “dessert alley” (Newport Place), and had a Halo ice cream from Mamason’s Ice Cream. Lovely treat; we need to go back to eat some more desserts there!

That evening, we had delicious dinner at Cinnamon Bazaar before going to see the musical Six. Everyone had raved about Six, and I wanted to see it in London as it was written by two Cambridge students. It’s a fun musical about Henry the VIII’s six wives. I thought it was fun, though Dustin found it pretty corny. Guess my 2023 theater goals might not always include him, ha 🙂

Sunday: 8 mile run with Dustin and Ruth, followed by all kinds of fun celebrations for Matilda’s 14th birthday! Be sure to check out their instagram for more.

Summary: 60 miles of running and 2 Iron Strength sessions.

This upcoming week will be a cutback, then another 20, cutback, then 22, then taper.

That’s a wrap! I’m linking up with Running on the Fly and Confessions of a Mother Runner; check out their blogs to connect with other fitness bloggers for workout ideas and inspiration!