Weekly Recap: Life in London

Hello friends! I’m here with my weekly recap of fitness and life in London. I’m usually counting down to a marathon, but my next full marathon isn’t until Dublin at the end of October (more than 20 weeks away) so it feels a wee bit too early to do that. I do have the “bonus” Marathon du Medoc in Bordeaux France in September, but that one is definitely just for fun and I’ll treat it as a training run for Dublin.

So, I guess this is just a general recap of base training for now!

Monday: 7 mile run through Regent’s before work, 20 min strength for runners on Peloton + 10 min core after work.

Tuesday: Rest from running, Barrecore class before work

Wednesday: Run commute- 4.4 miles + office social run, 3.7 miles (1.5 miles not tracked as I didn’t turn my Garmin on!)

Such a pretty morning in London!

That evening, I joined a few coworkers to see 2:22 A Ghost Story at the Apollo theater near our office. It recently returned with a new cast, featuring Sophia Bush (from One Tree Hill, Chicago Fire, Law & Order SVU, and more.)

It was different than most of the theater I’ve gone to in London so far; definitely had some jump scares and was eerie. I can’t give away too much of the plot though without ruining it for anyone else.

Thursday: Work from home day meant I could do a track workout at the Parliament track after its official “open” at 7:30 am. I did the same workout as last week with a bonus 400m: warm-up, 11x400m with 200m recovery, cool-down for 7 miles total. Then I did a 20 minute strength for runners class + 10 min core on Peloton.

I quickly showered and then walked Matilda to the vet; she received her first injection of Librela, which should help with her arthritis. She’s such a sweet old lady; the vet and I had a chat about how dogs are so stoic, and they won’t really communicate that they’re in pain, which is partially because pain is a sign of weakness that could get them kicked out of the pack…Don’t worry Matilda, we could never kick you out of the pack! We hope to see some improvement in a week’s time and if it works, she’ll get a monthly injection.

After her vet appointment, I worked from home, with a quick lunch break to let the pups run wild in the Heath. Matilda still runs like she’s a puppy when she’s there!

As for Ruth, she now goes to Bruce’s Doggy Daycare twice a week and absolutely loves it. It’s such a great place for her! They pick her up in the doggy van around 9 am and drop her off around 5 pm. She has lots of friends 🙂

Friday: My Minneapolis friends who visited two weeks ago were now at the end of their vacation, so they were back in London for two nights. This time they stayed at the Waldorf- much nicer than crashing at our flat, ha! I offered to join them for a morning running tour from their hotel; I ran to the office first, with a route through Regent’s Park to say hello to the camels (4.4 miles):

Then I dropped off my stuff at the office and ran to their hotel to join them for a 6.3 mile loop to Tower Bridge and back on the other side of the Thames.

I LOVE being a running tour guide! It’s so much fun. Since we lived by the Tower Bridge when we first arrived in London, I feel pretty comfortable being a guide over there as well as my current running routes.

I was in the office the rest of the day, until meeting up with these friends again in SoHo for one last dinner together. See you in July in Minneapolis!

Saturday: Just a short 4 mile run in the Heath with Ruth, followed by some core and light upper body on Peloton.

That evening, Dustin and I walked to Parliament track in the Heath (right in our backyard!) for the “Night of 10,000 PB’s,” a really cool event put on by a local running club for elite 10k British runners. The event is essentially the championships for the U.K. national team. It was so fun to spectate!

They even had custom beers for the event! And yes, I had one even though I was running a half marathon the next day. 🙂

Sunday: The Hackney Half marathon! I signed up for this race quite awhile back; I knew I wouldn’t be ready to really race a half just 4 weeks after completing the Vienna marathon, but I figured it would be a fun way to explore a neighborhood in London via running and get in a good long run with support.

And WOW, what a party this race was! 24,000 half marathoners. It was huge, but so fun! I will definitely be doing it again. What a blast.

Dustin didn’t register in time and it filled up, so he and Ruth came to cheer/spectate. I ran a 1:50 and it felt very comfortable, even on a hot day. It’s been a long time since I ran a half, but this is one I will be repeating next year!

Summary: 52 miles of running. 1 barre class, core and some strength on Peloton

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!