Running into June! And now I am 21 weeks out from the Dublin marathon…and 13 weeks out from the Marathon du Medoc, a.k.a. “the French wine marathon”!
I’m linking up with Kim and Deb for my weekly recap of fitness and life in London. Check out their posts for more information on this great link-up!
Monday: We were still in Hampshire for the U.K. bank holiday, so I ran 7.4 miles there with Dustin and Ruth (our pup.) While in Hampshire, I used the “find a route” feature on Strava, which was really helpful. There were tons of public routes other users had added from around our hotel, so we could choose one from there based on what distance we wanted.
Ruth’s post-run vibes!
Run- shower- breakfast- one last off-lead play time on the hotel grounds for the pups before we packed up our rental car and headed back to London.
That evening I did complete a Kim Runs the Mitten upper body workout (shoulders/triceps) + core on Peloton.
Tuesday: 7 mile run before work followed by Peloton core. I saw my physio (at Nordic Balance near my office) for some soft tissue work and dry needling to help out the IT band. She gave me a few glute exercises to (try to) do daily.
Wednesday: Rest from running- my leg was a little sore from the physio, so felt great to take the day off. I did do a Kim Runs the Mitten full body workout after work + core on Peloton.
Thursday: 7.4 miles with 20 minutes at tempo; I programmed in 4×5 minutes as it seemed more manageable mentally than 20 minutes straight (even though yes…they are the same thing, ha!) and tried to keep them all as far under 8 min/mile as I could, which was generally 7:35-7:45.
Friday: 5 mile run before work with Ruth and Dustin, followed by a coffee and scone at Gail’s at the end of our road. I had a fair amount of walking throughout the day with dog walks at the Heath and a walk to go see another flat (we’re still exploring whether we want to move or not.) Later that day, I did a Kim Runs the Mitten full body workout + core on Peloton (and my PT exercises of course!)
Saturday: Tracksmith Amateur Mile. Ugh. A mile race is so hard, isn’t it? I was dreading this all week, even though I promised myself I wouldn’t back out. No one would care how I did, so I should just go and do the thing.
The Amateur Mile was held at the Tooting Bec track, with heats starting at 1 pm and getting progressively faster. My heat was at 1:40; Tooting Becs is in South London, but we can take the Northern line train straight there from Hampstead. We arrived around 1 pm with enough time for a few miles to warm-up, bib picket, and then the race.
I had never raced a 1-mile on the track; I have done a handful of road mile races, but never on a track before.
My Garmin said I ran a 6:12 but the official time was in the 6:30’s- bummer. Quite a difference. But it’s good to have a target to try to beat next time.
Yes, that kid in the below picture did indeed beat me! In fact, I got last place in my heat (race #4 of #17.) I should have been in a slower heat….
In total, I ran 4.5 miles. After the run, we explored a bit of Clapham, as we hadn’t really been to that part of London before, strolling through the park with an iced coffee before heading back to the north.
Sunday: I signed up to join the Mornington Chasers for their Sunday long run. The pace group was the 9:45-10 min/mile group, which is a little bit slower than I would normally do my long runs, but I was happy to go that pace. We did 13 miles via “the Woods” route that took us through Hampstead Heath, the Heath extension, Goulders’ Green, Highgate Woods, Queen’s Wood, Cherry Tree Wood, Big Wood, Little Wood, Dollis Broos- ALL the “woods” in north London. The pace ended up more like 10:30-10:45 as it was very hilly and all trail. It was a probably a good change for me though, doing my long run on trail!
Summary: 45 miles of running, 3 strength sessions with Kim Runs the Mitten + attempt at daily core
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!
Group runs are so fun… even more so than races.
so have fun today!!
Ii hope your IT band calms down and allows you to train for the big ones!!
Thank you Darlene! Group runs are always a blast.
Fun to try a new to you race on the track. If you learn any new glute exercises go share!
It’s always the glutes!
Sounds like an adventurous week! Doing a mile race on a track in a small heat is a whole different mental game! Good for you for giving it a go!
It was a tough one!
I have done a couple of 1-mile races in downtown Des Moines, and some 1-mile time trials on a track, but never an actual 1-mile race on a track. I’d be a little nerve-racked because not only do I not like track running, I also know too well how tough that “short 1-mile race can be. The last 1-mile race had my quads totally shot for a couple days, and it took several hours to get my breathing back under control (I kept coughing because my throat was SO dry). You are a brave gal!
I have had that breathing issue in the past at the road miles I did but oddly didn’t have it this time. Guess I didn’t push hard enough!
You really had quite a week! A long trail run with a new group, and a ONE MILE RACE on the track- eeeeek! Yes, that is HARD! I would also be bummed with that Garmin discrepancy (ahem, I’ll take the 6:12, ha ha.) Anyway, I think you did great- and like you said, it’s good to have a baseline.
I like Ruth’s post run vibes!
Thanks Jenny! Yeah, I liked my Garmin time a lot better, ha!
Ruth runs hard and naps hard!
I’ve never heard of a one mile race on the track! Sounds tough. We do one mile sprints at CrossFit and I won’t tell you what my last one was, but I was definitely sad. Lol. I hate that I’m getting older and slower.
I’m glad you found a group to run with!
Surprisingly the Brits love “athletics” or track races! My run club has several this summer from 400m to a 4×1 mile etc. it’s different!
This group got me out on the trail! 🙂
Great week of running! I assume a one mile race is a different beast than longer races and even a 5k! How does it work for you to run with the IT band problem? My husband has a problem with that and he does very little running right now, but does a lot of cycling instead, and his PT exercises.
Yes a mile race is a whole different beast! I am not sure about your husband’s IT band issues. I’ve run through the pain in the past as for me, just stopping running doesn’t cure anything, I need to work on whatever imbalance is causing it or it will just be there when I come back to running. . But I don’t know how extreme your husband’s pain is. How long is he planning to stop running? My pain is at the lower outer knee insertion point. Where is his? Essentially I’m working through it with soft tissue, dry needling,… Read more »
I think his pain is on the outside of the leg just above the knee (but I don’t really remember exactly). His physio says it’s a school example of IT band syndrome. He has strengthening exercises to do and has other exercises since before because he has other imbalances too to work on. He also gets some massage treatment. I know many people run through this pain and that it’s ok to do that but he has chosen to take it easy with running, for a while anyway but I think he plans to run maybe once a week.
Ah, that’s the more common spot for IT band pain. I hope his heals up quickly!
Ruth is an absolute vibe. I say it all the time, but your dogs make me happy.
One mile sprints are terrible, and I imagine it’s worse on a track. We have a few coming up here next month. No, thanks!
Aww thanks Jenn! Ruth is a riot. And we love Matilda so very much.
One mile races are very tough! But I’m still glad I did it.
I love the idea of a mile race, but have never done one. I definitely think doing it on the track would be hard! Great job just getting out there & giving it your all.
A really nice variety of workouts and runs for you this week! LOL at looooong Ruth. 🙂
Thank you Judy! Proud of myself for at least trying 🙂
amazing week Jessie! I think my husband would really dig that 1 mile track race! he loves the track! We don’t have that kind of thing at all here! I’m so glad you were able to find group running there as well. sometimes when you move to a new country it can be rough, but I think the big help for you is that you moved to an english speaking country.
The track scene is pretty big here in London! Lots of the run clubs compete in a circuit over the summer.
Yes, moving and meeting new friends is a challenge for sure, but I’m trying my best to put myself out there.
Oh wow, a one-mile race. Well, that’s intriguing… esp for a long-distance runner 🙂 So cool you did that!
I tried! It wasn’t my favorite, ha!
It sounds like you had a fun and busy week/weekend. Good for you for running the mile race on the track. As an adult I’ve finished a few races on a track, but haven’t run a full race on a track since high school.
Yeah, I think I finished a marathon on a track a few times, but this was my first mile race on one!
Ah, I spent a lot of time in Highgate Woods with my best friend when her children were small! A lovely week to see.
It’s a lovely park! Glad you have fond memories of it.
Oh, man, just seeing that pic of the track gives me butterflies! Brings back so many memories of track and running the 800m and 1600m 🙂 Way to put it all out there and try a new race, Jessie! Awesome baseline and will be fun to chase it on the next one!