Four Weeks Until the Dingle, Ireland Marathon

Isn’t Hampstead pretty? I took the above pic on my walk home from pilates this week.

Last big week of training- done! Time to taper before the race on September 6. Kind of sad that this means summer is nearly over….

Here’s how things went in training for my 48th marathon in Dingle, Ireland and life in London!

Monday: WFH day, so I ran a bit later in the morning, what a treat. It was steamy though! I think the temps got up to 90F/31C this day. Tough when we don’t have air con! You come in from a run and never stop sweating, even after a cold shower.

Tuesday: Big session: 2×3 miles at slightly below marathon pace with 1/2 mile jog in between, 11 miles total. My friends Kelly and Susan joined me, which did really help it go by quickly. They are training for Amsterdam and Chicago respectively.

PT (personal training) over lunch. 4 pull-ups in a row! We always start with a warm-up and then pull-up work (holds, decentric/slow lowers, etc) And then lots of lower body strength this day.

Wednesday: Rest from running. Heartcore pilates after work and then a 45 minute sports massage after that at 7:30 pm at Walking on Clouds in Hampstead. The massage was incredible. I need to make time for more frequent sports massages and I like that this place offers later appointments during the week.

Thursday: Another pre-work long “session”, which was 8 miles straight of marathon effort. With warm-up and cool-down, it was another 11 mile midweek run. Eeks! And I did the whole thing with my running backpack on with my laptop in it. Yowsa. But it was manageable and I felt good.

My friends Susan and Kelly joined me again too, which helped and then they split off to run back to Hampstead and I ran into the office.

Another PT session over lunch, this time totally focused on upper body. I’m feeling the difference now that I’m consistently trying to fit into two PT (personal training) sessions a week. I love. love, love running, but I really do enjoy strength training as well, and I’m seeing more of a physical difference from strength training than from running (not that its all about the physical appearance- I AM stronger too!)

Friday: Recovery 10k with a few friends before work. It was cloudy when I left our house, so I didn’t wear any sunnies, but quickly regretted that!

Saturday: Last 20 miler before the taper! I did three 20-milers in a row, which is unique, but that’s what my coach put on the schedule. This one was all easy paced, and a few friends joined for 15, and one friend Viola, who is running Amsterdam, joined for the full 20.

We ran a route that went east to Victoria park and then along the River Lee, which is one I hadn’t run very much, so the novelty of a new route made the miles seems to go by quickly. I took on a ton of fuel (several gels, two packs of Precision chews, salt chews, and more!)

The above picture is outside of 3 Mills Studios along the River Lee, which is where shows like Master Chef are filmed.

And then post 20, I got a fun manicure ahead of my trip back to the US. Looks like I’m going to a festival, rather than going home to move furniture, ha!

That evening, Dustin and I headed to Hackney to Crate Brewery for dinner and some drinks. It’s quite a fun scene over there, though we were probably 15 years older than everyone else! But great people watching along the canal on a brilliant summer Saturday.

Sunday: A bit of a lie-in, and then Dustin, Ruth, and I ran 8.5 miles along the canal west to Maida Vale and Paddington and then back to Regent’s Park and north to Hampstead. I am booked in for an evening pilates class tonight.

Summary: 64.5 miles of running- quite a lot! 2 PT sessions, 2 pilates classes. Feeling okay considering the high volume, but ready for the taper!

in Ruth news, she just loves the cardboard rolls from toilet paper- or “bog roll” in British! She carries it around for awhile and doesn’t destroy it, but treats it like a precious toy.

She has PLENTY of normal toys, but besides her precious ‘bog roll,’ she also loves this giraffe head. It used to be part of a full toy, but again, she doesn’t want us to take it away and she brings it with her to her cozy cove bed. Silly pup!

And there you have it, the last big week before the taper. And right in time for our trip back to the USA to clear out our Minneapolis house. Looking forward to running my old routes and seeing friends and family for a week! Hopefully the 30C/90F heat and poor air quality due to the Canadian fires won’t cause me too much trouble with running!

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!