9 Weeks Until the Vienna Marathon

Happy Sunday friends! I hope you all had a great week. Here’s my recap of training for the Vienna marathon, which will be held on April 23, and a recap of life in London as a Minnesota/American transplant!

Monday: I had a dentist appointment at 9:15 right down the road from our flat, so I took advantage of the fact that I wouldn’t be commuting into the office until after that appointment, and ran on Parliament track right in Hampstead Heath when it officially opened at 7:30. I did about 2 miles to warm-up first, and then essentially followed the man who opens the track to the gate to get onto the track right at 7:29!

I repeated a workout that I did a few weeks ago, 2 sets of (2-3-4-5 minutes on with 90 second jog recoveries in between.) It was fun to run on the track again, its been a little while! I love having the track so close and hope to use it more as the sun starts to come up earlier in the day.

After work, I did Iron Strength Abs and Core with Caroline Girvan on YouTube.

Tuesday: I ran commuted into work- about 4.6 miles, then joined a few colleagues for a social 5k run around Green & St. James’s parks by my office for about 7.5 miles total.

The run commute was quite foggy in Regent’s Park!

It is always neat to run through Oxford Circus and Piccadilly without the crowds.

I wore my brightest Valentine’s tights for the work 5k. It was warm enough for me to wear shorts, but I decided to wear the tights any ways and was fine.

That evening, as Dustin cooked a Valentine’s Day dinner (what a guy!), I did the Iron Strength Quad session and some core on Peloton.

Wednesday: Rest day from running! Lots of walking, between the dogs and my commute.

Thursday: Earlier in the week, I had developed an annoying cold and it was probably at its worst Wednesday night; I didn’t sleep well and was congested Thursday morning, but decided I was healthy enough to try another workout, which was 10 min tempo, recovery jog, then 5×3 minutes on, then cooldown. I covered 9 miles total, but it wasn’t my best workout. I blame the cold (don’t worry, it’s not covid as I’m already feeling better and did test twice when I had symptoms, just an annoying cold.)

Thursday evening (since I was feeling better) we had a belated Valentine’s day dinner at Black Axe Mangal in Highbury. Highbury is another London neighborhood a short overground train ride away from Hampstead. It was a funky place-I felt a bit too old and not hip enough to be there, ha! But it was fun and the food was interesting.

Friday: Finally a wfh day, after 4 days in the office! Dustin and Ruth joined me for an 8 mile run before starting the work day.

After work, I did an Iron Strength shoulders & triceps session on YouTube + core on Peloton.

Saturday: Long run day!

I headed out on my own from Hampstead through Primrose and Regent’s to Hyde park where I met up with the Serpentine run club again. I had 7 miles under my belt by the time I met up with them, and I planned a bit better this time and showed up right as their warm-up was ending; I covered about 6 miles with them before making my way back home (the long way around Regent’s) for 18 miles total.

I took two Maurten gels and had my handheld water bottle full of nuun, though I did have to stop at a cafe to buy more water around mile 13. It was about 54F or 12C, but I was still sweating a fair amount and definitely needed the additional hydration. I run hot!

It looked like spring had sprung in Hyde Park; I spotted this parakeet in a flowering tree!

Dustin was already home from his long run by the time I got back, so he took the pups to the Heath to run around for awhile while I showered and relaxed a bit, and then we both walked to lunch at Silverberry down the road.

The group at the Serpentine run club was different from the people I met the last time I was, i.e. I didn’t know anyone, but I met a few nice people around my pace. I don’t know that I’ll run with them every weekend that we are in London, but it was nice to have company. (Dustin had a workout in his long run and did his own thing.)

Saturday evening, we had dinner at Fallow (right by my office!) and then went to the play Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons (also right by my office in Leicester Square.)

Have you heard of this play? Here’s the premise, “You’re going to speak more than 123 million words in your lifetime. What will you do when they run out? Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons is about what we say, how we say it, and what happens when we can’t say anything anymore.“

It was just a two-actor play, 85 minutes with no intermission. It was good though and brought up some interesting topics for discussion.

Sunday: One of the Rovers (dog walkers) we use for Ruth & Matilda knows that we are runners so she invited us to try out her running group called the Croissant Chasers; they met at the Heath, so easy-peasy to meet up. They were all very nice!

They run on Sundays and then get a coffee and croissant at a local cafe. We ran 6.2 miles, then I had a delicious almond croissant, and then jogged home afterwards.

Ruth was the star of the run; she got lots of attention and love!

Summary: 57 miles of running with 3 Iron Strength sessions and an attempt at daily core on Peloton.

This upcoming week will be busy one at work followed by a weekend away in the English town of Bath! Have you been? It’s about a 90 minute train ride from London. We have a pretty full agenda planned, including a long run there, but welcome any advice if you have been to Bath before.

Well, 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!

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