3 Weeks Until the Dublin Marathon

Hello! This was a full week – lots of great memories for sure, but probably not my strongest “peak” week of a marathon training cycle. I’m hopeful that the rest of the training will compensate for a less-than-perfect one this week but either way, it was worth it (except for the nasty cold that I had for most of it.) I try my best to balance running and training with living the rest of my life as best I can, and this is essentially my journal of how that happens!

Monday: As I mentioned in last week’s recap, we flew to Inverness, Scotland on Sunday, and then drove to the Isle of Skye. We stayed in a wonderful air bnb in the town of Dunvegan.

It was kind of in the middle of nowhere, but in a perfectly charming Scottish way! On Monday morning, Dustin and I were up early to do a 5 mile run to explore the area. The sheep on the gravel road were not pleased that we disturbed their slumber! They gave us the side eye the whole time we ran….

I’m writing a separate post about our trip to the Isle of Skye to share our itinerary. It was such a cool place to visit, but it did take a fair amount of research and planning, so I want to share what we did in case its valuable to others. I’ll briefly recap what we did, but stay tuned for a separate post!

After the run, we hiked the Old Man of Storr, which was incredible.

Then we continued our drive around the island with various sites and stops, before stopping to hike most of the Quiraing- also incredible. There was quite a bit of walking/hiking on this first full day on Skye!

Tuesday: Another 5 mile run on the Scottish country roads near the air bnb with Dustin before more exploring of Skye, including a thrilling cold plunge into the Fairy Pools!

We also saw a few more sites; I’ll recap it all soon!

Wednesday: Throughout the week, I could feel a cold coming on- it started in the throat, then congestion, then a cough. Wednesday was the worst day of symptoms, and I was certain it was Covid. But I tested 3 times though and it was always negative, so apparently just a bad cold.

Wednesday was our long travel day back to London: a 3-hour drive from the Isle of Skye to Inverness, 90 minute flight from Inverness to London, 1 hour underground train ride back to Hampstead…by the time we were back at our place, I was very tired and my cold symptoms were at their worst, but I tested again and it was negative. I was hopeful that this would be the worst day and that I would start to feel better soon after a good night’s rest back in my own bed. Colds are the worst, aren’t they! I tried my best to not let it put a damper on my sister’s visit though.

Thursday: Lots of meds, hydration, and a good night’s rest, and I woke up feeling much better.

My sister (the one who was in Skye with us) and her crew were back in London for a few days to stay with us (our first visitors at our new place), but they were exploring on their own with a bus tour to Windsor Castle and Stonehenge on Thursday, so I worked.

I ran commuted with my coworker Tina, 5 miles (added on a bit) and then a 5 mile run with the office group for 10 miles total. I felt good enough on those miles, though I kept my distance as much as possible to make sure no one caught my cold (and masked on the tube as well.) If you recall, it was this same younger sister’s visit last year when I got Covid right before the Amsterdam marathon and didn’t get to run it! So I was glad it wasn’t Covid, but sometimes a cold can be just as rough!

Friday: I had gone to a pharmacist who gave me some strong meds that really helped to mitigate the symptoms and I was feeling almost normal. I ran 8.5 miles with Ruth before spending the day with my sister and crew showing them around London. Since they did most of the traditional tourist things last time, this time I gave them more of a local’s tour.

While I was running, they walked through Hampstead Heath to the top of Parliament Hill for a view of London. Then after I was back and showered, we went to Regent’s Park Road (i.e what I call Primrose high street) for breakfast at Sweet Things. We walked with our coffees through Primrose Hill park to the top of Primrose Hill for another view of London before making our way to Regent’s Canal for a stroll to Camden Market.

We had lunch at Camden Market and then took the tube to Leicester Square to visit Fortnum & Mason for souvenirs and some window shopping along Old Bond Street. It was a gorgeously sunny 73 F/23 C day, perfect for exploring. We ended the day with dinner at Duck & Waffle in east London, which is known for its great view of London, but definitely not for the food or service, (would NOT recommend.)

Saturday: Our guests were out the door at 5 am to head to Heathrow; I went back to sleep for a bit and decided to push my last big long run to Sunday and give my body another day to recover from travel and the cold. Dustin and I ran 8.75 miles with Ruth instead on a glorious sunny fall day in London.

Sunday: Last big long run, 22 miles! Something weird happened with Strava and it loaded there as 23, but it was only 22. There was a huge half marathon going on called the “Royal Parks Half Marathon” and I knew I needed to avoid Hyde/St. James’s/Green, so I ran down the canal past Victoria park and back. It was a warmer than normal day (77F/24C) and I stopped once to buy Lucozade and once to buy more water. I got it done, though it was a long one!

Summary: 60 miles. Not much for strength training as we were so busy traveling and hosting, but hope to get back to core and some strength next week.

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!