Two Weeks Until the Barcelona Marathon

Well, this week was full-on taper mode for the Barcelona marathon on March 10th!

Technically I’m one week away from the race today (Sunday March 3), but this is a recap of two weeks out. I cut way back on pilates/strength and mileage. Here’s how it all went!

Monday: Rest from running, pilates at the studio by work, easier class- lots of stretching and core.

Tuesday: 7 mile run before work. Beautiful sunrise on the outer ring of Regent’s Park.

Wednesday: Last long-ish workout: warm-up, 3×2 miles at tempo with 3 min jog + 1 more bonus tempo mile, cool-down for 10 miles. I had enough time in the morning because I had a 9 am dentist appointment (and my dentist is right by our flat) and then I went into the office afterwards.

I tested out the Saucony Endorphin Elites for the workout as a race shoe; I liked them! It’s going to be difficult to keep them white in London though…

Especially during this muddy season! Just look at Ruth’s legs from a walk in Hampstead Heath!

Dustin was in Zurich for work, so I was on dog-duty, which was fine since I didn’t need to fit in any extra pilates/strength. I did do daily core (usually Caroline Girvan’s 12-minute dead bug workout) and some upper body strength at home, but kept things low-key for strength training.

Thursday: 4 mile rainy run. 4 miles felt so short! So much extra time in the morning, ha! I did notice that the sun is coming up quite a bit earlier so now I can run through Hampstead Heath before work (it isn’t well lit through the winter.)

The rain does bring all the spring flowers and greenery….

After work, a friend I met in London through work who moved back home to Dublin was back in London, so a group of us went to the Museum of Comedy in the Bloomsbury neighborhood to see a comedian, Christopher Wall. It was his “work in progress” (essentially trying out new jokes before an official tour.) He was hilarious and it was a fun evening.

Friday: Finally a wfh day! It was a torrential downpour but it didn’t look like that would change for awhile, so I went out in the rain for 6 miles. Then a muddy dog walk over lunch.

Saturday: “Short” little long run, just 11 miles. About the same length as my Wednesday workout, ha!

That afternoon, Dustin and I went to my first “football” (soccer) match. (Dustin has been to a few, but not me.) A running friend gave us her season tickets to the Tottenham Hotspurs game against Crystal Palace. Her tickets were amazing, premium, which included food and drink- and the food and drink was quite good! The Tottenham stadium was almost an hour away on the train, so it was a full day (had to book a Rover to come take care of the pups!) But it was a lot of fun to go to a match.

(This friend is a bit older than me, mid 50’s, and she was busy running a marathon that day, which is why she couldn’t use her tickets. She set a lifetime PR and qualified for Boston and London good for age! Woo-hoo! Age doesn’t matter, PR’s are still possible!)

The food and drink started 2 hours before the match (if you wanted to be there that early), then the game started at 3. During the game when you go to your seats, there is no food or drink allowed, only during half time.

The game was really fun- Spurs won! Football is so fast-paced too; I find American football to be a little boring to watch, but I enjoy watching football (soccer.)

Sunday: A lovely “lie-in”- trying to get my Whoops to tell me I’m 100% recovered! Then Ruth and I ran 5.5 miles together. Dustin was out doing a 20 mile run for the London marathon (which is April 21th.)

Summary: 1 pilates class, 43 miles of running

Next week at this time, I will hopefully be done running my 44th marathon! I hope all goes smoothly.

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!