Hello! I hope you’re staying cool in the hot August sun!
Here’s how training for the Cape Town marathon went this past week:
Monday: A Monday “session” with some marathon paced intervals, 4×5 minutes with a 2 minute jog in between. 8 miles total. Core (dead bug) and upper body after work (Caroline Girvan.)
Tuesday: Run commute, 4.5 miles, + run in Hyde park for another 4.5, 9 miles total.
Barre at Psycle after work- it was a tough barre class! The instructor was Rodney and he was the hardest I have been to, at least at Psycle.
It was the hottest day of the year so far in London; Dustin and I headed over to the mixed ponds for a dip, but the line was outrageous. Last entrance is at 8:15 pm, and we were still in line when they stopped letting people in. Try again another day! At least it’s a short walk from our flat.
Wednesday: Short speed on the track! Warm-up, 10x400m with 75 sec standing rest, cool-down for 5.25 miles. This may have been the first track workout I’ve done with standing rest instead of a jog rest, but it was kind of nice. You actually really caught your breath.
Heartcore pilates after work.
Thursday: Rest from running! Had a bit of a lie-in, which was lovely (though without air conditioning, sleep has been a little less than ideal in the 90F/30C heat!) I took another Heartcore pilates class after work, then met Dustin at L’Antica Pizzeria in Hampstead for some delicious pizza and wine. This is one of my favorite neighborhood pizza places, but its quite small and they don’t take bookings, so it’s hard to go there on the weekends or with a group!
Friday: Early run with my friend Tina, 9 miles total for me, finishing with some strides on the track.
Followed up the run with a swim in the mixed ponds in the Heath. Trying to get some good use out of my annual pass. My Whoop actually recognizes when I swim and tells me it’s a great way to recover!
Saturday: Long run with the WMN Run group. Tina and I met at the Chalk Farm tube station and ran from there to the London Bridge meeting location to start at 8:30 am. They ran a fun route along the River Thames to the Lee River Valley up to Victoria Park, where I dropped off to the Hackney Central overground station to head home, ending with just under 15 miles, easy pace. Great social run!
That afternoon, Dustin and I went to a tea at the AKIRA Restaurant in Japan House in Kensington- a Japanese take on the traditional British tea!
It was a nice little afternoon, after which we explored a bit more of Kensington (including a quick pint at the photogenic Churchill Arms pub) before heading back home to watch some Olympics.
Sunday: With the class package I bought at Psycle, I received a guest pass, and it was expiring on the 4th (today) so I convinced Dustin to try out his first ever pilates Reformer class. He did take Solidcore classes back in the U.S., which are somewhat similar, so it wasn’t totally new to him. I appreciated his willingness to join me!
We decided to run to the studio in Shoreditch (5.5 miles),changed into fresh clothes, and then took the class. We followed it all up with lunch in the Spitalfield’s Market , some shopping and an afternoon pint on Brick Lane, before heading back to Hampstead to spend some time exercising the pups, instead of ourselves!
All in all, a really nice London weekend, with running, good meals, dog walks, Olympic watching, and more!
Summary: 51 miles of running, 1 barre class and 3 pilates classes. Solid mix of running and strength/core.
I have been enjoying watching the Olympics – both at home, and at work! The building where my office is has a little watch party set up outside, and a few of us have been hanging out there over lunch.
And that’s a wrap! I’ll leave you with this picture from our dog walker of the girls with their “friends” on the Heath.
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!
OMG, I love that top photo! So fun!
It sounds like a *solid* week. How did Dustin like that class?
Hehe, right? Catches Ruth at a very funny angle 🙂 Her doggy day care sent it to us.
We don’t have AC at the lake house and it’s been quite warm this summer! The ceiling fans are definitely a good thing to have. Early morning runs are the only way to get it done this summer.
I spied a PBR glass in Dustin’s hand!
We don’t have any ceiling fans, but definitely bought a few stand-up rotating ones off of Amazon!
It was random they served him the beer in a PBR glass as it wasn’t a PBR! But good eye 🙂
Looks like a fun week for you all! How did Dustin like his Pilates class? My hubs would never!
He didn’t mind it! He was a good sport and appreciated the value, and it helped that there were only men in the class and the instructor was a guy.
What a nice week at home. I love the name of that place, psycle! I have never done a pilates class. How nice you can watch the Olympics at work!
I have become a big fan of pilates, its my primary source of strength training!
Oh gosh, I can tolerate the heat when it comes to running/walking/biking. But I think I’d be really out of sorts without A/C in my house, LOL. Looks like a solid week of fitness for you, great job!
I know, back in the US, we would go from A/C to A/C and not really notice the heat except for running, etc…now its rare to find a place with A/C
What a fun week. I am sure running is so fun in London with all the sights!
I definitely have got to know the city quite well via running!
What a great week! Sounds like everyone enjoyed themselves, including the pups. It must be nice to watch the Olympics in real time- I’ve just been watching Prime time coverage which means everything already happened. But I’m loving it anyway. And now I can’t wait to see track and field!
Occasionally we flip to watch some of the US coverage (we are still able to access via a VPN + subscription) and its interesting to see the differences in what is covered and how! The U.S. coverage seems to love its featured stories where they really dive into a particular athlete, more than here.
That first picture of your dog is fantastic!!! I love it!
Great week of running and everything else! How nice that you can see the Olympics outside at work. We have to make do with RTÈ Player on a laptop 🙂 (Although, of course we could go to watch it in a pub if we wanted to)
Are those sushi-looking thingys sweets? It’s a really cool idea if so!
Haha, thanks Susanne! There was a mix of sweets and savories at the Japanese tea!
We are watching at a pub this weekend for some of the athletic finals!
Your girls are so freaking photogenic! Ruth cracks me up!
I love that your work sets up an Olympics viewing area. that’s really cool!
Mixed ponds sound pretty popular!
Ruth is a riot…she entertains us all!
we normally don’t use AC often but this summer… I would die upstairs working from home… so hot!!
I’m sad that the Olympics are over… I guess I’ll be reading more.