The Week of the Cape Town Marathon

Hello! I missed a few weeks of blogging as I was in South Africa, but I’m back, and I’m working on my recap of the Cape Town marathon and of our 9 days in South Africa. Stop by soon for those detailed posts.

But first, here’s my recap of the week of the marathon!

Monday: Birthday run! 5-ish miles in the pouring rain. What a way to celebrate my 3rd birthday in London, in very London-esque running conditions!

Tuesday: Last mini-workout before Cape Town: warm-up, 6 minutes at marathon pace, 4 min jog, 12 min at marathon pace, 4 min jog, 6 min at marathon pace for 6.2 miles total before work. Legs felt heavy but that’s part of the taper right?

Wednesday: Rest from running.

Thursday: 5 miles easy with Ruth along the canal.

I worked most of the day before we took the underground out to Heathrow for a 12-hour overnight flight from London to Cape Town. I did all the tricks to try to sleep well on the flight: solid exercise before the flight, nice long shower at home, a glass of wine at the airport, then we settled in on the flight with melatonin (which, by the way, you can’t buy in London!), compression socks, and the comfiest outfit I could find. I think the melatonin helped, since its not something I normally take, and I slept reasonably well.

Friday: Morning arrival in Cape Town, South Africa.

A 3-mile run to shake off the legs from the long flight.

After the run/shower/breakfast, we walked to the expo to pick up our race packets.

Saturday: Another morning run in Cape Town, 3 miles.

We spent the rest of the day exploring. We made a visit to the penguin colony on Boulder’s Beach, drove to the Cape of Good Hope (where we saw ostriches and a baboon wandering around), and then drove Chapman’s Peak scenic drive (gorgeous!)

Sunday: The Cape Town Marathon in South Africa. Marathon #46!

Guess what? I finished- not in the 3:4X time I felt that I was trained for, but I snuck in under 4 hours and had a lot of fun. And I completed a marathon on a new continent!

Longevity in running combined with a continued love of the marathon- those are my primary goals. I’ll share a full detailed recap of the marathon and my experience; Cape Town is in the running to become a World Major, the first one on the continent, so you may be interested in running it in the future (and I highly recommend Cape Town as a place for a holiday!)

Summary: 49 miles of running, minimal strength. Lots of rest, finishing with a 42km tour of Cape Town!

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!