This week, Sarah Runs Israel is going on the road! Again! This is week 6 of a total of 7 weeks of base building, before I begin “officially” training for the Tokyo Marathon. After last week’s half marathon, this week is mostly about easy recovery miles and traveling to Amsterdam!
monday, october 14
After yesterday’s excitement, I took it easy during the day…also, someone was supposed to come clean the apartment and I wasn’t sure when this would be, and I wanted to be home…I spent time finishing some blog posts, and prepping posts about my upcoming visit to Amsterdam and Paris.
In the late afternoon, I ran 4 miles in Hyde Park. Because I put off the run and it was getting dark, I ended up needing to run faster than I originally wanted…oh well!
tuesday, october 15
Another low-key day (we have cable, which I haven’t been able to take advantage of in ages)! I went for a 5 mile run in Hyde Park and kept the pace more relaxed than yesterday, since I left the apartment with plenty of daylight left.
Such pretty views!
wednesday, october 16
Today I went to view an apartment that Lior and I will hopefully move into for the last three months of our stay in London. It has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, an actual kitchen, and a washer/dryer in-unit. Fingers crossed! I decided to run commute there, running 2.5 miles to the apartment and 2.5 miles home.
thursday, october 17
Today was a roller coaster, where we initially found out that the apartment’s price was higher than listed online…Lior told the broker that if the landlord wouldn’t budge on the price, then we’d need to start the search over. I was livid…and spent part of the day searching for other flats, none of which were as nice. I then went for a run, and afterwards, Lior called to let me know that the landlord agreed to our price! Our housing search is over. It was actually relatively simple–I only saw one place–but the hiccup still wasn’t pleasant.
But about my run–I haven’t done speed work in awhile. As soon as I return from my week+ in Amsterdam and Paris, I am going to start incorporating the speed work and tempo runs from the Hansons marathon training plan into my schedule. I decided that I wanted to see how the speed work will feel, so I opted to do the first speed workout today. At first, I was not in the mood…and then it was raining. Once the rain cleared, I decided to go out and get it over with. Armed with a new remix of upbeat songs, I set out and smashed the workout, which was 9 miles in total:
1.5mi warm up 12*(400m (.25mi) @ 5K-10K pace, 400m easy) 1.5mi cool down
The fast bits were probably definitely faster than my current 5K pace…but I had a lot of anger to get out, so I just went with it. I ran some loops around Kensington Gardens that were not flat, but not insanely hilly. I didn’t feel like schlepping to a track, and the view was just so gorgeous. Seriously, fall in Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens is so beautiful, and there were so many people out walking their adorably, jaunty dogs. It was the best.
I enjoyed the workout, and it was also a test run of using the “workout” application from Garmin. I liked that it actually told me when to start and stop each part of the workout. In the grand scheme of things, I know that successfully completing one isolated speed workout doesn’t mean much, but it was still a good confidence boost!
friday, october 18
Today I ran 5 miles, packed for my vacation, and then left the apartment for a non-running activity! I went to the Museum of London, which covers the history of London. I arrived about 40 minutes before the museum closed, so I didn’t get to see all of the exhibits. The entrance was free, and I’m glad because I didn’t find a lot of the content very engaging…such as an overly-dramatic short film about the Black Plague, while completely failing to cover the Jewish expulsion in 1290…
Lior and I then went to CRATE brewery, where we had pizza and drinks. This was momentous because Lior left work before 6pm!
saturday, october 19
Today, I took the train to Amsterdam! I arrived to the train station with enough time, but walked around looking for food…in the end I made it on the train, but it was a close call.
Once I arrived at Amsterdam Centraal, I bought an OV-chipkaart (metrocard) and took the trolley to my Airbnb. My Airbnb is centrally-located, only up one flight of stairs, and in a quiet area! I had briefly considered staying in a hostel, but the terrible reviews killed it for me and I decided to spend a little (not much, tbh) more.
After dropping off my things, I took a bus to Stadium Zuid, near the Olympic Stadium, where the Amsterdam Marathon holds its bib pick-up and race expo. After collecting my 8K bib, I briefly toured the expo before returning to the center of town and eating a giant pancake. I then returned to my Airbnb and had a vacation planning call with Camille.
Yum!
sunday, october 20
Today I ran the TCS Amsterdam 8K! I had a great time and hope to return for this race weekend in the future. I spent the rest of the day wandering around the city, eating delicious food, and then going home early. It was a great day!
total distance: 33 miles
This was an eventful week. I’m excited and SO RELIEVED that we got the apartment for the rest of our stay in London, and am having a blast in Amsterdam. I can’t wait for the next week of traveling!