This is week 9 of an 18-week training plan that will hopefully get me to the marathon start line ready to have an amazing race, and maybe even PR!
Monday, December 23
After sleeping in and eating a sufganiyah (doughnut) for breakfast (and making sure I properly digested), I completed my speed workout for the week, which totaled 8 miles:
1.82mi warm-up 5 * 1K @ 5K-10K pace; 400m rest 1.82mi cool down
I wouldn’t normally do a speed workout the day after running 15 miles, but Lior and I are planning on taking a trip later in the week, which means fewer days for longer runs/quality workouts. In the end, it worked out fine. I celebrated my run by eating another sufganiyah!
Lior’s parents missed their flight, so they re-booked for Wednesday, came back to our apartment, and we celebrated the second night of Hanukkah together. Last night we sang their melody for the blessings over the candles, and tonight, we sang my family’s melody. In the evening, Lior and I also decided to postpone our trip to Cornwall to mid-January…it’s a good decision, because even though Lior will need to take a day/1.5 days off, it’s not during the holiday season, so things should actually be open.
Tuesday, December 24
I don’t feel the usual post-half marathon soreness (difficulty sitting/standing up), but I still woke up feeling stiff. What else is new!
I went on an easy 6.1 mile run, during which I felt pain on the top of my right foot. This happens to me occasionally, it means that the tendons on the top of my foot are a bit swollen, probably from too-tight shoes. I re-laced my shoes, to open the middle up and put less pressure on the top of my foot. The pain (a dull pain, not a stabbing pain) should go away over time. After lunch (yay, delivery sushi!) and a shower, I iced my foot, to help reduce inflammation.
Wednesday, December 25
Merry Christmas! We had a crepe breakfast, and Lior and his parents went to walk around Kensington Gardens. I used the time to complete my run of the day. When I woke up my right foot was pain-free (and felt very minimal soreness), so after adjusting my shoelaces to keep pressure off the top of my foot but still give my ankle stability, I set out on my scheduled 10 mile run. The weather was beautiful, the run went great, and I was pain-free throughout! I returned home, and shortly after, Lior’s parents left for the airport.
Since basically everything is closed in London on Christmas Day, we spent the rest of the day indoors, drinking gin and tonics, and watching TV. I saw The Shawshank Redemption for the first time (I know…I don’t watch a lot of movies…), we hung out and made lunch and dinner together, and it was lovely.
Thursday, December 26
We woke up to a grey, rainy day. Lior went grocery shopping while I ran 6 soggy miles. Turns out my windbreaker isn’t waterproof! Oh well. Luckily it wasn’t cold out, so everything was fine. I came home, Lior made lunch, and we hung out some more.
Why is everything closed here?! Seriously, I do not think a city can be considered truly international/metropolitan when everything shuts down like this. NYC > London, y’all. Anyway, in the afternoon we continued our tradition of watching movies I’ve never seen, with Ghost. It was very cheesy, and I now understand where “You’re in danger, girl” comes from. In the evening we put on fancy clothes and went out to dinner! Busaba never disappoints (unless ordering the pepper beef dish as takeout, when it becomes very garlic-y).
Friday, December 27
Day trip! We woke up early (as in, when I wake up for races), to make the most of England’s limited daylight for a trip to Rye. Lior made us crepes (the crepes were pre-made, he heated them in a skillet with toppings, but since I wanted to just go to Pret, I consider this impressive), which we packed to go as we set off for our adventure.
We mostly wandered around the streets, where Lior (okay, and sometimes I) constantly commented on how quaint it was. We toured Ypres Castle, ate lunch, walked around Mermaid Street, and grabbed a hot cider before returning home. Rye is cute, but I’d only visit if you have a lot of spare time in the UK on your hands, because there’s not too much to do there.
WARNING: The video below is of me eating sea snails. Don’t click if you’re not into that sort of thing.
Saturday, December 28
After a lazy morning, I went out for a 10 mile run. I’ve noticed a shift, where this distance no longer feels intimidating. I guess having two 10+ mile runs per week will do that! For the rest of the day, we were completely lazy, and it was amazing.
Sunday, December 29
After shutting off my alarm (and sleeping through Lior’s), I eventually woke up and ran 5.1 miles, completing my last run for the week. I had a great time…though I need to do better about digestion + coffee + bathroom visits before running. I’m lucky that Battersea Park has a few public bathrooms, but I’d prefer to not have to use them.
Lior and I were originally going to visit the Tower of London today, but decided that with the commute/waiting, there wouldn’t be enough daylight left. Instead, we went to check out what I THOUGHT was just a pop-up cider bar, but was actually a Christmas market. On the way, something bothered me/got me agitated, then the crowded subway + crowded Christmas market with people who don’t know how to walk gave me a panic attack. Fun! It temporarily went away when I got a drink and grilled cheese…but then came back. And we had to take the tube home…so more crowded spaces with people who don’t know how to walk. It sucked and I’m still not over it…but it’s slowly getting better.
Total Distance: 45.4 miles
This was my fifth consecutive week of 40+ miles, and I’ve officially reached the halfway point of my training–blog post to come tomorrow with more about that. After last week’s half marathon and the foot pain I felt at the beginning of the week, I decided that despite the high (for me) mileage, this week would be filled with lower intensity runs. I feel really good about this decision, because I feel relatively not sore at the end of my second-highest mileage week (so far) of this training cycle, and because I have two 10K races next week, and I want to be relatively fresh for those.