Last week, it was pictures of the Christmas decor in London– this week, it’s pictures of the Christmas snow! Apparently, it hasn’t snowed like this here in many years. I guess I brought the bad weather from Minnesota!
The snow made running a little challenging this week (kinda missed my treadmill, just a little!), but I still got out there.
Here’s my weekly recap!
Monday: Rest day from running, a snow day in London. It would have been a great day to work from home, but I kind of wanted to see London in the snow…so even though the tube was a bit of a mess with lots of delays, I still made it into the office, which was very quiet (most of my colleagues had opted to work from home!)
Tuesday: I decided to try to run, despite the fact that London doesn’t really plow or shovel! They just don’t have those things since its such a rare occurrence.
The sidewalks were a mess, but once I got out of our neighborhood, I was able to find clearer paths that were mostly runnable. I made it around Regent’s park and back for 7.2 miles at a very conservative pace to avoid any slips. After a lazy day the day before, it felt good to run, even though I took it extra easy.
After work, I met up with my old college roommate Carolyn in Covent Garden for a celebratory drink; she’s lived here for 5 years and recently passed her “Life in the UK exam,” which basically means she is on track to stay here. Congrats Carolyn!
Back again in Covent Garden!
Wednesday: There had been some melt & refreeze overnight, so I decided to just take a bonus rest day. After work, I joined a few colleagues to see a show called La Clique, which was held in Leicester Square right outside our office.
Thursday: Okay, time to get back to it! I ran Regent’s again for 7 miles followed by a 30-minute Iron Strength session (focusing on the posterior chain) before settling in for a work from home day. Good timing, as there were more train strikes this day; not tube strikes, but when there are national rail (train) strikes, it does affect the tubes with delays and overall crowdedness.
Friday: Dustin and Ruth joined me for a rare weekday run, a 5-mile jaunt to Primrose Hill. Later that day, I did a 2nd Iron Strength session for the week, a 30-minute full body workout (it was a good one!)
Saturday: What a treat! Dustin joined me for my long run, which was a 12 mile run to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens and back. It is still wintery here, but the forecast calls for temps in the 50’s this week, so all the snow should melt soon. (I know, I know, I have to start quoting temps in Celsius!)
Sunday: 7 mile run with Dustin; we usually bring Ruth on Sunday runs, but it was raining and I knew she wouldn’t enjoy it, so we left her behind this time (but she still enjoyed her zoomies at Hampstead Heath after we got back!)
Summary: 38 miles of running, 15 miles of walking (that I tracked), and two strength sessions. I hope to fit in a 3rd Iron Strength session later today.
This upcoming week will be front-loaded with running and fitness, and then we fly out to the Laplands (in northern Finland) on Friday. We are meeting two of our friends from Minnesota there, and will be there for 5 nights; it will be a very unique holiday, (but no plans to run at all while we are there! There really isn’t anywhere to do so safely and I figure we’ll be plenty active with other things- and its probably a good thing to take a real 5 day break before really getting into Vienna training.)
We will be staying in the town of Levi, which is apparently a very Christmas-y location, with lots of activities for the kids (they are bringing their daughter), plus plenty for the adults as well. We will be snowboarding, taking a husky sleigh ride, a reindeer ride, staying overnight in an ice hotel, chasing the northern lights, some time in a sauna (of course), and more. I’m excited as its not a place I probably would otherwise have visited, but our friends invited us to join them (and honestly they did a lot of the planning- thank you!)
Well, that’s a wrap!
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!
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