Happy Christmas from London! I hope you had a wonderful week during this festive season.
Here’s how my week went in training for the Paris marathon in April!
Monday: Easy 6.5 mile run before work- and the sun actually arrived!
Heartcore reformer pilates after work. I had gone to pilates on Sunday; two days in a row actually leaves me pretty sore! Both classes had great instructors, which means harder workouts. So glad I found Heartcore in 2024!
Monday evening, Dustin and I walked through the Heath to the Spaniard’s Inn (one of London’s oldest pubs/restaurants; supposedly haunted AND right next door to Harry Styles house, ha! Read more HERE.)
Had to represent the vizslas with my jumper!
Tuesday: Dustin, Ruth, and I ran from our place through Regents Park- with a few laps of the inner circle rose garden with some speed intervals, and then some wandering through Mayfair to see some more holiday decor!
I did about 30 minutes of strength training later in the day.
Wednesday: Christmas Day! Dustin and I have our own little tradition of a Christmas Day run (I think we have been doing so every year of our 16 year marriage!)
We headed out early for a 4 mile jog through the Heath with Ruth.
Then we grabbed our cozy “dry robes” like real Brits, and walked to the Hampstead men’s pond for a Christmas Day plunge! Swimming in the men’s pond on Christmas Day is a Hampstead tradition; on Christmas Day only, both men and women can swim in the men’s pond. They have trumpeters playing holiday music, mince pies, mulled wine, lots of specators cheering for the brave swimmers. Its all very festive! It was such a unique little event that I’m so grateful to have experienced this year.
There is a whole documentary about the ponds in Hampstead on Netflix if you want to learn more- it’s called “the ponds.”
The mixed pond, which is closer to our place, is only open in the summer, but the men’s and women’s ponds are open all year long, and yes, people swim every single day of the year!
The water was quite cold and I only jumped in and swam for about 30 seconds, before swimming to the ladder to get out and get my dry robe back on.
Look at this sweetie waiting for his owner.
After the run and cold plunge, we warmed up with some homemade (by Dustin) cinnamon rolls, then started cooking our Christmas dinner (turkey, roast vegetables, yorkshire pudding, mashed potatoes, stuffing) and opened presents. A lovely low-key Christmas, just the two of us (and Ruth & Matilda.)
Eventually we took both dogs for a walk through the Heath. A post-(big) meal walk is the best!
Thursday: Boxing day. A holiday in the UK. I took advantage of the day off by getting my long run out of the way, and lucky me, Dustin was willing to join me. Running with Dustin means a slightly faster-than-normal pace, but it was great running weather and I felt pretty good. We did a unique route along the canal through Farringdon to the Thames, across Millennium Bridge along the river to Lambeth Bridge, and back through St. James, Hyde, and Regents parks.
That evening, we joined some friends for a cozy pub meal at the Devonshire in SoHo. The Devonshire has been getting a ton of press for its incredible food, which of course means its impossible to get a booking, but my friend Kate snagged one for a table for 5. What a treat! So good.
Friday: A regular work day, but things were pretty quiet. With my long run out of the way, I ran 6.5 miles with Ruth on a very foggy London morning. I did about 40 minutes of strength +core after work.
Saturday: Dustin and I ran 5 miles on the trails in the Heath (so muddy) before my dad arrived bright and early. You may recall that he visited last year as well between Christmas and NYE; a long flight from the US just for 3 nights, but it was his idea!
Honestly, he is very capable for a man in his 70’s; he downloaded CityMapper and figured out the trains from Heathrow, even with the Elizabeth line down (he took the PIccadilly, which is easy but slow!) Impressive work, dad!
I let him relax and settle in before we took the tube to Westminster for a tour of the abbey. At this point, I have done the Westminster Abbey tour a few too many times but what’s one more?
Tonight we have dinner planned and then a choir concert of Handel’s Messiah (his choice.)
Sunday: Planning to use Sunday as my rest day as we are heading out to Greenwich for the day: the Royal Observatory (the Prime Meridian) then the Cutty Sark, before lunch at the Greenwich Market and then the uber boat along the Thames back to Westminster to catch the tube back to Hampstead. (That’s the plan!)
Summary: About 45 miles of running, 1 pilates class and two other strength sessions.
We were able to get an appointment at the Royal Veterinary Clinic, the same place where Matilda went for her splenectomy last year. The bump on her hip is only getting bigger, as well as the lumps on her neck.
She may be old, but she is still our sweet Matilda. The vet said the best we can do right now is keep her comfortable with extra pain meds and anti-inflammatories. She’s actually doing relatively well on the meds.
My mother-in-law sent presents for both pups and Matilda was quick to try to get hers open!
I think I’ve mentioned this train tracker we have that is linked up to all the underground stations; its fascinating to look at some times, but on Christmas Day, all the trains are closed. So no lights on the train tracker!
That’s a wrap on this week!
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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