In a perfect world, I would have wrote a post for ‘1 month until London Marathon‘ but the training plan I chose had me running two 20 mile peak weeks. It has been a long 15 weeks of training but I am feeling ready. Now that I am officially in taper mode, a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. My mileage is decreasing, leaving more time for food prep and Dance Moms reruns (my latest guilty pleasure). With less than 3 weeks until my second World Marathon Major, how will my training change in the lead up to the starting line?
Less mileage– This is good as Strava just told me it is time for new shoes. I might use my Salomons 3D this week for short runs. In the post, I recently received Wiiv custom insoles which used photographs of my feet to create the perfect fit. Is 3 weeks enough time to break in new shoes and/or insoles? I am not willing to risk it so I will wait to try these insoles out. More stength training with Julia B Fit– Every. Time. I. Say. I will strength train. Then I don’t. There just isn’t enough time in the day to work and train in all the disciplines that balance the time on my feet. Julia’s workouts are great because you can mix and match different sessions based on your training goals and how much time you have. You can get started in her online gym for free, so click on the link above and have a mosey around.
Thank you John Lewis for my new yoga bag. So fancy!
More yoga– John Lewis sent me a ‘yoga at home’ kit from their wellness campaign. Like strength training, yoga is something I know I need to do more of as a runner, especially one who has Achilles tendonitis and periformis issues. The bag is beautiful and I can totally see it as a beach bag or carry on. There was also a resistance band in the bundle, which will be handy with the strength training point above.
More sleep– Seriously. If you are part of a sleep research lab, can I please be a study subject? I need eight to nine hours normally but then with big miles on top, even more. Any advice on developing quality sleep patterns?
Whole30 rules– After having to stop and use the bathroom four times on my 20 miler on Sunday and three times during Berlin Marathon, I need to get my GI system under control. I will loose a lot of time trying to find a bathroom during London Marathon but also it is no fun having to worry about having an accident for 4+ hours.
What do you do in the last two weeks leading up to a big race? Let me know in the comments below.
I am so excited to announce my new charity event, benefitting Plantlife as part of my commitment to raise £1000 for the London Marathon. Plantlife gives a voice to the nation’s wildflowers, making all of your trail runs much more enjoyable.
Please join me on Saturday 11th February at Best’s Bootcamp (near Charing Cross tube station in London) at 11am for 11:15am departure for an easy 5K run through the streets of London. This will be a social pace to catch up with friends, see London’s glorious skyline from the riverbank, and explore new streets.
We will come back to Best’s for a 60 minute yoga class with Lauryn Allman. She will lead you through a class for all abilities, targeting the muscles and joints runners use most as a way to stretch out safely.
More about the class: Focusing on relieving tension where runners feel it most, Lauryn will lead you through an all levels Yoga for Runners vinyasa class. Even if yoga isn’t your forte, Lauryn will guide you to feel confident and comfortable in the practice.
More about Lauryn: An actor, writer and life long Anglophile, Lauryn’s dreams came true when she moved to London from Canada in 2014. With nearly a decade of personal practice and study under her belt, Lauryn decided to take her passion for yoga further and completed her 200 hour Vinyasa Flow teacher training with YogaLondon. Yoga and meditation have helped Lauryn to marry her coffee loving, rapid fire brain with her need for quiet and and Sunday nights in with the cat. Her hope is to guide others to find their own balance both on and off the mat.
Before you go, grab your goody bag and enjoy some light refreshments.
Best’s Bootcamp has graciously offered us full use of their facilities, including lockers and showers. I am so grateful for their support! The studio is brand new, with plugs to charge your phone in your locker, amazing instructor cam, treadmills that have a down hills (sadly, we won’t be using them) as well as a spin studio.
Only 25 spaces available so book in today!
Tickets
Big thanks to the following companies for donating to the goody bags (more to come!):
Travelling can bring you to a more relaxing setting, but the journey there can be stressful. On my trip over the weekend to France and Germany, I found myself sitting a lot in the airport, then on the plane, and finally in the car for a few hours. I just couldn’t get comfortable and found my lower back really knotted up.
The moves included in the infographic from Furniture at Work below can easily be done at your desk at work or on a plane or during a roadtrip. (Please refrain from exercising if you are behind the wheel. Focus on the road ahead!) I highly recomend that instead of taking a 5 minute Facebook break, you instead give the poses below a try.
While our flight was delayed in Frankfurt, I came up with a few suggestions for exercises you can easily do at the airport. These include:
Bulgarian squats (with one leg up on the chair)
Incline press ups (horrible angle, ugh!)
Side plank (add in a twist if it is easy)
Tricep dips (legs straight to make it tougher)
Remember to take a few moments every day to stretch at your desk. Nobody wants to die young, especially if you are so working hard you don;t have time to enjoy life outside the office.
How do you relax and reenergize when you are stuck at your desk all day? Leave a comment below with your tips or tweet me (@PTMollie) with #officeyoga.
This post was in collaboration with Furniture at Work, a company keen to raise awareness of the importance of movement at work. Corportate wellness is important, so get in touch if you would like me to lead a fitness class or run club at your central London workplace.
Travelling can bring you to a more relaxing setting, but the journey there can be stressful. On my trip over the weekend to France and Germany, I found myself sitting a lot in the airport, then on the plane, and finally in the car for a few hours. I just couldn’t get comfortable and found my lower back really knotted up.
The moves included in the infographic from Furniture at Work below can easily be done at your desk at work or on a plane or during a roadtrip. (Please refrain from exercising if you are behind the wheel. Focus on the road ahead!) I highly recomend that instead of taking a 5 minute Facebook break, you instead give the poses below a try.
While our flight was delayed in Frankfurt, I came up with a few suggestions for exercises you can easily do at the airport. These include:
Bulgarian squats (with one leg up on the chair)
Incline press ups (horrible angle, ugh!)
Side plank (add in a twist if it is easy)
Tricep dips (legs straight to make it tougher)
Remember to take a few moments every day to stretch at your desk. Nobody wants to die young, especially if you are so working hard you don;t have time to enjoy life outside the office.
How do you relax and reenergize when you are stuck at your desk all day? Leave a comment below with your tips or tweet me (@PTMollie) with #officeyoga.
This post was in collaboration with Furniture at Work, a company keen to raise awareness of the importance of movement at work. Corportate wellness is important, so get in touch if you would like me to lead a fitness class or run club at your central London workplace.
My experience with yoga is infrequent. I only make it to a class when there is a special offer or a unique workshop on for runners. For a few weeks last year, I made it to the class offered at work but my days are so full on right now, I barely have time to eat lunch. Which is all the more reason I should be going to yoga!
The lovely folks at Fierce Grace Yoga invited me over for a class to experience what they have to offer. With six studios throughout the city, it was easy to find one that fit into my commute (the Old Street location, just a short walk north of the station). They also have lots of classes offered throughout the day, making it even more accessible to fit around anyone’s schedule. I chose the Fierce Grace signature class and hoped it wouldn’t be above my level.
Note how red my face is.
Busy timetable at Old Street
The few times I have tried hot yoga, I found it wasn’t for me. I couldn’t breathe and it irritated my skin allergy. At Fierce Grace Yoga, I loved being enveloped by the warmth of the studio. I did start to struggle to breathe a bit after about 60 minutes, but I think that might have been more due to fatigue. I was quickly making my way through my water bottle and completely soaked with sweat. The instructor encouraged us to take breaks as needed and I did just that towards the end of class. Who doesn’t love a little Child’s Pose?
Some of the moves during class were too advanced for me, but I just grabbed a block to help me find a better position. Most of the attendees seemed capable of completing all the sequences which was very impressive!
Fierce Grace yoga is perfect for those who enjoy hot yoga (obviously) and those looking to get leaner and stronger. It would also be good for people training for events in hotter climates, such as Marathon de Sables. They are also very reasonable in price/class, considering the length of the classes. I would recommend bringing your own mat and at least two towels (one for class and one for a shower) although you are able to rent both at the studio. Also, there are lockers in the studio for your valuable but the womens’ changing room only has shelves and coat hooks.
By the time I got home, I needed more water STAT. Luckily I had a bottle of the new For Goodness Shakes coconut protein water. They had invited me along to a special HIIT class where I was able to learn more about the water and, of course, fit in some exercise. Normally I don’t like coconut water, but I did like this stuff. Each bottle contains 20g of whey protein, which, according to Claire Baseley, registered nutritionist, is more than enough for a cardio session, such as spinning or aerobics. Consuming protein during a workout allows the muscles to start repairing immediately. It helps for those long sessions too, which my 90 minute yoga session was for me (I should have packed the protein water!). If you are taking part in a resistance set, you will need more protein for your recovery because the muscles are damaged by lifting weights.
For Goodness Shakes coconut water =delish!
Whey protein is very digestible and rapidly dissolves in water, making it super absorbent into your body. If you are not allergic to milk, definitely give it a try. However, if you are slightly intolerant to milk products, you will need to try a little bit first.
I spotted For Goodness Shakes protein water in Asda, so it shouldn’t be hard for you to find when you are out and about. The flavour is refreshing and light as a post-workout treat after a workout in the summer (as opposed to a milk-based protein shake). Plus, it is only 86 calories per bottle, has zero sugar and zero fat. Score!
How do you re-hydrate after a hot yoga class? Let me know in the comments below!
Big thanks to Fierce Grace and For Goodness Shakes for allowing me to try their products. All opinions are honest and my own.
It is fun to get invited to a new fitness studio in London. I had never been to the Turnpike Lane area before last week, and was excited to explore the area before my session at Omnida Studios. The studio has only been open since the autumn, but offers a wide range of classes- yoga, dance, Pilates, and fitness to name a few. Myself and a few other bloggers were invited to try out their latest offering, hot yoga. The room is kept at 38 degrees C (that is 100 degrees F for those in the USA). I thought it was perfect. The evening was cold and windy. The warm room wasn’t oppressive, like I have experienced at a Bikram studio in Texas. Last time I tried hot yoga was at Life Shoreditch and at the time my skin allergy was very bad. The sweat and heat made me very uncomfortable. However, my experience at Omnida was the complete opposite. The front studio is small, which means you get a lot of personalized attention from the instructor.
I felt instantly relaxed in the warm room even before we started out warm up. The high temps also help muscles become more elastic (more flexible) which will decrease your risk for injury. This flexibility also gives you the opportunity to try getting a little deeper into postures that might prove challenging at room temperature. Breathing and lung capacity are also improved when practising hot yoga. Other benefits include the body burning fat more effectively because of the warm muscles and cardio benefits as the heart rate is elevated.
I enjoyed the class as it was challenging but nothing I felt uncomfortable doing. The instructor was very welcoming and gave clear verbal instructions both when she was performing the poses and when she was walking around the room. We were each provided with a mat and towel. The owners and other studio staff were all friendly and the changing room was clean. There is only one toilet, but I assume more of the clients are local and simply go home after the class. The location is super convenient, just outside Turnpike Lane station.
Thanks again to Omnida Studios to inviting me to their hot yoga taster session. It was fab to see some friends I haven’t seen in a while, as well as make new blogging friends. All opinions are honest and my own. Thanks also to Green People, Super Seeds,Faith in Nature, and Tea Pigs for the awesome treats too.
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