Greetings from rainy London! 
I landed in London City Airport last night around 8:30pm, London time. Thanks to Friday Night Lights season 3 and a cold Heineken, the airport wait and the flight went very smoothly. My office offers a free shuttle service to the airport multiple times an hour which is faster than the TPG bus and a very nice perk. It only took 45 minutes from the minute I left the office until I had cleared security and was sitting in the lounge. 
Unfortunately, I was so excited to see Bo that going to sleep last night was not very easy. I finally fell asleep around midnight only to wake up at 5:15am for my 16 mile long run. By 6am I was out the door and heading towards the Thames River path for 6 solo miles in the cool, damp London morning.
I worked to keep my pace slower than normal during these first few miles as I know how important this is for long runs and marathon training. I also forced myself to sip water constantly as I’m guilty of not drinking enough, especially during cool weather long runs.
By 7am I was standing in Westminster Tube station waiting for my running date. After years of following her on Twitter, I finally had the pleasure of meeting Charlie this morning for a scenic ten mile run around London. Earlier in the week when I asked my London running bloggers if anyone wanted to join for a long run Friday morning, she responded within minutes! Not only did she volunteer to run 10 miles with me but she also took the time to put together an awesome, scenic route that would give me an opportunity to see new areas of the city!
I am so thankful, especially here in Europe, for my blog and the many amazing people it has helped me meet thus far!
Our ten miles took us by some of the well known London sites with one huge benefit – there were no tourists! Running early allowed us to enjoy the paths to ourselves and catch some things we wouldn’t see otherwise such as a stray fox crossing the path, military men training near the park, perfect views of the palace, and streets that were far easier to cross than normal! 
Three parks, two palaces, one river, and 10 miles later we ended back where we began, right in front of the Westminster Tube station, within view of Big Ben!
Running with Charlie was so much fun as it was our first time running together so the conversation flowed continuously and made the rainy miles pass far faster! My pace hovered around 9:55 during my first 6 and around 10:10 during the ten miles with Charlie, perfectly on target!
I am so thankful for a new friend in London and look forward to many more runs and activities together! It’s fun having an expert recommend her favorite workout classes, running routes, bars, restaurants, and shopping in the city!
Choose your city! If you could run or walk through any city in the world tomorrow which city would you choose? Why? I would love to do an architecture run through Barcelona! I never made it there during my summer studying abroad in Cadiz, Spain and have longed to visit ever since!
Great run! I think I would choose London or San Francisco, never been to either one!
I would come to London or Ireland! I feel like London would be historically/architecturally stimulating, and Ireland would be just plain scenic. Hey, whatever happened to the water sip sergeant from Philly?! Use that power on yourself girl!
This is awesome! So glad you found a good running buddy and had a scenic long run! Sounds like marathon training is going a lot better for you now 🙂
I would love to come and visit for sure!!!
I have to say Boston. I’ve lived here now for a year (and the four in college outside the city) and I’m infatuated with running here more and more every day. It’s the most amazing community and the sunrises over the Charles take my breath away without fail. Aside from Boston, I would love to run in Capri since I’m a sucker for running by the water! I bet I couldn’t make it more than a half mile at a time without stopping to take pictures though 🙂
Jana that’s so amazing that you love your own city so much!! It makes such a huge difference!
Paris, because it is my favorite city on the face of the planet. London is my close second though – it would be so cool to run the London Marathon or Half someday.
Yes Paris is amazing! I really want to do a half marathon in Paris, Dublin, London…
Ohhhhh good question! Do I have my legs or super legs? haha. I’d LOVE to run through pretty much any city in Greece, but don’t know how my legs would like me for it! Your pictures of London have me thinking it wouldn’t be so bad either ;).
Running through Greece sounds gorgeous but isn’t it pretty hilly? 🙂
I think so!! That’s why I asked if I had my legs — because I think I’d have to borrow a super runner’s to do it 🙂
PARIS PARIS PARIS PARIS PARIS.
Also, (and I know I’ve told you this a million times) but I am LOVING following your amazing European adventure. So bold, inspiring, and beautiful!
You’re too kind! I’m trying to balance travel posts with workouts 🙂
Love that ferris wheel shot! Great scenes, wish I could come run with you!
Thanks lovely! Hopefully you’ll come over soon!
Dublin! I went there to watch a friend run the Dublin Marathon in 2005, long before I started running, so I’d love to go run around there now. And end at the Guinness Storehouse 🙂
I actually thought doing the Dublin Half would be a fun weekend trip w Bo! We should plan for next year maybe 🙂
I love running in London! I did a 14-mile training run there on vacation several years ago – probably seeing some of the same sights you did – and it still ranks as one of my top runs! I have been in London a few times this year for work and always fit in at least one run, no matter how jet-lagged I am.
We will have to run together next time you pass through! I am already excited for my next long run here!!
Hi Ashley! I found your blog through Theodora and thought I would say hi! I moved from NYC to Madrid last October, so all of your expat adventures really resonate with me! If there are any expat type things I can help you with, or if you by chance find yourself in Madrid, feel free to drop me a line!
As for running…I have been trying to run outside here but it.is.HOT. Treadmill bound for now…but Barcelona in the right weather is lovely 🙂
Wow, that looks like a fab run through London! That’s so great that you found a long-run partner there.
I’m in the midst of planning a running route through Helsinki for my trip there in a couple weeks, so that’s definitely my pick. Running in Berlin is also an amazing way to see the city. During the half marathon you get to run through the Brandenburg Gate and through Checkpoint Charlie — so cool!
I’d love to run through any part of Greece because of the history (plus the food afterwards would be a HUGE perk!) and the beautiful sights!
sounds like a great run! YAY for running buddies!
This sounds like a great run. I’ve wanted to do these running tours in differ cities. Instead of a regular tour, you meet with a tour guide and run, while that tour guide explains the history of whatever you are seeing. You can pick differ parts of the city. I wanted to do it in D.C. when I was last there (October was amazing with the colors), but couldn’t due to a surgery.
I think I would love to run in Central Park, Ireland, and I really want to do this run in Morocco through the markets.
I have run in San Francisco twice and I’d do anything to go back. I just love love love the Golden Gate Bridge and running along the Embarcadero…But an opportunity to run in Europe would be quite tempting. A friend just traveled to London and Paris with her hubby and kept posting their running pics and routes….Sigh! In the meantime I’ll continue to enjoy all my NYC routes. I guess it’s all good training for the NYC Marathon in 75 days (not that i’m counting =)
Happy Running!
Your run looks wonderful – how nice to meet someone from twitter and get such a great run in. I have London envy!