I’m staying in Farringdon, Central London for a week and want to keep my IM training ticking over. Any tips for the following?
Thanks in advance
There’s an Everyone active on Marshall Street, near Oxford Circus. The gym is large and pretty well stocked. They have a pretty good pool and is generally not overly busy. Worth noting the pool is 30m rather than the standard 25m or 50m.
You don’t need to be a member but you do have to book.
Hey I really like the pool in Westminster near the Piccadilly Circus tube which I believe is called the Marshall St. Leisure center (30m pool or 100 feet):
Lots of great options here:
https://www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/londons-best-swimming-pools
For Farringdon your nearest place will be Ironmonger Row Baths. You can pre book or just turn up, no need to be a member. Gym with spin classes as well.
https://www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/london/islington/ironmonger-row-baths
For long park run laps I’d suggest Regents Park. You can run the outer circle, which will likely have lots of central London cyclists whizzing around doing laps, or peel off inside.
River runs are fine. London is a very safe city. Head out south west along the river along the south bank as it’s more scenic than going east. They’ll be loads of other runners. I’d always suggest ditching any music though when running in unfamiliar areas.
Your nearest large Tri club is Trilondon. Always worth giving them an email, I’m sure they could accommodate you in some sessions.
Enjoy the trip. London is finally starting to feel like it’s old self post pandemic.
Even closer to Farringdon pool-wise:
https://www.fusion-lifestyle.com/centres/golden-lane-sport-fitness/timetables/swimming/
I used to swim there back when I worked in the City and could count on the fingers of one hand then number of times I had to share a lane. And this was pre-covid when everyone was in the office every day. Depending on where you are in Farringdon, it’ll be a 5 min walk.
Generally-speaking, any leisure centre with a pool will have lane swimming sessions where you can just turn up & pay. If you get the time, worth heading out to one of London’s lidos. At this time of year bear in mind most aren’t heated, but London Fields is toasty all year round.
100% would not recommend trying to run laps around Regents. You’ll either spend the whole time dodging walkers/commuters or if you dip onto the road you’ll end up run over by the pelotons doing laps before/after work. Instead, if you’re an early riser then the Thames bank is a great run. If you’re not local, use it as a long, slow run & take in the sights. West from you will have more sights, but east will probably be a bit quieter. Use the south bank up until Tower Bridge, then you have to cross to the north bank and wiggle around a bit. Or just use that as the end of any loop. Going west, you can keep going literally as far as you want - the Thames Path Ultra starts in Oxford & runs 100 miles…
Failing that, for something a bit different, you’re only a mile or so from Regents Canal. The towpath can be a bit narrow in places, but it’s a lovely run through some less touristy parts of town. The Canal runs all the way down to the Thames at Limehouse if you did want to create a single big loop.
Exactly the info I was after, thanks a lot everybody!
Similar question, but just looking to swim a couple times when in London for about 10 days. Are there any masters programs that allow guests/drop-ins? I contacted one that said they’re too full. Several others appear to have workouts starting at 8pm - is this common? Contact info is tough to come by on their websites. My fallback plan is to show up at Pancras Square Leisure and try to swim with a day pass.
If in London for 10 days, definitely take a few trips out to the Olympic aquatic center. Take the Bakerloo tube line from Waterloo station to Stratford, then it is a 5 min walk to the aquatic center. If you are there for ten days, what I would do is spend one night at a hotel near the Olympic park, and do an evening swim and a morning swim.
I have not been there in two years, but most days have public lane swim all day for 6:30 am to 10 pm
Next year I am hoping to be in Paris for the TdF final stage and then next day take Eurostar to London just so I can swim at that pool, then I will fly home the next day direct from London
That looks incredible. About 40 min from where we are staying, but may be worth going there at least one day for a swim. Still hoping I can join a masters structured workout as well.
When I was back there 2 years ago I did this 10k loop - was great early morning running, people about at 5:30-6:30am, but not too crowded. And fun to tick off some sights. Covent Garden. Savoy, embankment, Barbican, the globe, Tate modern, millenium bridge, houses of parliament, Downing Street. Trafalgar square, strand. Many pigeons.
Swimming, I went to Oasis ( Facilities at Oasis Sports Centre | Camden | Better) . You need to download an app, then book, but I managed to do some decent workouts, even if the pool is a bizarre length. Can’t remember it being too expensive.
Go to the Olympic Aquatic center. If you are in the fast lane there will be good caliber swimmers and you can just join in on someone elses workout or invite them to join yours!!! You can go masters swimming anywhere, but you can’t swim in the same lane where Phelps won his third 200 IM on the way to four and just got nipped by LeClos in the 200 fly (or he may have gotten to 4 golds by Rio…he ended with three in the 200 fly…so you can go swim in LeClos’s lane) and where we won his 3rd 100 fly gold (tied for silver in Rio). But this is the pool you want to be in (also where Katie Ledecky won her first of 4 golds in 800 free)
I swam at the London aquatic center this summer. It was basically a dump. The 50m pool had floatable slides in it and was closed for lap swimming. The 25m pool was okay, I guess, but basically just a run of the mill gym pool.
ajthomas, why did you go when it was not open for lap swimming? The times are generally published on their website.
Nope: lap swim was open per website, was confined to the 25m pool only
That truly sucks! Its kind of not in the middle where you would go for tourism unless you are at the Olympic park to watch a West Ham United premier league match
Manchester Commonwealth Pool was generally the same. Bulkhead virtually always in to split into the 20 and 25m, although at least in lane swimming. Reality is in UK there are way more people that would be put off by having to swim 50m compared to those that want 50m on any given day of week.
