在倫敦旅行時 去哪裏跑步和健身

Taking one’s fitness regimen on the road is a must for many travelers, and London, with its parks and attractions, certainly seems just the place to take off on a five- or 10-mile run while enjoying views of, say, the Houses of Parliament or St. Paul’s Cathedral.

許多人在旅行期間仍不忘健身，而在擁有衆多公園和景點的倫敦，似乎更應該跑上五英里或十英里，同時欣賞沿途的風景，比如威斯敏斯特宮或聖保羅大教堂。

That’s the beauty of running for fitness, isn’t it? Anywhere, anytime. In London, though, it turns out it’s not quite that easy.

這就是跑步健身的妙處，不是嗎？隨時隨地都可以進行。不過在倫敦，跑步實際上沒那麼容易。

Imagine Times Square on a weekend night with its milling throngs. Now transport all those people to London’s narrow sidewalks (some only four feet wide), and try running through that.

想象一下週末的夜晚，紐約時報廣場上如織的人羣。現在把這些人全部放在倫敦狹窄的人行道（有些只有四英尺寬）上，然後在人羣中跑步。

And the pedestrians have nothing on the overall traffic pattern: terrifying double-decker buses, which, at 36-plus feet long, 8-plus feet wide and 14-plus feet tall, have no margin of error; streams of bicyclists; intense and unfamiliar left-hand traffic; short blocks and long lights.

比行人更麻煩的，是整體的交通狀況：可怕的雙層巴士——長度超過36英尺，寬度超過8英尺，高度逾14英尺，路線不容更改；川流不息的自行車流；讓人很不習慣的靠左行駛的密集車輛；短短的街區和漫長的紅綠燈。

Forget focusing on your cadence and stride length. The focus needs to be on survival, with the help of what became my mantra on a recent trip: Look to the right, look to the right, look to the right.

別指望能關注跑步的節奏和步伐。你需要注意安全。一個頗有助益的口訣是：向右看，向右看，向右看。這已經成了我最近的旅行中的咒語。

Here are a few tips for running, and some suggestions for indoor exercise options if the weather doesn’t cooperate.

以下是幾條跑步建議，如果天公不作美的話，我這裏還推薦了幾家室內健身場所。

Scenic Jogging: Where and When

在景區跑步：如何選擇時間和地點

One of the most scenic runs is along the Thames, especially along the South Bank. But you’ll have to be an early riser, said Alex Butler, a Washington, D.C., marathoner who travels to London frequently.

一處風景絕佳的跑步地點是沿着泰晤士河，尤其是沿着南岸。但你必須早起，經常來倫敦的華盛頓馬拉松運動員亞歷克斯·巴特勒(Alex Butler)說。

“When I run along the Thames, I try to be back by 8 a.m.,” said Mr. Butler, adding that many of the runners he sees in the South Bank at that hour are locals who commute by jogging, carrying backpacks with office gear and clothing. “It’s important to be out early before the tourists arrive,” he said.

“我沿着泰晤士河跑步的時候，都儘量在早上8點前返回，”巴特勒說。他還表示，那個時間段他在南岸看到的跑步者，很多是用慢跑代替通勤的當地人，在揹包裏裝着辦公用品和衣服。“一定要在遊客到來之前早早出門，”他說。

Indeed, the South Bank and Southwark are home to many a tourist attraction — the London Eye, Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe. Queen’s Walk (the uninterrupted-by-traffic-lights promenade right next to the river and Mr. Butler’s preferred running path) offers some of the most majestic views of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben to the west as well as the Tower of London and Tower Bridge to the east. So get there early.

的確，南岸和薩瑟克匯聚了諸多景點——倫敦眼、泰特現代藝術館，還有莎士比亞環球劇院。在皇后步道（泰晤士河畔的步行街，沒有交通信號燈打斷，是巴特勒十分喜歡的跑步路線），可以欣賞到一些非常壯麗的景觀，如西側的威斯敏斯特宮和大本鐘，以及東側的倫敦塔和塔橋。所以一定要早到。

If early morning doesn’t work for you, parks are your best bet just about anytime (but some parks close in the evening).

如果你不能早起，那麼公園將是你最好的選擇，在任何時間都可以去（不過有些公園晚上閉園）。

I was staying in the King’s Cross area, so I had to figure out how to get to Regent’s Park, the closest park of decent size. As it turns out, one way there offers a nice run itself. The Regent’s Canal towpath is traffic-free (except for bikes), almost 10 miles long and an excellent way to experience London off the beaten tourist path.

我當時住在國王十字區。我必須搞清楚如何抵達攝政公園，因爲那是離我最近的大公園。實際上，去攝政公園的路上就很適合跑步。攝政運河的纖道上沒有車輛（除了自行車），差不多10英里長，是在傳統旅遊線路之外感受倫敦的絕佳路徑。

There is a “but.” It’s not always easy to follow the path, which in one spot (Islington) disappears into a tunnel requiring the out-of-town runner to navigate the streets until the path picks up a mile down the road. Of course, I got lost.

但有一個問題。要保持在這條路上不太容易。因爲路會在一個地點（伊斯靈頓）消失，由隧道取代，外地的跑步者必須穿越另外幾條街道，直到一英里之後這條路重新出現。當然，我迷路了。

It turned out, though, that getting lost was a happy mistake, as I found the excellent Yogahaven (more on that later) and the highly informative London Canal Museum. Did you know that in 1890s London, there were 300,000 horses, some of which helped deliver giant blocks of ice for refrigeration and ice cream -making?

但實際上，這次迷路成了一次愉快的犯錯經歷，因爲我發現了Yogahaven（下文將詳細介紹），以及讓人大開眼界的倫敦運河博物館。你知道嗎，在1890年代的倫敦，曾有30萬匹馬負責運輸製冷和製作冰激凌所需的巨大冰塊。

Regent’s Park, which is full of jog-friendly paths surrounded by greenery and gardens, has a perimeter just short of three miles. The surface is asphalt. If you want to add a little more distance and steep elevation, continue into Primrose Hill Park to the north of Regent’s Park. In fact, Primrose Hill at 250-plus feet above sea level offers a panoramic view of London, and a plaque with a lovely William Blake quote: “I have conversed with the spiritual Sun. I saw him on Primrose Hill.”

攝政公園裏到處都是適宜跑步的小路，它們被青蔥的草木和園林所環繞，周長接近三英里。路面鋪的是天然瀝青。如果你想要增加一點距離和坡度，那就接着跑到攝政公園北邊的櫻草花山公園。實際上，在海拔250多英尺的櫻草花山上可以飽覽倫敦全景，公園的一塊牌匾上寫着威廉·布萊克(William Blake)的美麗詩句，“我曾與太陽之神交談。我看見他在櫻草花山上。”

Another good place to run: expansive Hyde Park, which is adjacent to Kensington Gardens to the west, and Green Park and St. James to the east. You’re certain to encounter a fair number of tourists given the park’s proximity to Buckingham Palace. Still, it’s big enough to avoid zigzag running and “sorrys,” and you can string together more than seven miles without repeating stretches.

另一個跑步的好去處：寬敞開闊的海德公園，這裏西鄰肯辛頓公園，東臨綠園和聖詹姆斯公園。由於離白金漢宮很近，你肯定會遇到相當多遊客。不過，海德公園仍然足夠大，不至於總是拐來拐去或撞到別人，可以不重複地跑出超過七英里的路線。

Rainy Weather Options

雨天的選擇

If the weather is poor, there are many ace indoor options, such asYogahaven () in Islington, where drop-in classes cost 16, or $23.30 at $1.50 to the pound. There I happened upon an amazing hotyoga class with Adam Husler who teaches all over London.

如果天氣不佳，還有許多一流的室內健身場所可供選擇，比如伊斯靈頓的Yogahaven（），在這裏臨時上一節課的費用是16英鎊，即23.30美元左右。我當時趕上了一節很棒的高溫瑜珈課，教練是亞當·胡斯勒(Adam Husler)，他在倫敦的很多地點授課。

“Four out of five people who live or work in central London have probably taken a yoga class of some form,” Mr. Husler said. In addition to Yogahaven, he points to Indaba (; 12 to 16 per drop-in class) and triyoga (; four London locations offer several dozen classes daily of Pilates and yoga; 16 per drop-in class) as being among the biggest studios in the city and the ones most likely to have international guest teachers.

“在倫敦中心生活或工作的人，有80%的人蔘加了某種瑜伽課，”胡斯勒說。除了Yogahaven，他還提到了Indaba（；單節課的價格是12英鎊到16英鎊）和triyoga（；在倫敦的四個地點開課，每天提供數十節普拉提和瑜伽課程；臨時上一節課的價格是16英鎊），說它們屬於倫敦規模較大的瑜伽工作室，最有可能請到外國客座教練。

At Indaba — a four-floor studio in Marylebone that offers at least a dozen classes a day of different styles and levels — I attended a 90-minute Yogasana — Experienced class at 10:30 a.m. on a Thursday. It was packed with at least 50 mostly 20-something dancer-types who made difficult arm-balancing positions look as accessible as a child’s pose. One of the most memorable parts of the experience was when the wiry, dreadlocked instructor, Stewart Gilchrist, played the Clash’s “London Calling” right before closing meditation.

Indaba是位於馬裏波恩的一間瑜伽工作室，總共四層，每天至少提供12節不同類型和難度的瑜伽課。一個星期四的上午10點30分，我參加了一節90分鐘的Yogasana高級班課程。教室裏有至少50位20多歲的學員，他們頗有舞者風範，把難度極大的手臂平衡姿勢做得似乎易如反掌。這次體驗的最難忘部分是，精瘦結實、梳着長髮綹的教練斯圖爾特·吉爾克里斯特(Stewart Gilchrist)，在冥想結束前播放了衝撞樂隊(Clash)的“倫敦呼喚”(London Calling)。

If spin classes are your exercise of choice, the big dogs in town are Psycle and Boom Cycle — with two center-city locations each. I tried a 45-minute Boom Cycle class (; drop-in 16 per ride). With its emphasis on music and choreography over effort and athleticism, the bubbly instructor felt more like a cheerleader than a coach. Nevertheless, the dark, sweaty room was packed and the minutes flew by.

如果你的運動項目是動感單車，可以考慮去Psycle或是Boom Cycle，它們在市中心都各開了兩家店。我在Boom Cycle（；臨時上一節課的價格是16英鎊）上了一節45分鐘的動感單車課。這裏更重視音樂和編舞，而不是力量和耐力，熱情奔放的教練感覺更像是拉拉隊長，而不是教練。燈光昏暗、熱火朝天的健身教室裏人滿爲患，時間過得飛快。

Its competitor, Psycle (; 20 per drop-in class), features 45- to 90-minute sessions, and is also known for its music-driven classes.

另一家是Psycle（，臨時上一節課的價格是20英鎊），有45分鐘和90分鐘兩種課時可供選擇，也是以音樂主導的課程著稱。

Or you can just forget about the yoga and cycling and take an early morning run — rain or no rain — along the misty Thames.

或者，乾脆忘掉瑜伽和單車，去晨跑吧，無論下不下雨，就沿着薄霧籠罩的泰晤士河。