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ING Hartford Marathon Training: 11 Weeks Out

Last week I talked about the negative mind games which often get in the way of training for any big event or race. As soon as I published that post, I felt a great weight lift off my shoulders. Not to mention that in the hours that followed, you all provided me with some great support and suggestions! I’m renaming these posts as I don’t know exactly what week of training this is since Gia and I restarted the schedule. Instead from now on I will use a countdown format. 

In the days that followed, I enjoyed my first strong week of training for the ING Hartford Marathon. A strong week of running and cross training couldn’t have come at a better time. It’s definitely a great motivator as my marathon is 10 weeks away, including any taper time period before the big day. The training didn’t just change over night miraculously. It took some work and effort on my part.

Ensure that I have everything I need for a successful long run ranging from fuel, water, playlist, good route, and a good night’s rest.

  • Get back to cross training in the form of weights and yoga.
  • Talk about training more with my coach Gia.
  • Workout with friends whenever possible!

Here’s how the week shaped up from a workout standpoint.

Monday: The Geneva thunderstorms and hail ensured that I had an extra rest day.

Tuesday: My new running buddy, Emily, and I enjoyed a 45 minute run along the lake together while getting to know each other. The run flew by since we were talking the whole time! I added another 15 minute run on in the evening since it’s faster to run from work to Bains des Paquis versus taking the bus.

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Wednesday: After 12 hours of travel across 3 countries, I expected this to become a rest day. But, when Bo texted me asking if I’d meet him at Reebok for a workout together there was no way I could refuse. It felt like our old routine meeting each other for a workout and I loved the 45 minutes we spent sweating together before dinner and relaxing with Friday Night Lights. My workout included 10 minute warm-up, 6 sprint intervals of 2 minute duration followed by a 1 minute recovery and then a 10 minute cool down. I also spent about 10 minutes doing a quick arm routine with free weights and doing some plank work.

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Thursday: 1 hour Vinyasa yoga class at Reebok Sports Club in Canary Wharf, London. The class was from 7-8am and was the perfect way to wake my body up, welcome the day, stretch out some kinks, and focus on my breath. It wasn’t a very hard class from a pose sense but it felt good to get back into yoga.

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Friday: 14 mile long run from Canary Wharf to Westminster Abbey and back along the Thames River. This run could have been horrible due to the pouring rain which started at the 5 mile mark. Instead of letting it ruin my attitude I thought of it as a fun diversion and focused on the scenery and cool temperatures instead. I spent about 3 of the miles trying to find my way home as I took a wrong turn and ended up more than a mile away from the river, totally confused around Bank Street station. My Garmin went crazy in the rain and I didn’t want to keep pulling my iPhone out in the rain to get directions. By the time my Garmin beeped 14 miles I knew I’d gone at least that distance, if not more, and hailed a taxi. The great thing about this run was that I felt strong the entire time! IMG_0320

Saturday: Plan called for a 40 minute easy run but I was having so much fun on the treadmill that I ended up doing a bit of a speed workout. I did 10 minutes at 6.0 and then did the next 20 minutes at 6.8 before doing a cooldown for 10 minutes at 5.9. It felt great to be able to maintain that pace for 20 minutes and I loved watching the swimmers, including Bo, below me while I ran.  I also spent about 10 minutes doing a quick arm routine with free weights and doing some plank work.

Sunday: Glorious rest day which included more than 9 hours of sleep, homemade poached eggs on English muffins from Borough Market, lots of fresh brewed English Breakfast tea, and time on the sofa planning our trip to Dijon & Burgundy later this month!

Overall it was a great week of training and I can only hope that this week is equally as strong. I’ve already started researching some fun routes for Friday’s long run which will allow me to run half the time with Emily and half solo.

How was your training this week?

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ashleyd /

Sips and Bites in Marylebone

Greetings from our balcony!

IMG_0449Bo and I have had the most delightful day enjoying the beautiful London weather. It is sunny and about 70 degrees right now, perfect for relaxing on the balcony with a glass of wine, some light appetizers and our iPad which we’ve used all evening to talk with our parents and loved ones.

IMG_0448We are trying to do a good job of ensuring each of our weekends together is balanced. It’s easy to get caught up in the novelty of a new city and living in Europe. But, we’ve promised each other that we will leave time unplanned each weekend for some much needed rest and relaxation. For example, we were busy today from 8-3pm but have been able to relax this evening, ambling around the wharf area, watching the sunset from our balcony, talking to our parents, and cooking dinner in together.

Last night however, we had other plans for our evening which most certainly did not include relaxing at home. Instead, we thought it would be fun to take the tube to Marylebone and spend the evening sipping and tasting our way around our new neighborhood.

We took the Jubilee line from Canary Wharf to Baker Street, which is about a 20 minute ride. This will be Bo’s new commute each day once he moves from temporary housing into the new flat. Bo and I were both spoiled in New York City with very easy, short commutes on reliable lines. Therefore, one of our goals for the new location was that the commute would be pretty easy as we all know that dealing with a long commute after an even longer day is just no fun.

IMG_0356 This is the face of a guy who is very happy with his new commute!

Within 20 minutes we were standing at our new doorstep, ready to embark on an evening of fun! Just a few blocks away we found ourselves ordering a bottle of prosecco at our first location for the evening, Coco Momo. The prosecco was 23 pounds, equivalent to $35.

IMG_0495We spent an hour sipping our bubbly, people watching and dreaming about what our weekends spent in Marylebone will be like. IMG_0357It was a great place to start the celebration. As I mentioned on my Yelp review earlier, we will definitely return for drinks but will not order food in the future. The appetizer dish that we ordered was sub par and over priced.

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Once we finished our bottle of prosecco we spent some time meandering through the boutiques on Marylebone High Street that were still open and wandering down a few of the side streets. Our next stop was The Fat of the Land, a Mediterranean tapas bar that caught our attention by the crowd outside and the unique name.  IMG_0364IMG_0497

We were able to snag a seat outside and quickly ordered the grilled octopus and their drink special, a Pimm’s Cup.  IMG_0365 Pimm’s Cup, a classic British cocktail, is typically made by mixing Pimm’s, a gin based liquor, with lemonade or gingerale. Historically, Pimm’s No 1 liquor is a mix of dry gin, liqueor, fruit juices, and spices. Unfortunately, this girl did not care for it and instead swapped with Bo for his pint of beer.    IMG_0498 I’m surprised the Yelp reviews for this spot are so negative as we had a great experience overall. Our grilled octopus was perfectly seasoned and prepared, the service was very prompt even on a Summer Friday evening, the prices were in line with the rest of the area, and our waiter was very friendly. We will definitely be back for a pint of beer and their outdoor seating!

Finally, around 9pm we decided it was time for a proper dinner and ended our evening at Fish Works Seafood Cafe. Bo and I are huge seafood fans so the first time we saw this restaurant during our flat search and heard that their fish monger inside is even better, we knew we’d be trying it soon. IMG_0500

The restaurant focuses on a pairing seasonal, fresh seafood with equally as fresh produce. Everything on the menu sounded wonderful so we spent a few minutes reviewing the menu while we sipped on a glass of pinot grigio. IMG_0499Since we had already had two appetizers, we decided to share a few dishes versus ordering our own meals.  Overall I would say that we were amazed, if not blown away, by the sea bass main course we shared, the sea bass. But, we were underwhelmed by the appetizer (hand picked crab on toast) and pasta course (linguini with clams). They do fish very well and we should have just stuck with seafood all night, in its purest form.

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You’ll also notice in the above picture, that there is a green side dish. That my friends is mushy peas. Mushy peas is a traditional English side dish that is most frequently served with fish & chips. It is dried marrowfat peas which are simmered with sugar and salt after being soaked in water overnight. In the past two weeks we’ve both fallen in love with this side dish!

So there you have it, our first evening in Marylebone together, sipping and tasting our way through the small streets.

Question: What is your favorite way to discover a new neighborhood?

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London Success

It has been an absolutely brilliant 24 hours! We spent Thursday and Friday exploring London with our relocation consultant looking at flats. We knew that we wanted something under our budget, not too large, nice condition, and good location due to the fact that Bo and I will be back and forth between Geneva and the airports and his work will be the number one commuting locations.

We explored St John’s Wood, Marylebone, South Kensington, Chelsea, Notting Hill, and Sloane Square. Needless to say, it was EXHAUSTING. Even though yesterday was longer than today, my legs didn’t appreciate all the walk ups and stairs after my long run this morning. Luckily, Bo and I were both smart enough to sacrifice style over comfort and wore our trainers (aka running shoes) for the house hunting excursion.

I thought it’d be fun to share some pictures of the flats we saw just so you can get a peak inside the diversity of London flats. Also to note, we required a furnished flat as they are not much more expensive here and it saves us from having to buy more furniture since we shipped the majority of our furniture from New York to Geneva.

Here are a few things we learned:

  • The London real estate market is very fast, meaning that if you see something in the morning it may be gone in the evening.
  • All things considered, your money goes a bit further than it does in New York City.
  • We were surprised how many flats were on the market.
  • We saw primarily walk up flats versus large corporate buildings.
  • Every flat we saw had a washer & dryer in the kitchen, under the counter.

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We actually just found out that the offer we made on our favorite flat from yesterday in Marylebone was just accepted! It’s time to celebrate! We absolutely love the flat as it’s only 1 block from the nearest tube station, two blocks from the High Street which reminds us of the West Village in New York City, there are great restaurants and shops in walking distance, and it’s located between Hyde Park and Regents Park which means there are plenty of running trails! Unfortunately, as it is currently occupied until the end of the month, the only pictures I have are of its out door space!

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