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What I Wore Wednesday: Fall Running

Each Wednesday, I’ll start sharing with you either a glance inside my closet. This week, I thought it’d be fun to share some of the items that I’ll be wearing this Fall as I run in Geneva, London, Brussels, Paris, and New York City!

My mom was kind enough to help me move my Spring and Summer clothes into storage this weekend. Unlike New York City, I do not have a lovely walk in closet in Geneva. Instead, my small four foot closet is bursting at the seams and each dresser drawer is overflowing with running clothes. But, in anticipation of Switzerland’s winter running and skiing weather, I had a bit of a shopping spree today. Luckily our friends and family in New York are amazing, letting us ship things to their homes so we can bring them back in checked luggage.

These are a few of the things that found their way into my online shopping cart today from across the internet. While the New Balance shorts are clearly more of a Summer item I couldn’t help but share them, especially since they are on sale right now! If you’re in colder temperatures just pair them with compression socks and the Oiselle Lux top!

What I Wore Wednesday Running Gear

Oiselle Lux Layer – Sweaty Betty Zero Gravity Run Tights – New Balance Impact Thermal 1/2 Zip -  Lululemon Run Inspire Crop II – New Balance Momentum Short Graphic Print (on sale!) – Nike Miler Long Sleeve – C9 by Champion Puffer Vest 

Last but not least, if you are on Spotify, follow my Marathon Playlist! It’s a fun mix of upbeat music ranging from today’s Top 40 songs to some 90s hits! The below is only a sampling but I’ll share the rest of the playlist in a few posts over the next few weeks! It’s a HUGE playlist and continues to grow daily as I star songs on the radio!

 

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ING Hartford Marathon Training: One Foot In Front of The Other

Sometimes there are weeks where the unexpected happens. A week that looks normal and manageable via Outlook Calendar quickly becomes a chaotic mess of meetings, deadlines, conference calls, and stress. Juggling multiple time zones at work means early and late conference calls. On top of the work stress last week, my parents are visiting for two weeks. I love them and they are still two of my best friends. But, going to bed when I have company is tough. In fact, when you consider how rarely I see them I would call choosing sleep over time laughing and catching up with them almost impossible and downright wrong.

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So, last week became the week where I focused on nothing more than putting one foot in front of the other.

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I did not squeeze in every workout on my training calendar. I did not get the optimum amount of sleep. But, I focused on the most important runs and ate healthy. In addition, I laughed and smiled more than I have in weeks thanks to the combination of some quality time with friends, my parents’ visit, one last weekend of sunshine in Geneva, and Bo’s visit.

I don’t think I can call that a failed training week. Instead I’ll call it being agile. Last week’s low key training week has left me hungry for a great week of training this week. It comes at the perfect time considering this is my peak week of training. I will run 43 miles this week including 20 miles in London with Charlie. I’ve already run 4 this evening so that means that in the next 6 days I’ll log 39 miles. I am ready to see what my body and mind can do, just before beginning 2 weeks of taper.

Here’s last week’s relaxed training schedule:

Monday: 4 miles with 4*100 strides

Tuesday: 4 miles with Emily Even though we were both up far too late on Monday night we couldn’t miss our last chance to run together until October! Emily left Tuesday afternoon for the US which means I’m running solo for the next few weeks. This run is a great example of how much we help each other. After just 5 hours sleep we both showed up for the run even though the snooze button was calling our name. Not only did we log the miles but we ran 2 sub 9 minute miles!

Wednesday: Unintentional rest day – oops!

Thursday: 25 minute Yoga for Runners video

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Friday: My 16 mile long run turned into 13.1 miles. My mind nor body were in this run from the moment I stepped off the front stoop at 6:30am. I snoozed multiple times and stayed up far too late laughing with my parents on Thursday night. In the end I compromised and told myself that if I finished 13.1 miles and wasn’t feeling better I could call it a day. Jillian Michaels’ podcasts definitely helped me push through the miles but at the end of the day I just couldn’t imagine doing 3 more so I stopped when I reached the top of the hill near my house.

Saturday: Walked 5 miles through Geneva and Annecy with my parents.

Sunday: Four miles along Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) with Bo. We kept a quick pace even though we talked most of the run. The weather was absolutely perfect and if time had allowed, I could have run for at least 20 more miles!

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Hope you had a great week of training!

How do you mentally prepare for a week of training after a less than epic week?

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Tips for Making A Long Distance Relationship Easier

Many people question our decision to go from living together as a married couple in New York City to living in two separate cities, London and Geneva. We knew it wouldn’t be easy when we made the decision but we also knew that we would forever regret not giving it a try. While it isn’t ideal, it allowed us to not sacrifice either of our careers while still having the opportunity to live in Europe. Many of our family friends and co-workers told us that they had said no to similar opportunities and always regretted it. Keeping in mind the fact that nothing has to be permanent and this is something we’re testing, we agreed to give it a try.

Nine weeks later we can safely say that living in two cities, within an hour flight of each other, isn’t impossible.

Bo & Ashley in September

From top, clockwise: Annecy, France, – Out in Eaux Vives – Dinner in Beaune, France – Bernand, France – Beaune, France

We are together every single week Friday through Sunday evening or Monday morning. Luckily, thanks to the time change, Bo is able to fly back to London Monday morning when he is in Geneva. Having him here on Sunday night is such a blessing and something I will never take for granted again. My role allows me to work from London on Friday which means that each weekend, regardless of whether we are in London or Geneva, we are together three nights.

During our run together this morning we talked about what we’ve done to make the challenge easier. Hopefully our experience can help another couple who is going through something similar.  As always, if you have any questions, let us know! This is definitely something we’re willing to talk about more! Tips for Long Distance Relationships

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