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La Genevoise 5k

Today I finally ran my first race in Geneva! The Geneva 5k or La Genevoise 5k was such a fun race to run with the ladies!

Before the race we picked up Charlie from the airport who flew in from London early this morning. We headed back to the bib pickup area so she could grab her bib and shirt before a few hours of relaxation.

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A few of us decided to get the men’s shirts in place of the women’s as they are a longer cut. We stood out in the crowd of pink shirts during the race as many other women wore the pink technical shirt given out for the race.

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Before the race Charlie and I caught up over lunch at Mango Deck where we each had the goat cheese salad complete with pears and hazelnuts! The salads were HUGE but the perfect lunch before what will surely be an evening filled with bread and pasta.

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Fifteen minutes before the race we met Emily and the Team Naturally Run girls near the Flower Clock, a local icon, so we could run the race together. Most of us are running the half marathon or marathon relay tomorrow so our plan was just to enjoy the race together. 

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We made it into the corrals just in time to join the warm-up party. I kid you not when I use the word party as they had the techno music blasting and kept yelling in French that it was party time!

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Just as the race started the blue sky and bits of sunshine broke through the ominous clouds allowing us to enjoy 30 minutes of sunshine during the race. The course took runners over the bridge and along the lake before turning around and looping back to Jardin Anglais. Emily and I pointed out sites along the way as this is our normal running route together.

As soon as we started running we were all very pleased with our decision to just enjoy the run versus racing it as the course wasn’t PR friendly. There were many walkers and slower runners which blocked the paths since the course was so narrow. In addition, for future reference, there is no water along the course so for those who like to drink water as you run, bringing your own water is a must.

Just how much fun we had during the 5k is hard to capture in photos. Needless to say, the five of us who ran together were laughing and talking so much that we were surprised how quickly the turnaround point came up.

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We finished in under 30 minutes, keeping just under a 10 minute pace for the race. After finishing we were greeted with medals, oranges, bananas, and reusable gold water bottles compliments of Tupperware.

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What better thing to enjoy after a race than Laduree macarons?

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ashleyd /

Toasting to Geneva Marathon Weekend

Geneva race weekend is finally here!  There are 13,700 runners registered to participate in the 8 races to be staged over the weekend as part of the Geneva Marathon for Unicef! It has been ages since I’ve been this excited for a weekend of running and friends!

There are 8 different races taking place this weekend!

  • La Genevoise – 5k – Women only
  • 5 different junior races
  • Marathon
  • Marathon relay
  • Half marathon 
  • Hand bike and wheelchair race

I stopped by the race village in Jardin Anglais, overlooking Lake Geneva, on my way home from work this afternoon to pick up my bib and check out the expo. There was a large group of about 200 people waiting to go in when I arrived as security staff were letting people in 1 by 1 due to the small space. While it didn’t seem that efficient I will say that once inside I had my bib within seconds.

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I perused the expo stands trying a few new to me Clif Bar flavors and picking up a few half marathon brochures before heading back home to finish work and get the flat ready for visitors!

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A group of London runners, known as Team Naturally Run, are in Geneva this weekend for a mix of holiday and race festivities! To provide them with a proper Geneva welcome, Bo and I hosted them at our flat tonight for wine and cheese. It was the perfect opportunity to catch up with some and finally meet others who I’ve connected with over Twitter and our Facebook group during the past year.

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Hosting a wine and cheese party is so much easier than a dinner party! We picked up an assortment of cheeses from the grocery store this afternoon along with a few fresh baguettes, olives, and dried meat.

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Bo whipped up Anne’s healthier deviled eggs which were a fun American treat for the group in honor of Spring and Kentucky Derby weekend. They were fabulous and will definitely be made again in the future! The dijon mustard gave them a fun kick while the use of Fage 0% yogurt in place of mayonnaise made them guilt free!

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Everyone is running different distances including the 5k and 10k which take place tomorrow afternoon and evening followed by the half marathon, marathon and marathon relay which are Sunday morning. I’m excited to have 4 lovely ladies running the half marathon with me. Rumor has it we may start together and see how long I can hang with them.

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This was such a relaxing way to kick off the weekend of running. Here’s to hoping there are a few PRs and lots of fun had by everyone while visiting Geneva! I can’t wait to travel with this group of girls for other races across Europe. It will be a perfect way to stay in touch and catch up now that I’m not going to London regularly.

What is the furthest you’ve traveled for a race? The furthest I traveled for a race before moving was Seattle when we visited Ryan and Amy last year!

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May Goals

Happy May!

Charlie inspired me to get back to goal setting and sharing these goals with you guys. It’s been a busy past few months and nothing is going to slow down anytime soon. If I want to keep making progress, sharing goals on the blog helps me not only hold myself more accountable but also keep them top of mind!

May Goals I’ve split these goals into four buckets in order to strive for a well rounded month.

Fitness

  • I’m hoping to kick off the month with a new half marathon personal best followed by a month of continued marathon base building. As part of this base building I want to get into a routine or habit of my cross-training of choice for this marathon season – yoga and swimming. It won’t be easy to commit to swimming every Tuesday and Thursday morning from 6:30-7:30 but I am excited to see my improvement at the end of the month and it’s an activity that I can share with Bo as our work team is open to spouses!

Home

  • Bo’s arrival in Geneva means that we need to make space for everything which was previously in our London flat. He’s taking a road trip from Geneva to London in order to transport things back here so before he arrives I need to organize my things as best as possible. The change of seasons is always a great time to go through clothes and beauty items, donating anything that I’m not longer wearing or using.

Personal

    • Since moving abroad, I’ve found myself texting far more than talking on the phone. While I love how quick and easy text messaging is I really miss that human connection that comes with video or phone. My goal is to pick up the phone at least once a week and call a friend or family member versus just texting them.

Blog

    • My upcoming half marathon and the travel posts I’ve been sharing lately need a good place to live on the blog. No time like the present to update these two sections and make sure they are as organized as possible!

It may seem like career or professional is missing but I find that I rarely need an accountability partner or reminder when it comes to my work goals. Each day I’m reminded of them either during weekly connects or via my Outlook task list.

Do you set goals each month? What is your biggest goal for May?

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