Every year I make it my goal to be in bed relaxing by 3pm the day before the marathon and today is no different. But, our morning was spent exploring the city with is gorgeous and so filed with history. I only wish we had more time to enjoy it! 
I’m still riding a high from Sunday’s half marathon PR! After a much needed rest day, I laced up my shoes late this evening for a tempo run. My legs didn’t enjoy it but it was the perfect opportunity to hop back on the taper training wagon before tomorrow’s 15 hours of travel. Our bags our packed and we’re heading to Atlanta tomorrow. While I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with friends and family that we don’t see nearly enough, traveling to the US this close to the marathon has me a bit nervous. I’ve packed my running gear, massage balls, compression socks and lots of healthy snacks for the flight. While it would be easy to spend our time in Athens enjoying way too much tailgate food and alcohol, I’m going to have fun this weekend but keep things in balance. My eye is on Berlin, not a hangover on Sunday. I hear Ryan Gosling is going to be waiting me at the finish line. Oh wait, never mind, he has a new baby to cuddle instead.
This week’s plan includes getting in the prescribed runs, sleeping a lot, drinking tons of water, and limiting my alcohol intake.
Now, let’s get back to last week’s training!
Monday - A quick 20 minute strength workout including wall squats, walking lunches, planks, jumping jacks, and more.
Tuesday – I woke up early to do 8 x 800 repeats in through Acton Green Common while staying in Chiswick. My pace stayed between 7:53-8:01 for each of the repeats!
Wednesday – This day should be known as the day Charlie and I took ALL the spin classes. We started our day with 45 minute boot camp spin class at Edge Cycle and ended the day with a 45 minute class at Cycle Beat. I am a competitive person and therefore pushed myself too hard during the class and quickly realized that I prefer spin classes that don’t have public torq/beat/exertion boards for that exact reason.
Thursday – After landing back in Geneva, I kicked off the bank holiday with 7 tempo miles along the Lake. I realized during this run that midweek runs between 6-9 miles stress me out far more than speed workouts or long runs. Am I the only one that feels this way?
![IMG_2033[1]](http://www.healthyhappierbear.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/IMG_20331_thumb.jpg)
Friday – I discovered a new Runners World yoga streaming video which combines foam rolling with yoga. I think I’m going to do this again this week as it was absolute bliss!
Saturday – My rest day included lots of baking, wandering through the farmer’s market, 10 hours of sleep and lots of foam rolling.
Sunday – The day I finally ran a sub-2 hour half marathon, according to my Garmin, or set a new PR according to the official race results. Regardless, there was bubbly and cheese included in the celebrating Sunday night!
I’m personally exhausted just reading last week’s recap. While it was taper in distance, the effort was beyond taper. Don’t you worry. These two weeks are going to be ALL about respecting the taper.
The month of September is just around the corner. I can’t believe the marathon is this close! There are moments when I’m excited and then there are other moments when my fear of failure replaces all the positive emotions. Anyone who has been reading this blog for a while knows that last year’s marathon went less than stellar. My first, NYC in 2010 was incredible. My 3rd, 2012 Philadelphia Marathon, was so much fun even after the Sandy craziness. So, since I seem to have an every other year trend going with marathons enjoyment and performance, this year, number 5, is meant to be great. 
Right now, I’m spending time planning our trip to Berlin instead of stressing over the marathon. We’re looking at the river cruises as a Saturday activity since it will be SEATED and I refuse to kill my legs touring Berlin the day before the marathon. Did you know Berlin has more than 900 bridges?
So, let’s take a look back at last week’s training, shall we?
Monday: I woke up unexpectedly sore EVERYWHERE so I took an unplanned rest day other than my 5 minute workout.
Tuesday: I didn’t expect evening speed intervals to go well but this workout surprised me! In fact, the repeats felt a bit too easy so I know I need to increase the pace this week! 1 mile warm-up, 3×1000 meter repeat with 200 m jog/walk between, 1 mile cool down.
Wednesday: In my effort to focus on my cross training, especially my arms and abs, I did my 30 minute arms & abs workout again at the office during lunch. I increased the weights this week on the hammer curls to 15 pounds which is proof the weekly workout is helping!
Thursday: The 6 miles I had on my schedule didn’t come easy but the early morning views were worth it!
Friday: A complete rest day which included working from home, soaking my feet in a tub of Dr. Teal’s Epsom Salt foot soak, lots of foam rolling, my favorite 20 minute yoga sequence, and sporting compression socks all day.
Saturday: As mentioned in Sunday’s post my 20 mile long run was a tale of two cities. I felt incredible for the first half but then basically hit a wall at mile 15. It was a great reminder of just how crucial pacing is and it gives me a great focus for these next few long runs. As people pointed out, I am blessed to have gorgeous scenery to take my mind off the struggle miles.
Sunday: My legs were feeling tight but the gorgeous weather was to nice to not enjoy. I hopped on my bike for a relaxed, 1 hour ride around the lake. My normal path was a bit crowded for my liking but it still felt great to enjoy fresh air and shake out my legs. I also spent some time on the foam roller Sunday evening while we watched Friends.
![IMG_1652[1]](http://www.healthyhappierbear.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/IMG_16521.jpg "IMG_1652[1]")
How about you? How’s training going? What did you learn from training this week?