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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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ashleyd /

ING Hartford Marathon Training: 25 Days

Wow. There are only 25 days between today and my fourth marathon. As I average 2 non-running days per week that means I have less 20 runs left until the marathon – 3 of those being long runs. #holyshit

I’m at the point in marathon training where I love and hate every run. This week I’ve had the sudden urge to push snooze each morning as I figure the real work is done already. But, after each of my runs this past week I’ve felt an amazing excitement and energy for this marathon. Many people told me I shouldn’t run a Fall marathon this year due to the move and acclimating to life in Europe. Instead of cancelling, I chose to use this marathon as a way to acclimate to Europe. I’ve learned the streets of Geneva far faster than I would have otherwise and have met London runners through training.

Running

Now that I’ve waxed poetically about my love of running through Geneva and London, let’s get down to business and talk about last week’s training.

Monday: 30 minutes of speed Instead of our normal relaxed 4 miler to kick the week off Emily and I did an all out sprint workout, keeping an 8:51 pace for the 30 minute run. While I love our normally relaxed Monday chat sessions as a way to catch up after the weekend the pep in our step definitely helped kick off the week.

Tuesday: Mile Repeats So we didn’t follow the workout perfectly as it called for 5 mile repeats but we squeezed in 3 strong mile repeats and kept a steady pace back instead of using the final mile as a cool down. I am in love with mile repeats as I think they are a great diagnostic tool! I look forward to do this workout each week that remains in training, trying to reach 5 repeats by the end of next week. We had a hard time keeping our pace higher than 8:50 but I guess that’s a nice problem to have. This could also explain why we were dying by the end. 

Wednesday: 5 miles at MP or better We hovered around a 10 minute mile on this run along the lake so faster than MP but slower than our normal morning runs. It was the perfect way to loosen the legs after Monday and Tuesday speed sessions.

Thursday: YOGA Based on feedback from Twitter, we used the 25 minute Yoga for Runners video available on the YogaDownload YouTube channel. Don’t let the woman’s voice or face scare you. The flow is perfect for tight hips and tired legs!

Friday: Emily and I crushed 20 miles together before 7:30am. Want to feel confident and on top of the world during a 1:1 with your manager? Run 20 miles before hand. I ensure you that you will feel absolutely invincible.

Saturday: Yoga + Shakeout run Gloanna Yoga Run  was the perfect way to squeeze a shakeout run and yoga into a busy Saturday!

Sunday: Rest, Unpack, Rest, Repeat.

What is your favorite workout song right now? I’m going to do a music post later this week, in preparation for my long run. My favorite song is one that is slower than most of the songs filling my playlist – Royals by Lorde.

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ING Hartford Marathon Training: Final Push

This week I entered what I am considering the final push of training for the ING Hartford Marathon. I have four more weeks of pushing myself before a taper week leading up to the marathon. While each person treats taper in a different manner, Gia and I aligned early on that I would have a short taper due to my disrupted training plan during July’s big move. Instead of intimidating me, realizing I have less than 35 days until the marathon excites me. I love having four weeks that I can focus on my training. I have no travel other than London weekends. My parents are going to here visiting which will be nice from an emotional aspect. The weather is perfectly crisp and cool, beckoning me to break a sweat in the mornings. After an evening chat with my coach, I feel focused and determined.

Gia and I decided last night that my primary goal between now and taper is to focus on the details.

I can blame it on the move or living between two cities but for some reason during August I pretty much stopped using my Garmin. Mentally and physically it made running a bit more fun for me after being so hard on myself during the July move and transition period. Running without a Garmin allowed me to enjoy the miles with Emily and Amy rather than focus on the specific workouts or pace. Running became a stress release again and I found myself looking forward to my runs versus resenting them.

IMG_2047Now that the amount of training left between me and the marathon is a far smaller chunk of time, I find myself ready to strap on the Garmin and dive into the details of daily workouts. It isn’t a sense of pressure but rather a sense of excitement to see what a renewed and refreshed outlook combined with a challenging plan can do.  Over the next four weeks, most of my focus will be on the Tuesday mile repeat workouts and the Friday long runs, beginning with this week’s 20 miler along Lake Geneva.

IMG_2044I know that I’ll get in the rest of the miles but these are the two workouts in which I believe the planning and attention to detail is so important. Thursday night I’ll tuck myself into bed by 9pm to ensure that at 4:45 my body will feel rested and fueled for a strong long run, as if it was marathon morning.

What workout do you enjoy the most during marathon training? I think I fell in love with mile repeats this morning as I bet I can see improvement each week and it’s a far enough distance to push your body but short enough to push the speed.

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