ING Hartford Marathon Training: 9 Weeks Out

Happy Wednesday! This recap is coming a few days late but sometimes spending an evening on the lake with girlfriends after a particularly stressful day sounds 100x better than blogging. Check out this picture from last night’s Bain des Paquis adventure.

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It was so windy that we never got in the lake. Instead, we hunkered down on our beach towels and sipped wine while talking about our weekend adventures and our work week so far.

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Okay, so, now that we’re here, let’s talk about last week’s training, shall we?

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Monday: I really enjoy kicking the week off with an easy run. This week’s 45 minute easy run gave our legs plenty of time to wake up for the week and the views didn’t hurt either. I really value this Monday morning catch up time with Emily when we laugh about the previous weekend’s events.

Tuesday: We headed down to the lake for this progression run and ended up keeping a 9:43 pace for the 45 minutes! Legs were burning by the end!

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Wednesday: Today’s  speed workout was awesome! The workout was 15 minute warm-up, 10 30 second speed bursts, followed by 30 second off, then 10 minute cool down!  We skipped the cool down (oops) due to time so ended up with a great, sweaty and hilly  33 minute workout!

Thursday: Sweet beautiful rest day including 8 hours of sleep!

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Friday: I enjoyed 16 scenic miles through London! I did the first 6 on my own along The Thames and then Charlie was sweet enough to give me a tour of London’s sights and parks for the next 10! You can read more about 10 mile London run here!

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Saturday: I visited Pure Sports Medicine for an hour sports massage which included analysis and plenty of deep tissue work which left me in more pain than expected. The deep tissue helped with my tightness but as she predicted, I was pretty sore for the next 24 hours. Instead of running or doing a workout, I counted the day’s 3 miles walking through London as my workout along with my daily dose of 5 minute strength workout.

Sunday: Bo and I decided to take a spin class together at Reebok Sports Club in Canary Wharf. I still regret using my visitors pass for this class as it was the worst group fitness experience I have ever had. The workout itself was challenging and left my quads quivering more than I wanted due to the 35 minutes of hill work and 10 minutes of sprint during the 70 minute class. However, the instructor was so rude and degrading towards his students that I will never take his class again. No one should ever call any student who is putting forth the effort to sweat and be healthy fat!

So, this week, I want to know what song keeps you sweating these days! My playlist always loves new songs especially over here in Switzerland where I’m probably a bit out of touch!

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Hartford Marathon Training: Week 1

So it’s finally that time of year again! Marathon training has officially begun! Right now it’s hard to describe my emotions because there are so many other things going on in our life. Um hello, we’re moving to Europe which means in just 17 short days these posts will be coming all the way from a little flat in Geneva, Switzerland!

But, while the move is starting to get very overwhelming, having something constant like marathon training is a bit of a relief. I know that each day between now and October 12th I’ll have a plan. That, my friends, is fabulous! I’m so excited to run 26.2 miles through Hartford with my friend Amy as she conquers her first marathon! I mean really – how cool is this year’s anniversary poster?

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While last week was a bit of a warm-up since Gia knew my travel and work schedule was beyond crazy and running outside wasn’t an option due to the hotel location, it still felt good to have a prescribed plan each day and know I was accountable to Gia at the end of the week.

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Here are a few things from last week:

  • I got back into the habit of sharing and tracking my workouts on Daily Mile (let’s be friends!) each day.
  • I remembered just how important sleep is during both travel and training.
  • Compression are the best thing for tired legs!
  • I didn’t get in every mile but my workouts that did happen were quality.

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Monday: travel day

Tuesday: 15 minute hotel room workout + 3 mile run

Wednesday: 45 minute incline walk

Thursday: 3 mile treadmill run

Friday: 75 minute hot vinyasa yoga class at 216 Yoga

Saturday: 5.5 miles along the East River with Bo

Sunday: 3 mile run downtown to run errands

Total Running Miles: 15

Overall I’m proud of myself for staying active though I wish my workouts were a bit longer. I had an issue running further than 3 miles on a treadmill last week which was a new problem. Even when I switched up the speeds and inclines I just couldn’t stay motivated. Luckily, last week was my last week of crazy travel for a while! I’m excited for a summer filled with running outside while discovering Geneva and London!

Today was an unplanned rest day but I have a full week of tough workouts planned including a few fun ones with friends which will hopefully kick my butt back into training gear!

How about you? Do you look forward to training season or live for the off season?

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