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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ING Hartford Marathon Training: 10 Weeks Out

Can every week of training please be as perfect as last week? Not only did it put me in the best mood ever but it also did a great amount to boost my marathon spirits. It’s hard to believe what two strong weeks of training can do to inspire a runner’s heart!

Hartford Marathon Training 10 Weeks Out

Let’s do a recap of last week’s training, shall we?

Monday: I really enjoy kicking the week off with an easy run. This week’s 40 minutes easy followed by a few striders gives Emily and me a chance to catch up from the weekend and chat about the week. It is also a great way to wake the body up and kick off the week.

Tuesday: The cool weather helped this progression run evolve into one that included 9:20 for 15 minutes and an 8:35 minute mile which is super fast for me! The gorgeous morning sunrise over France paired perfectly with the energizing speed!

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Wednesday: The plan called for 40 minutes with hills which turned into 4.3 miles on a rolling hill path and 2 quarter mile  hill repeats at the end!

Thursday: In preparation for my long run on Friday I took Thursday as a rest day from any running. I did however do the new 5 minute strength workout that I’ve been doing daily for the past week. I will be sharing it on the blog tomorrow AM!

Friday: I enjoyed 14.1 gorgeous miles bright and early with Emily! After only 5 hours of sleep I wasn’t expecting much from the run but luckily it was my strongest run yet and I felt strong and happy even during my 6 solo miles.  You’ll notice that during this training cycle I will do most of my long runs on Friday so they don’t interfere with the time Bo and I spend together on the weekends. I absolutely LOVE doing my long runs on a Friday versus Saturday or Sunday. Ericka wrote a great post a few weeks ago about her conversion to weekday long runs. If you have questions about how or why I do them on weekdays let me know in the comments!

Saturday: So coach Gia had either cross training or yoga on the agenda. I guess you could call a 5 hour hike through the French Alps at more than a mile above sea level cross training. Emily and I laughed multiple times during the hike as just a day earlier we spent more than two miles during our run contemplating our strength training plans here in Geneva. Hiking definitely counted as strength training, especially for my legs and glutes!

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Sunday: I woke up Sunday morning feeling a pain I haven’t felt in years. My entire body was sore and screamed for more sleep. This rest day included 10 hours of sleep, a long walk to the farmer’s market and some quality compression sock time on the couch.

How was your training this week? If you’re like me and love half marathons don’t forget to check out the great discount code Theodora and other Fitfluential bloggers are featuring for the Runners World Half Marathon! I’m in a wedding that weekend or I’d be making a special trip back to the US for sure!  Let’s get real, being in a wedding is ALWAYS > than running a half!

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ING Hartford Marathon Training Week 2

Last week was an awesome week of friend filled fitness activities that probably neared the line of over-training. But, since in just 10 short days I won’t be able to sweat with these lovely ladies or at these studios, Gia and I agreed that for a short duration it was okay. Also, most of the work was body weight that was monitored by instructors in small group settings so chances of injury were reduced.

It was the first EPIC training week I’ve had on Daily Mile in months thanks in part to the fact that I tracked every single workout. 

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Here are a few thoughts from the week and then the actual workouts that took place!

  • I am really proud of myself for practicing yoga at least 1x per week for the past month. I think it is definitely helping me especially since the classes are all at least 75 minutes.
  • I think that the classes I’ve done recently have really helped inspire me to keep up the weight training in Geneva even if done in my apartment. There is so much you can do with a pair of 15 pound dumbbells and body weight!
  • Though it may not be perfect, I’m really happy with where my body and physical ability is right now. I felt strong during EVERY workout last week and loved the candid pictures which were captured.

So here’s how the week shaped up in workouts:

  • Monday: rest day
  • Tuesday: 3 mile treadmill run before Liz Barnet’s Uplift Strength class with Jen
  • Wednesday: Barry’s Bootcamp (2.5 miles of running included in class) 5am class with Michelle Z
  • Thursday: 5 miles in Central Park before work with Jen and Heather
  • Friday: 3 mile walk + 75 minute hot yoga class at Yoga 216 
  • Saturday: 9 mile long run and a 60 minute Runner’s Bootcamp hosted by Jen and her trainer Amanda Rose Walsh (more on this class tomorrow)
  • Sunday: rest

Total Running Miles: 20 miles

Workout summary: 1 yoga, 3 strength, 3 runs

Really my only miss was that I was supposed to have a shakeout run yesterday but between moving stress and staying out too late the night before, it just didn’t happen. Honestly, I can sleep when I’m in Geneva is my motto right now as I’m going to miss New York City a great deal and want to soak up every moment!

If you strength train at home, how do you find the motivation or what is your favorite tool/DVD/streaming workout?

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