Last week I talked about the negative mind games which often get in the way of training for any big event or race. As soon as I published that post, I felt a great weight lift off my shoulders. Not to mention that in the hours that followed, you all provided me with some great support and suggestions! I’m renaming these posts as I don’t know exactly what week of training this is since Gia and I restarted the schedule. Instead from now on I will use a countdown format. 

In the days that followed, I enjoyed my first strong week of training for the ING Hartford Marathon. A strong week of running and cross training couldn’t have come at a better time. It’s definitely a great motivator as my marathon is 10 weeks away, including any taper time period before the big day. The training didn’t just change over night miraculously. It took some work and effort on my part.

Ensure that I have everything I need for a successful long run ranging from fuel, water, playlist, good route, and a good night’s rest.

• Get back to cross training in the form of weights and yoga.
• Talk about training more with my coach Gia.
• Workout with friends whenever possible!

Here’s how the week shaped up from a workout standpoint.

Monday: The Geneva thunderstorms and hail ensured that I had an extra rest day.

Tuesday: My new running buddy, Emily, and I enjoyed a 45 minute run along the lake together while getting to know each other. The run flew by since we were talking the whole time! I added another 15 minute run on in the evening since it’s faster to run from work to Bains des Paquis versus taking the bus.

Wednesday: After 12 hours of travel across 3 countries, I expected this to become a rest day. But, when Bo texted me asking if I’d meet him at Reebok for a workout together there was no way I could refuse. It felt like our old routine meeting each other for a workout and I loved the 45 minutes we spent sweating together before dinner and relaxing with Friday Night Lights. My workout included 10 minute warm-up, 6 sprint intervals of 2 minute duration followed by a 1 minute recovery and then a 10 minute cool down. I also spent about 10 minutes doing a quick arm routine with free weights and doing some plank work.

Thursday: 1 hour Vinyasa yoga class at Reebok Sports Club in Canary Wharf, London. The class was from 7-8am and was the perfect way to wake my body up, welcome the day, stretch out some kinks, and focus on my breath. It wasn’t a very hard class from a pose sense but it felt good to get back into yoga.

Friday: 14 mile long run from Canary Wharf to Westminster Abbey and back along the Thames River. This run could have been horrible due to the pouring rain which started at the 5 mile mark. Instead of letting it ruin my attitude I thought of it as a fun diversion and focused on the scenery and cool temperatures instead. I spent about 3 of the miles trying to find my way home as I took a wrong turn and ended up more than a mile away from the river, totally confused around Bank Street station. My Garmin went crazy in the rain and I didn’t want to keep pulling my iPhone out in the rain to get directions. By the time my Garmin beeped 14 miles I knew I’d gone at least that distance, if not more, and hailed a taxi. The great thing about this run was that I felt strong the entire time!

Saturday: Plan called for a 40 minute easy run but I was having so much fun on the treadmill that I ended up doing a bit of a speed workout. I did 10 minutes at 6.0 and then did the next 20 minutes at 6.8 before doing a cooldown for 10 minutes at 5.9. It felt great to be able to maintain that pace for 20 minutes and I loved watching the swimmers, including Bo, below me while I ran.  I also spent about 10 minutes doing a quick arm routine with free weights and doing some plank work.

Sunday: Glorious rest day which included more than 9 hours of sleep, homemade poached eggs on English muffins from Borough Market, lots of fresh brewed English Breakfast tea, and time on the sofa planning our trip to Dijon & Burgundy later this month!

Overall it was a great week of training and I can only hope that this week is equally as strong. I’ve already started researching some fun routes for Friday’s long run which will allow me to run half the time with Emily and half solo.

How was your training this week?