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A Summer of Races

Happy Thursday. This is one of those weeks where I am ready for the weekend more than normal. I’ve had a few days at work that leave me feeling like this. I’m sure you all can relate as we all have these days sometimes, right?

I’m lucky to have great company this week as Bo’s parents are here visiting which is so refreshing. It’s so nice to have our family here. It’s such a treat since we live so far away but very welcome!

Instead of talking about work, let’s talk about something far more fun than that – upcoming races! I’ve missed racing so much and definitely realize now just how much I took the NYRR races for granted. Even though they tended to be expensive, having races to enjoy with running buddies scheduled so frequently was really nice!

I definitely do better when I have a goal in place or at least something to keep me focused on training and in completion health. Luckily, over the next few months I have at least one great race each month to keep the training fun alive!  I love that these are all new races and experiences too! I’ve never run in the highly talked about wall of color during a color run or completed a triathlon. Luckily, for four of these races I have great, fun ladies to enjoy each experience. The Color Run will be a huge party with Charlie, Leah and a bunch of the Team Naturally Run ladies while Laura and I will conquer the Mont Blanc 10k together in Chamonix though neither of us know what to expect.

Upcoming Races

June:

June 1st:  The Color Run in London

June 28th: Mont Blanc Marathon 10k

July:

July 24th: Geneva International Triathlon – short distance (500m+20km+5km)

September:

September 28th: Berlin Marathon

October

October 12th: Royal Parks Half Marathon in London

Some of these races, such as The Color Run and Mont Blanc 10k, will be nothing but fun with friends while the triathlon and the marathon are my summer focus races. Between now and the triathlon I am going to focus on biking and swimming while using the runs on my schedule to maintain my half marathon fitness. Once the triathlon is over my focus will return to running for the final 9 weeks of training.

Have you done a Color Run? Did you enjoy it or find the color annoying? Did the color come out of your clothes or were they ruined?

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Geneva Half Marathon–A New PR!

Just stopping in quickly to thank everyone who shared lots of positive thoughts and motivation with me in advance of this morning’s half marathon. The 40 degree temperature and 20-30 mph wind gusts made for some interesting moments but thanks to Charlie and Laura who paced me the whole race and our amazing cheer squad & supporters, I lived up to my promise of jumping in Lac Leman if I set a new PR!

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I’m coming for you sub 2 hours but I will gladly take today’s 2:03:02 new personal record! It was painful and tough but I am so thankful to have pushed myself!

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La Genevoise 5k

Today I finally ran my first race in Geneva! The Geneva 5k or La Genevoise 5k was such a fun race to run with the ladies!

Before the race we picked up Charlie from the airport who flew in from London early this morning. We headed back to the bib pickup area so she could grab her bib and shirt before a few hours of relaxation.

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A few of us decided to get the men’s shirts in place of the women’s as they are a longer cut. We stood out in the crowd of pink shirts during the race as many other women wore the pink technical shirt given out for the race.

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Before the race Charlie and I caught up over lunch at Mango Deck where we each had the goat cheese salad complete with pears and hazelnuts! The salads were HUGE but the perfect lunch before what will surely be an evening filled with bread and pasta.

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Fifteen minutes before the race we met Emily and the Team Naturally Run girls near the Flower Clock, a local icon, so we could run the race together. Most of us are running the half marathon or marathon relay tomorrow so our plan was just to enjoy the race together. 

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We made it into the corrals just in time to join the warm-up party. I kid you not when I use the word party as they had the techno music blasting and kept yelling in French that it was party time!

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Just as the race started the blue sky and bits of sunshine broke through the ominous clouds allowing us to enjoy 30 minutes of sunshine during the race. The course took runners over the bridge and along the lake before turning around and looping back to Jardin Anglais. Emily and I pointed out sites along the way as this is our normal running route together.

As soon as we started running we were all very pleased with our decision to just enjoy the run versus racing it as the course wasn’t PR friendly. There were many walkers and slower runners which blocked the paths since the course was so narrow. In addition, for future reference, there is no water along the course so for those who like to drink water as you run, bringing your own water is a must.

Just how much fun we had during the 5k is hard to capture in photos. Needless to say, the five of us who ran together were laughing and talking so much that we were surprised how quickly the turnaround point came up.

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We finished in under 30 minutes, keeping just under a 10 minute pace for the race. After finishing we were greeted with medals, oranges, bananas, and reusable gold water bottles compliments of Tupperware.

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What better thing to enjoy after a race than Laduree macarons?

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