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Geneva Half Marathon Training–Week 6

I never felt as if I was affected negatively by the winter this year, thanks in part to the wonderful skiing but lately I feel a difference in my training. Maybe it’s the Spring weather but things clicked perfectly again last week and I finished each workout wishing there were more miles to run or more daylight to enjoy.

We’re about to go on vacation for 7 days so I’m hoping all this motivation will stick with me as while we’re exploring new cities. At least running is a great way to see the city?

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Monday: Another great 60 minute yoga class in our office. I’m so thankful that I can just hop on the elevator and practice yoga during my lunch break. The Monday class seemed far harder than the Thursday class with longer poses.

Tuesday: This was the first two a day cross training day I’ve enjoyed in Geneva and while I’m sure it drives Gia crazy when she’s trying to organize my training plan it makes me so happy! I’ve fallen in love with swimming after just 3 practices and it makes me feel so challenged in the best way. I’m the slowest person each week but I finish and I’ve felt improvements in my form after just 3 practices. Last week we did lots of drills so that I barely noticed the 1100 meters. I followed that with a long power yoga class at InnerCity Yoga in Geneva. The class is Yoga Music Flow and is 90 minutes of sweat inducing power yoga followed by a 20 minute restoration like portion. Finding this happiness through two group workouts really made Geneva feel like home!

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Wednesday: I wasn’t sure how Wednesday’s speed work would feel after Tuesday’s double workout but my legs felt surprisingly fresh. The workout was 10 minute warm-up followed by 2 miles at 9:20, 1 mile at 9:00 and then a 1 mile cool down. I did it on the treadmill which kept the pace tracking easy and zoned out to The Good Wife.

Thursday: 6 miles including 5k pace pickups for the first minute of each mile

Friday: Utter and complete rest day which felt wonderful!

Saturday: A last minute, impromptu 9 mile run with Emily!

Sunday: Lots of walking through Geneva along with a shakeout run!

How’s your training going? What’s next on your schedule? Any fun races?

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ashleyd /

Swimming Along the Bosphorus

As I mentioned in my Under Armour What’s Beautiful Challenge vlog earlier this week, Bo and I have made it our goal to work out together each day on our trip. While yesterday was a rest day for me, this morning we spent 45 minutes together bright and early. We were in bed last night by 10:30 and therefore woke up at 6:30 in order to reset our body clocks and get started early!

We checked out the hotel gym before decided to head out to the pool for a swim workout.   IMG_8708 IMG_8709 IMG_8710

We opted to swim in the outdoor pool as it is 34 meters and heated to a warm 80 degrees. The views of the big ships coming down the river and the sunrise was a perfect way to motivate me to choose swimming as a workout. For those of you who have read my blog for a while you know I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve swam laps in the past year. Bo, however, is a very strong swimmer who often swims 1-2 miles two to three times a week.

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Bo put together a workout for me ahead of time keeping in mind that I needed to finish the workout feeling challenged but not defeated.

My workout: 100 meter warm-up, 3×300 meter freestyle with short break in between each 300 meter set

His workout: 100 meter warm-up, 3×500 meter freestyle with short break in between each 500 meter set.

Overall, it was a perfect morning workout and I am excited to spend at least half of my vacation workouts in a pool. Bo promises I’ll feel stronger as soon as tomorrow’s swim!

Are you a swimmer? If yes, what is your stroke of choice?

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ashleyd /

Not Quite a Mermaid

 

It’s Thursday, Thursday….

Okay, maybe I’m not any Rebecca Black but I’ve been way too excited for Thursday all day! Only two work days (Friday and Tuesday) separate us from vacation!

This morning started out harder than most mornings.

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In the pool!

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In case you’re new around here, I’m not exactly a mermaid in the pool. My style is more like laying by the pool or playing categories or Marco Polo in the pool.

But, this morning I conquered my fears and jumped in the pool for the first time since July 4th weekend. So much for my summer goal of swimming once a week.

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One thing hasn’t changed, I still look ridiculous in a swimsuit, goggles, and a swimming cap. 

                                                                                      Now

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Even though I’m not exactly a fish in water, today’s swim went 10x better than my last swim. Even though the pool was pretty crowded and I had to circle swim, I really enjoyed myself in the water. I swam 42 laps freestyle and then 10 laps using the pull buoys! That equals 1300 yards which mean I swam close to 3/4 of a mile!!

I’m not going to promise I’ll hop in the pool once a week but today’s swim made me more confident in my abilities and gave me a good starting point.

The rest of the day was spent stressing over work, crossing things off my to do list, and munching on breakfast and lunch.

I mean really, who do you think I am? Would I really have anything else for breakfast? I think not. But, please believe I loaded up on the peanut butter and banana this morning after my morning swim.

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Oh Greek salad how I love thee!

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Now, eleven hours later, I ‘m enjoying the perfect Thursday night. Sure, happy hours and dinners out in the fresh air were tempting but there was no where like home tonight. Loco had the right idea!

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There is no better way to start the weekend than brie, toast points, and a glass of crisp Sancerre wine.

Question: Do you go out to happy hours when you’re exhausted or do you go home?

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