Well, in less than 12 days I’ll run my next marathon. For some people, this is a regular weekend occurrence, ahem Laura. For others, like me, it is something that still makes me stop and reflect in amazement. I still remember when running a mile was an insurmountable feat.

So clearly, the good part of last week’s training was my epic 20 miler with Charlie. Our 20 mile route started at the Gloucester Road Station and progressed across Battersea Bridge and through the small villages of Putney, Hammersmith, Barnes, Kew and finally ended in Richmond! We were along the Thames for most of the miles, enjoying views of local rowing teams out for Saturday morning practice. It brought back memories of high school rowing practices.

Our overall pace was around a 10:20, other than 4 quick stops for fuel and stretching. If I can keep this pace on race day, there may be a 4:40 marathon waiting for me on October 12th!

The bad, came during that same wonderful 20 miler. Charlie forgot to mention that we were going to spend 15 of the miles running on a gorgeous trail which is also very uneven and filled with loose rocks. I have no experience with trail running and therefore this was a very new experience for me which required a great deal of concentration and focus. Around mile 15, I took a nasty spill which resulted in a bruised hip, right palm and calf. Today, I have some lovely bruises to show for the stumble. On Saturday I certainly wasn’t going to let that get in my way. Charlie laughed that the first thing I did was check my watch to see if I’d killed my 4 year old Garmin.

The second escapade was my need for a pit stop during the run. I was very thankful for the fact that our trail had a lovely, deep ditch running parallel and that supposedly, according to Charlie, London doesn’t have poison ivy. Let’s suffice it to say that Charlie is a brilliant, lovely lady for carrying a small roll of toilet paper in her Camelbak.  I learned a good lesson on Saturday and have already rolled some toilet paper up and put it in my small, outside Camelbak pocket.

So, now, let’s check out the rest of the week. I didn’t make it the goal of 43 miles but when you consider that my parents and I walked more than 10 miles during the two days in London with Bo, my legs definitely spent plenty of time moving this week.

Monday: 4 miles along Lake Geneva

Tuesday: unplanned rest day

Wednesday: 7 miles through the French countryside including a few hills and 2 sets of 2 mile repeats

Thursday: 4 miles of speed work through Old Geneva

Friday: rest day + 5 miles walking through London

Saturday: 20 miles with Charlie + 6 miles walking through London

Sunday: 3 miles walking through London

Grand total: 35 miles of running + 14 miles of walking for the week

This week’s goal is quite simple: sleep!

How about you? What are your plans for workouts this week? Are you in taper time or still training hard?

Sometimes there are weeks where the unexpected happens. A week that looks normal and manageable via Outlook Calendar quickly becomes a chaotic mess of meetings, deadlines, conference calls, and stress. Juggling multiple time zones at work means early and late conference calls. On top of the work stress last week, my parents are visiting for two weeks. I love them and they are still two of my best friends. But, going to bed when I have company is tough. In fact, when you consider how rarely I see them I would call choosing sleep over time laughing and catching up with them almost impossible and downright wrong.

So, last week became the week where I focused on nothing more than putting one foot in front of the other.

I did not squeeze in every workout on my training calendar. I did not get the optimum amount of sleep. But, I focused on the most important runs and ate healthy. In addition, I laughed and smiled more than I have in weeks thanks to the combination of some quality time with friends, my parents’ visit, one last weekend of sunshine in Geneva, and Bo’s visit.

I don’t think I can call that a failed training week. Instead I’ll call it being agile. Last week’s low key training week has left me hungry for a great week of training this week. It comes at the perfect time considering this is my peak week of training. I will run 43 miles this week including 20 miles in London with Charlie. I’ve already run 4 this evening so that means that in the next 6 days I’ll log 39 miles. I am ready to see what my body and mind can do, just before beginning 2 weeks of taper.

Here’s last week’s relaxed training schedule:

Monday: 4 miles with 4*100 strides

Tuesday: 4 miles with Emily Even though we were both up far too late on Monday night we couldn’t miss our last chance to run together until October! Emily left Tuesday afternoon for the US which means I’m running solo for the next few weeks. This run is a great example of how much we help each other. After just 5 hours sleep we both showed up for the run even though the snooze button was calling our name. Not only did we log the miles but we ran 2 sub 9 minute miles!

Wednesday: Unintentional rest day – oops!

Thursday: 25 minute Yoga for Runners video

Friday: My 16 mile long run turned into 13.1 miles. My mind nor body were in this run from the moment I stepped off the front stoop at 6:30am. I snoozed multiple times and stayed up far too late laughing with my parents on Thursday night. In the end I compromised and told myself that if I finished 13.1 miles and wasn’t feeling better I could call it a day. Jillian Michaels’ podcasts definitely helped me push through the miles but at the end of the day I just couldn’t imagine doing 3 more so I stopped when I reached the top of the hill near my house.

Saturday: Walked 5 miles through Geneva and Annecy with my parents.

Sunday: Four miles along Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) with Bo. We kept a quick pace even though we talked most of the run. The weather was absolutely perfect and if time had allowed, I could have run for at least 20 more miles!

Hope you had a great week of training!

How do you mentally prepare for a week of training after a less than epic week?