8 weeks until the LA Marathon

Posted by Rachel

It's been about 3 weeks since my last update, so here's how the training has been going.

3 weeks ago
I spent the week in Switzerland for work, so needless to say my weekly mileage was low. As in, my grand total mileage for that week was lower than the # of miles in a marathon, which is probably not sufficient for marathon training. There were a lot of challenges though, including having to run in the pitch black darkness every day. I had a light but I just wasn't sure how safe it was, so I kept running back-and-forth in the section of well-lit path behind the train station. Having to work too much was another challenge, though I stayed an extra day with a coworker and sacrificed running to have some fun. I just can't justify giving up sightseeing time in Europe in favor of running.

Europe has awesome Christmas markets, and Zurich has one of these including a Christmas tree covered in Swarovski crystals. Old Town Zurich on the Limmat was really nice, and one of my legit Swiss meals included what was basically mac and Swiss cheese with an excellent Burgundy (chocolate not shown). 

A day trip on my last day included awesome views of the Swiss countryside (so green!), a stop in Lucerne, and a couple of hours at 10,000 feet. I walked across the world's highest suspension bridge, rode ski lifts, and enjoyed the awesome views. As a bonus, it wasn't even that cold that day.

Two weeks ago

Back to reality. I got home from Zurich on Sunday evening then jumped right into a week full of work and marathon training. Not much to say about that week, except I had a solid 9 mile tempo run (2 x 3 mile segments with an average 7:14 pace) and a good 18 miler that included the hills of Piedmont. I capped the week with a concert Friday night and a party on both Saturday and Sunday. 

Cookie party, with great friends and entirely too much sugar

This past week

Another pretty solid week of training with a good track workout, solid 9 mile goal marathon pace run, and 20 flat miles at a steady pace on the Bay Trail (8:23). The best part was the long run because I got to meet up with fellow blogger Chen who ran the middle 12 miles with me. Since she's not posting about training right now, I stole her pictures to post here. The weather was perfect for a long run, and I never stop appreciating how awesome it is to be able to live and run here!

Views like this and awesome training buddies make it pretty easy to get out for that 20 miler

With mileage for the past two weeks of 45-50, I'll be taking a step back next week. I know this is lower mileage than a lot of plans out there, but I run a lot of them hard and am still maintaining 2 swims per week, which has to be in some way good for my fitness (I think?). Happy holidays! Here's to overeating, drinking too much, and hopefully managing to keep up with marathon training!