Vermont City Marathon: Training Week #8

March 10, 2017 - Mel

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vermont training running blog

Tired feelings, new Launch Shamrocks and BibRave buddy!

Week 8 was my time to focus on foam rolling, recovery, and good habits in general — especially as it was my first 25+ mile week since November. Daily stress is fatiguing me pretty hard, and I know big mileage weeks only add to that feeling. And there are a LOT more weeks that are going to feel like that. I haven’t raced in a while though, so I’m getting excited as I approach some of those dates on my calendar.

MONDAY Rest Day

TUESDAY This felt like the longest 4 miles that I’ve ever done! But my paces were pretty fast for a slower-than-easy run. This is probably why I’ll always run with a watch.

4.32 mi / 42:39 / 9:32 average pace

Splits: 9:44, 10:25, 9:47, 10:03

Ended the run with 4×20 second strides (and a big chocolate milk, of course).

WEDNESDAY Rest Day (planned in advance, since I had a social thing after work)

THURSDAY Interval training day! I always get so excited for speed workouts, as they allow me the time to FOCUS on my runs instead of zoning out on the treadmill watching the third season of Desperate Housewives. And while I can’t run fast for long distances, running fast is SO FUN. Though running fast on the treadmill kind of freaks me out!

vermont marathon blogger winter running

Overall, this was a weird run. I felt like my legs couldn’t turn over any faster, though felt like I didn’t even workout when my sprints were over. I was running so hard on those 400s but not even out of breath!

5.98 mi / 55:14 / 9:14 average pace

warm-up mile: 10:49
1 – 1:27 / 2:41
2 – 1:23 / 2:52
3 – 1:24 / 2:42
4 – 1:25 / 2:41
5 – 1:27 / 2:38
6 – 1:30 / 2:42
7 – 1:29 / 2:41
8 – 1:17 / 2:42
cool-down mile: 11:15

Finding bad habits in the week already taking over, I made sure to get some foam rolling in after my run.

FRIDAY Rest Day (unplanned). Skipped my strength workout that was on the schedule, since some impromptu fun plans came up after work. I moved my Strength Day to Sunday, alongside my recovery run. I still need to do better on getting in my strength workouts and foam rolling.

SATURDAY Long run with the Capital Striders in the AM (UGH, start times changed to 7am, and it was ROUGH — but I made it). I completed the 12-mile route, and then came home to do an additional 2 miles on the treadmill. I honestly just had enough of the cool weather, and I was REALLY hoping to enjoy the expected 65-degree day. Alas, it was NOT in the 60s at 7am and wasn’t until well into the morning that the temperatures warmed up. At least it was sunny?

Splits (14): 9:38, 10:08, 9:41, 9:35, 10:24, 10:23, 9:53, 10:02, 10:06, 10:02, 9:58, 10:08
Splits (2): 11:12, 11:00

My Striders buddies keep me fast!

SUNDAY I originally planned to meet some Turkeys out on the trails, but I had a gnarly headache in the morning — and I just knew there was no way I wanted to wake up for another 7am run. No fun on the trails for me!

vermont city marathon training recovery day — Ahhhhhhhh….

Sunday is my weekly recovery day; beyond doing my usual recovery run, I also needed to make up my skipped strength workout from Friday. I want to start GOOD recovery habits rather than using Sunday as a make-up day. So I finally took my first epsom salt bath using the San Francisco Salt Company’s Epsoak Muscle Soak. I get really antsy sitting in baths (similarly, I always think 5 minutes is TOO LONG for foam rolling. Patience is not my virtue.), but forced myself to stay the entire 20 minutes. And my body felt GLORIOUS when I was done. All my muscle soreness was gone (along with my hot water to shower afterward).

On Sundays, we recover. If I’m not having a massage, I’ll be using the salts. And foam rolling for longer than 5 minutes. Promise.

WEEKLY RUNS: 4
WEEKLY MILES: 27.1 miles
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 127.66 miles

The Vermont City Marathon is this Memorial Day Weekend. Want to join me in Burlington? Use discount code BibRaveDsct17 to save $5 on your registration! And psssssst… check out my giveaway for your chance to win a pair of Hoka One One running shoes.

Vermont City Marathon: Training Week #7

February 27, 2017April 19, 2018 - Mel

vermont marathon blog training week 7

Crazy week. And crazy weird temperatures!

Despite a crazy week, I completed all of my scheduled workouts! Coming back from vacation, I was eager to return to my routines. I feel like I can adapt well to being thrown off my usual schedule, but I definitely feel the impact of stress when things change in my usual routine. So, this week’s runs and workouts were MUCH needed to help me deal.

MONDAY: Rest day and return to work; but wow, did my hips feel sore from the weekend.

TUESDAY: Random day off (my work building caught fire!), so I did my kettlebell-focused strength workout in the early afternoon.

WEDNESDAY: Easy 5-mile run + core workout

10:21 average pace

My first mile felt pretty rough but got easier — and it was 72 degrees in Iowa!!!! Since my office was still closed, I got to run in the afternoon on the Greenbelt Trail in Clive.

Splits: 10:35, 10:29, 10:24, 10:05, 10:13

THURSDAY: A fun but TOUGH Intervals workout — 6×400 (400m recovery) with an easy mile warm-up and cool down. I was a little freaked out about sprinting so fast on the treadmill, and it took so much focus.

warm-up: 11:17

400 splits:
(1) 1:45 / 3:04
(2) 1:40 / 3:09
(3) 1:46 / 3:23
(4) 1:43 / 3:04
(5) 1:40 / 3:04
(6) 1:42 / 3:32

cool down: 11:30

Finished with foam rolling — which is something that is seriously lacking in my training right now.

FRIDAY: Wow my body is tired; bless this rest day.

SATURDAY: The Long Run That Could – I had 12 miles on the schedule, but I totally mismanaged my schedule and ran out of time in the morning (Who makes a hair appointment for 10:30am on a Saturday in the middle of marathon training?!) I finished 11 miles – a fast finish workout at that — just in enough time to shower for 5 minutes, dress, and drive 20 minutes to my salon.

Splits: 11:19, 11:10, 10:58, 10:54, 10:54, 10:59, 10:45, 10:21, 9:53, 9:30, 8:51

marathon training iowa blogger vermont race — Motivation for a 11-mile training run!

SUNDAY: An afternoon recovery run (25 minutes at a slower-than-easy pace), followed by a core workout.

11:22 average pace

Finished with my Core workout and foam rolling of my glutes and TFL.

WEEKLY RUNS: 4
WEEKLY MILES: 23.2 miles
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 100.56 miles – WOO! Century Mark!

Join me in Burlington this Memorial Day Weekend for the Vermont City Marathon! Use discount code BibRaveDsct17 to save $5 on your registration!

Gasparilla Challenge: Training Week #9

February 1, 2016 - Mel

I had a really rough week again; I won’t sugar coat it. My lack of motivation to do, anything really, hit a high, and I reached out to my local run buddies to hold me accountable for my weekend long run. Needless to say, I only completed one run from this week’s training program (my long run, for what it’s worth). I’m starting a February 1 Fitness Challenge too, to help get me back on track. With a full week of derby practices ahead of me, my race in less than three weeks, and preparing for a big life change (I know, #vaguebooking), I need to be SO CAREFUL of not burning out and keeping on a schedule. My training week definitely ended on a high note though!

MVP Blocker Heroes game SCRD

MONDAY: Two-hour roller derby practice, which included scrimmaging. I’m really tired and cranky this week, so I know that I’m PMS-ing super hard. Also, I’ve written about this before, but I generally feel pretty useless and lack any amount of energy the week before my cycle starts. It was tough to get into 100% mode at practice, and I was honestly really annoyed that it was a scrimmage practice. But, I showed up and gave my best.

TUESDAY: Rest Day. Needed to watch The Bachelor. Duh.

WEDNESDAY: Had to work late… really bummed to miss yoga.

THURSDAY: [walked to/from work] Since I missed yoga the night before, I packed my bag and mat for work – with the intent of doing a lunch hour yoga at the PNC YMCA downtown. Wouldn’t you know, despite my setting an alarm on my phone so that I wouldn’t get caught up in work and forget, that it never alerted me? And I ate right through the noon hour and COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT DOING YOGA. Until the afternoon, when I turned around for my purse and saw all my workout stuff.

This week is officially The Worst.

FRIDAY: Nothing. Absolutely, lazy nothing.

SATURDAY: With a friend’s help to MAKE SURE that I woke up for a morning group long run, I joined Steel City Road Runners for 9 miles (finished 8.89 miles at average 10:48 pace) in the morning. I also ran to the start location, so I got an extra mile for my “warm up.” This was the furthest out that I’ve taken on the river front trail (on the Allegheny), so it was exciting to get a change of scenery! We stuck with the 10:30 pacer, but we were really all over the place in terms of average pace. At a certain point, we crossed back into the city side of the river — running that LONG 40th Street skyward into Upper Lawrenceville (we were basically at a 12-minute pace there). It was rough.

I sincerely needed a good run, though, and the camaraderie of my fellow runners. While I felt awful and tired and sore (that will happen after not running for a week!), I’m so glad that I got out there. My IT band was giving me a little trouble on my left leg for the last 4 miles, so I spent a good amount of time foam rolling my legs and doing some yoga stretches in the evening.

SUNDAY: I was having a little bit of knee soreness today — my quads were also SCREAMING at me and I was feeling generally exhausted and cranky… but it’s BOUT DAY! Despite the nag, I didn’t feel sore or hurt while skating at all (Monday morning is another story, though). Our Heroes vs. Villains game was INTENSE! (I was on Team Hero.) I had FIVE PENALTIES – probably the most I’ve ever had in a game (and they were all something different); and since we were a little short roster, we were all playing basically every other jam. The game of roller derby is an hour long, with two 30-minute halves and a half time. For as apathetic as I felt about playing before the game, I felt the complete opposite when I was on the track. I had an awesome game. And the other team picked me as the game MVP Blocker (aka: Most Tenacious Blocker)!

Boutfit Penalty board SCRD Heroes game — Crazy Cat Pants Boutfit and Game Day penalty board (whoops!)

Man, it was so hard not to be outside running in the 50-degree weather, though. Yes, the spark is back!

TOTAL CROSS-TRAINING WORKOUTS: 2 (both skating)
TOTAL RUNS: 1 (better than nothing, I guess!)
TOTAL WEEKLY MILES: 9.89 miles
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 63.90 miles