Vermont City Marathon: Training Week #8

Disclaimer: I received a free entry to Vermont City Marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to find and write race reviews!

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

vermont city marathon discount code

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.

**GIVEAWAY CLOSED**: HOKA ONE ONE — Winner’s Choice!

hoke one shoe giveaway marathon

I’ve got an awesome giveaway for you: If you’re not already aware, I’m running the Vermont City Marathon this May. One of the race sponsors is Hoka One One, and they’ve partnered with my blog to provide a pair of shoes to giveaway! Hoka will supply any model to one winner (*provided your choice of shoe is in stock).

Here’s the rules:

That’s it! Giveaway ends at midnight on March 14, 2017. And I’ll announce a Winner at random on March 15.

Hoka One One running shoes VCM
YAY! SHOES!

Disclaimer: Hoka One One is a sponsor of the Vermont City Marathon and is providing one pair of shoes to one winner. I received a free entry to the Vermont City Marathon, courtesy of BibRave.com. Use discount code BibRaveDsct17 to save $5 on your VCM registration!