Race Recap: Vermont City Marathon

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 City Marathon Church Street
Made it to Church Street!

TWENTY WEEKS of sweat and tears and complaining about the weather brought me to Burlington, Vermont to take on my second full marathon on Memorial Day weekend. After getting over the last few weeks of my training slump — alongside that confidence-building 22-miler — I was ready to do this race. I had no anxiety going into race week and wasn’t wishing for the moment to be over (not until mile 25 at least). And what I learned on race day was that I could push myself… and still have a blast. By no means is marathon training all fun. But if you’ve already seen my finish chute spoiler from Instagram, you could see the joy all over my face on a race well run.

Vermont City Marathon flat Mel

Registration and Cost: I was comped a race entry through BibRave, though prices for the marathon range from $99 when registration first opens to $135 on race weekend. There is a relay option, too. It’s unclear if the half marathon was part of one of the relays — there are 2- to 5-person relay options, so probably the 2-person? There were 13.1 medals — but I don’t see the half as an option for registration.

Expo and Bib Pick-Up: I opted to book a hotel close to the start/finish lines, but the expo was held outside the downtown area about 2 miles away at the Sheraton Hotel & Convention Center. It’s probably walkable — but I didn’t want to do that the day before a marathon (we ended up renting a car for the weekend to explore some things outside of town anyways).

Vermont City Marathon expo directions

There were footprint stickers leading runners from the entry to the correct bib pick-up line — you then needed to take your bib over to the t-shirt tables to have activated. A clear plastic bag and matching bib number sticker was given for checking any items on race day — but no usual race branded cinch bag.

I liked the selection of vendors at this expo, which seemed to be more focused on local Vermont brands (including Cabot cheese samples and beer tastings from a local brewery). I got a ton of free things from Kinney Drug booth — several packs of K-tape and face wipes and lotion — holy moly! I discovered the Darn Tough sock brand at the Expo, too; and I am already obsessed with these merino wool socks. I bought a pair of their short Coolmax running socks too.

Vermont City Marathon race swag

Swag: To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed with the race swag, given what some other races do for runners completing a full marathon (there was also a virtual “swag bag”). Though I have to keep perspective on how small this race is. The race shirt was a performance short sleeve with gender-specific colors; the women’s shirt was maroon, which was a nice change of (color) pace. I searched the expo to buy some kind of marathoner finisher jacket, and I found a nearly empty rack. There were no women’s size small in the race branded zip jacket. Only 3 mediums left. And I was at the expo an hour and a half after opening on Saturday. That’s NUTS that there wasn’t enough. The race sweatshirt was one of the thinner and cuter fit ones (no zip front), but I really wanted a jacket. Bummer about that. I also loved the Run the 802 branding for the local race series, but maybe I was so blinded by the other issue that I somehow missed those items? I also missed buying a 26.2 sticker for my car, and I have all the sads. ?

Course: Think of this course like a clover – it starts near Battery Park and takes four loops out of downtown Burlington and back, and then loops around another side of town (and repeat. and repeat). The first few miles were inside town and included our first pass down Church Street; the next few miles were out-and-back on open highway and it was BORING. I was happy to loop back into town again and end that portion.

I looked at the course elevation earlier in training and wasn’t dreading any real hills except for one. And that was Mile 15: The Assault on Battery. Somehow, when that hill happened, I had enough energy to keep running. Majority of VCM was flat, though there were some elevation changes. My quads are certainly telling the story of continuous rolling hills, however. Even a massage didn’t help. Woof.

Vermont City Marathon Elevation chart
So, this is why my quads are wrecked!

The best parts of the course BY FAR were in the neighborhoods between Miles 18-21. More on that later. At Mile 22, the race hits the Burlington Bike Trail and continues to the finish at Waterfront Park. The trail portion was not as shaded as I had hoped and only had a glimpse of the lake view every so often. This was where the crowd support seriously dwindled and shit gets hard. I finally turned on my music.

Weather: The forecast 15 days out from the race called for rain, so I was delighted that awfulness had passed through early. However, the temps were expected to get pretty warm by the time I finished. Given that the race was “black-flagged” last year, this made me nervous (some runners I chatted with throughout the race had already finished 22-24 miles by the time the race was cancelled at 4 hours in, and no results were recorded beyond 4:30). We had a nice cool (but humid feeling) 54 degrees to start. The sun started to get very warm near the end and reached around 75 degrees. Naturally, the back part of the course is full sun. When I noticed that the red flags were up around mile 21, those thoughts kept creeping in and I was getting pissed (and nervous).

Note: This was partly why the Race Directors moved the start time to 7am this year.

Vermont City Marathon start line

Start line: I was a little overwhelmed and confused by the start area — despite the beautiful backdrop of Lake Champlain. I only found the starting corrals by stroke of luck (and walking around). I didn’t see any directional signage and thought the start was actually in the park (it was on the street next to). No corral assignments, so runners lined up by their expected pace — there was pace signage and pacers holding finish time signs. The course felt really crowded for the first few miles, and there was brick-paved roads, so it was a constant look down-look up to make sure that I wouldn’t trip over anything (like, a giant pedestrian walk sign in the middle of the road; why wouldn’t they remove that?) or run into another participant. The actual start line was around the corner from the corrals.

Vermont City Marathon start corral

Aid Stations: All the aid stations were manned by WONDERFUL volunteers and it seemed all of the stations had water-Gatorade-water (perfect trifecta!). There was also a bonus candy aid station near the mid-point of the course, where I grabbed a cup of Skittles (YASSS!), and an ice pop station at the back portion of the course (I think I had 3 different ice pops throughout the back half of the race — thank you, Vermonters!). Clif shots and gels were provided at two different points, and there looked to be plenty of Kybos along the course, too.

Fans and entertainment: The race had some designated spots for course entertainment, but most of the fun came from the neighborhoods getting together to cheer and party. On our Church Street pass-throughs, there were drag queens giving high fives and many of the bars and restaurants seemed to be supporting the race by having their patios open earlier to spectators. The best section of the race, as I mentioned above, was after leaving the city and that awful hill on Battery Street. Starting with the 16.fun party on North Ave.

I was regularly dumping water on myself to keep cool as the temperatures were going up — and SO MANY neighbors set up sprinklers and spray hoses for us to run through (one kid even had a super soaker). THANK YOU! This was so appreciated. I wasn’t sure if my phone would be alive afterward, but I didn’t care.

Also in this neighborhood (I think I might have seen a sign that it was Lakewood? Not certain.): watermelon slices, oranges, bananas, candy, ice pops, neighborhood kids passing out drinks from their lemonade stands (adorable!)… a Tyrannosaurs running through sprinklers (I nearly had to stop from laughing so hard). And then by far one of the best things I’ve ever seen on a race course — shots of maple syrup. SHOTS OF MAPLE SYRUP. My race mantra was “Eat the Popsicle!” and I sure as hell was having a maple syrup shot. Isn’t that just so quintessentially Vermont?

Around mile 23, I started to feel tired and stiff. At 24, I was on the brink of having an emotional breakdown, feeling tears well up in my eyes and cursing myself for signing up for another marathon in the fall. Don’t know what that was all about; it wasn’t a wall — I knew that I could run more. I felt like I was on the brink of hyperventilating from choking back a big ugly cry. I pulled myself together.

Somehow.

Like I said earlier, this is where the crowd support thinned out, and it got hard; mile 25 was my wall. That’s when I felt done and ready to finish. Though as Forrest Gump says: I just kept running.

Best sign: You could have played chess

Or maybe the Vaseline signs? ? (you had to be there)

Vermont City Marathon finish chute

Finish line: The chute seemed to last forever, and I kept going back to memories of my first marathon. That extra .2 feels like a lifetime!

And then came the tears and hyperventilating. The outburst of emotion actually made me a little nervous. But I walked around for a bit and calmed down by the time I found the chocolate milk (and I guess I looked messed up enough that the volunteer gave me an extra one).

Vermont City Marathon finisher blog review
Chocolate Milk!

The finish area was just as confusing as the start. The volunteers handed us a bottled water and a bag (awesome!) to carry athlete food (fruit and chocolate milk… and I think there was free pizza). I didn’t automatically get a foil blanket, maybe Because of the heat, though I did see a few runners with them. I also didn’t see the results tent or a beer tent (was there one?). There were no chips left at Moe’s. All these things kind of fueled whatever emotional exhaustion I was feeling. And I had no idea where to go.

At that moment, my finish time notification from RaceJoy popped up on my Garmin. The reminder of all that hard training showed in a new marathon PR and my expected finish time based on my training.

The Medal: I love that the face of the medal has the infamous scene (and part of the VCM race logo) of the runners on Church Street and the sparkle is fun… but mine has a defect on it. Whomp, whomp..

After party: After a shower (and carefully looking for chafing and blisters), we walked down a few blocks to Citizen Cider for our own post-race celebration. They had gluten-free poutine and corn dogs and my day was complete.

Vermont City Marathon After Party Citizen Cider
Cider flight from Citizen Cider (they also had gluten-free corn dogs and poutine!)

Splits: Something wonky happened to my recorded watch splits after Mile 10 (it’s possible that I hit the lap button on my watch when removing my arm sleeves? At least it restarted!); I have the 10th lap at a .41 mile. Seems like I ran some long tangents too, with my Garmin clocking me at a total of 26.4 miles.

These are the official race splits:
10k: 1:04:34
10m: 1:43:31
Half: 2:15:24 (average pace 10:20)
20m: 3:30:11 (average pace 10:30)

OVERALL
The Great: Burlington is such an amazing place to go for a destination race. Also great if you love smaller races.
The Good: Vermont City Marathon has FREE race photos, which is AWESOME. I saw several photogs out on the course.
The Bad: Running in red flag conditions is scary. Find ways to stay cool!
The Ugly: I got some new chafing spots (ahem, butt crack) that I never experienced before. Must be from purposely getting wet throughout the race?

Vermont City Marathon BibRave Pro
BibRave!

OFFICIAL RESULTS
4:39:12
Average 10:39 pace
1327 overall place (out of 1985)
536 overall Female (out of 918)
My first entry in the 40-44 age group — 62 in that division (out of 110).

Weekly Therapy: Taper + Marathon Weekend!

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!

the week:
Since I’m traveling to Burlington for the Vermont City Marathon, I wanted to focus on that for this Weekly Therapy. The Taper Crazies have grabbed hold!

weekend:
MARATHON WEEKEND!!! I have a couple days in Burlington to explore before the race. It’s been 5 years since my last visit. Besides Citizen Cider, which is already DEFINITELY on my list, what else should I see or do? Any gluten-free recommendations?

seven things at Vermont City Marathon that I’m excited about:
1. OMG, views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks.
2. FREE RACE PHOTOS! Thanks, Vermont Department of Tourism.
3. The Sport & Fitness Expo because I’m a sucker for race swag and finding buying local Vermont products.
4. Pre-race PASTA FEED (yes, there’s gluten-free!).
5. I always love to hear the entertainment along the course, but I’m also excited for…
6. A candy stop AND ice pop aid station. ?
7. Crossing that finish line and celebrating another finished marathon!

Vermont City Marathon: Training Week #19

IT’S MARATHON WEEK! But without getting too far ahead, this post is about LAST week — Training Week #19 — a taper week, a take-it-easy week, a… uh, reminder to myself that marathon training is not quite over. Week.

Vermont Marathon training blogger
Marathoner in Training… STILL. ?

I’m carrying over a LOT of confidence from my 22-miler the weekend before, and I feel completely ready to do this race. Because I’m in my taper, this week’s training plan doesn’t have a whole lot of surprises — unless you count the tornado sirens.

MONDAY Rest

TUESDAY Yoga at home + foam rolling

WEDNESDAY This was our crazy weather night, complete with tornado warnings – and our power was out until late evening. No running for me.

THURSDAY Mid-week easy run that I carried over from Wednesday. I originally was supposed to join the Green Runners again, but wasn’t sure about the total mileage and opted to complete my run at home on the treadmill.

3.01 miles / 33:50 / 11:14 average pace

FRIDAY More rest!

SATURDAY Last meet-up with my Capital Striders group for this training cycle. We did a 6-mile loop starting from Drake, dropping some runners off and gaining some others for another 5 miles.

10.90 miles / 1:50:00 / 10:05 average pace

Splits: 10:18, 10:00, 10:26, 10:20, 10:14, 9:56, 10:20, 9:48, 9:47, 9:35, 10:15
I had no idea that my paces were that fast — felt easy!

We ended our “season” with a celebration brunch at Louie’s Wine Dive. Despite a bit of rain, it was a great morning out on the roads. I appreciate these ladies so much for their support through my training.

capital striders run brunch iowa

Cheers, ladies!

SUNDAY I had yoga on my schedule, but didn’t do well with scheduling out my day. By the time I got home from the matinee, I was exhausted and ended up on the couch with my cat for a couple hours. I did some stretching and hip/glute mobility stuff before bed.

WEEKLY RUNS: 2 runs
WEEKLY MILES: 13.9 miles
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 402.97 miles

Today’s the LAST DAY to register for the Vermont City Marathon. Use code BibRave10 to save $10 on your registration!

Vermont City Marathon: Training Week #18

IT’S TAPER TIME!!!!!! Also, look at that: a training week wrap-up actually posted on Monday!

taper time marathon training

Week #18 wasn’t a perfect training week for me. I skipped a speed workout, and swapped an easy run to later in the week. I think I’ve only had 3 weeks in my entire training cycle where I didn’t run 4 times. This was one of those weeks! I only ran twice. Woof. My back soreness extended into mid-week — when I FINALLY got my trigger point ball out and found the gnarly spot in my mid-back that was causing all the discomfort. This wasn’t my “peak week,” as last week had more total mileage — though this week had my longest run of this cycle. I’m excited already with all this “spare time” I found in my weekly schedule and looking forward to writing more about my excitement for this marathon.

vermont city marathon training greenbelt trail iowa blogger

BibRave represent, 22 miles of Greenbelt Trail, and practicing my race day outfit.

MONDAY Strength workout – no kettlebell for me this week, as I was being protective of my back. I focused on body strength work and really light dumbbells.

TUESDAY My birthday — so why not just rest and enjoy it?

WEDNESDAY I had yoga scheduled for Thursday, but I NEEDED it — and just 30 minutes at home helped SO MUCH. I spent extra time on stretching and foam rolling and hating my trigger point ball. If you’re looking for some good home yoga workouts, I can’t recommend Yoga With Adriene enough! She’s got a lot of great beginner videos, but also some amazing sessions geared towards runners… and a couple for specific issues (like my lower back soreness).

THURSDAY Easy 6 miles around my neighborhood. Since changing my work schedule, it’s been nice to have my runs done a little earlier. And it’s always great to enjoy more hours of daylight — particularly on a beautiful weather day.

FRIDAY Lots of rest to prepare for Saturday’s early rise.

SATURDAY Longest long run of my training plan — 22 miles! I met with the Capital Striders group run, joining my running buddies for an out-and-back 8+ miles on the Greenbelt Trail from Fitness Sports… and then continuing for the bulk of the miles on my own. I felt good; I ran in my race day outfit, and I practiced all my fueling and mental training. It was good to have a little warmer of a day, too, in the chance I experience that weather in Vermont.

You want to know something that pissed me off on my run though?

vermont city marathon half marathon split
Getting a Personal Best on my half marathon. That’s some shit, isn’t it?

SUNDAY Recovery Day! And I planned it as such, with Pop-Up Yoga at Salisbury House and a 90-minute massage (session with a new massotherapist, and I love her!).

popup yoga des moines blogger
Beautiful gardens at Salisbury House… oh, and after directing the gardening duties at my house.

And with that, time to enjoy the taper crazies!

WEEKLY RUNS: 2 runs
WEEKLY MILES: 27.7 miles
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 389.07 miles

Vermont city marathon run blog

While it’s probably too late to train for a marathon (spoiler alert: it is), if you waited to register for the Vermont City Marathon, now is the time: Use code BibRave10 to save $10 on your registration! TWO WEEKS AWAY!

Vermont City Marathon: Training Week #17

There are only THREE TRAINING WEEKS left of marathon training, and (thankfully) Week #17 was a pretty strong week for me.

vermont marathon training week 17 iowa runner

That said, I’m paying attention to my lower back — it doesn’t bother me at all when I run, but I feel a strain on my right side when I’m laying down for bed or sitting up with my legs out straight (or, sometimes, when I’ve been sitting too long). I’ve had a few muscle spasms randomly at work, too, which… I don’t know if I have a knot somewhere that is just transferring to my lower back or I strained it doing a strength workout. Though I cancelled my golf lessons for the remainder of the month to be safe because the twisting-turning motion bothered me most. Hoping it’s nothing, but being mindful of it, nonetheless. I FINALLY have a massage appointment this upcoming weekend.

MONDAY Golf was cancelled due to the weather

TUESDAY I was committed to getting my easy run in Tuesday night. And it was a late run, since I attended a volunteer ceremony event after work. And yes, my treadmill still smells like burning rubber.

6 miles + 6×20 Strides / 1:11:38 / 11:09 average pace

WEDNESDAY Tempo Run on the schedule! It was a little chilly running outside in crops and a t-shirt, but the sunshine felt good. Everyone was out cutting their lawns, so my allergies sucked something major. My nose running must have distracted me because I realized within my warm-up mile that I was running too fast of a pace.

So I continued.

I stuck to faster paces for my next two miles.

And then faster paces for my next two miles. I finally completed a legit tempo workout. I DID THE WORK. ???

Warm-up: 10:03

2 miles: 9:38, 9:27
2 miles: 9:16, 8:58

Cool down: 10:45

THURSDAY Rest – was supposed to do yoga, buuuuuuut I went out for Happy Hour after work to celebrate an early Cinco de Mayo.

FRIDAY Foam rolling before bed — my quads and calves needed a LOT of work. And I had a GREAT night of sleep, holy moly. Maybe my body knew that I didn’t have to wake up early the next day?

SATURDAY Hahahahaha, just kidding. Woke up at 6am, though it was 9 glorious hours of sleep. I did a quick shakeout run — 3 easy miles + 4×20 Strides. The weather was BEAUTIFUL!

3.3 miles / 32:45 / 9:53 average pace

iowa running marathon training des moines bridges trail

SUNDAY My second 20-miler of this marathon training cycle. 20 MILES… AGAIN! This felt SO MUCH better than the 20 miles that I did a few weeks ago — I felt strong and like I could run an actual marathon. I finished 7.12 miles before the start of the Des Moines Women’s Half Marathon — 1:16:49, with an average pace of 10:47 — and then finished the half marathon in 2:15:19, a 10:26 average pace.

Check out these half splits: 10:27(1), 10:29(2), 10:33(3), 10:32(4), 10:28(5), 10:45(6), 10:25(7), 10:39(8), 10:31(9), 10:30(10), 10:39(11), 10:16(12), 9:25(13). That’s a pretty consistent pace. I’m proud of the work I put in this week.

WEEKLY RUNS: 4(ish) runs
WEEKLY MILES: 35.8 miles
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 361.37 miles

Vermont city marathon run blog

AHHHHHHHH Race Day is so close! Still time to register and join me in Burlington, Vermont (if running marathons is your thang) for the Vermont City Marathon: Use code BibRave10 to save $10 on your registration!

Vermont City Marathon: Training Week #16

What’s a little “accountability Monday” on Friday? One of these weeks I’ll get back on scheduled (likely, during my taper).

Welcome to Des Moines downtown murals

Came upon this awesome mural on the backside of Exile Brewing Company during my downtown run.

Look, marathon training is not all awesomeness and easy and rainbows and butterflies. Even someone fit and focused and goal-driven can succumb to the exhaustion of a 20-week training cycle (IT: ME). I’m determined not to quit, but my wheels are falling off and I’m feeling some unnecessary pressure from… somewhere, I don’t know.

MONDAY I didn’t have a specific strength training workout scheduled, but my coach provides a couple GREAT ones — including one where I can use my kettlebell. I wanted to change it up a little bit, so I did a round of one those Spell Your Name workouts found all over Pinterest (yeah, it included some burpees!). I followed that up with a round of my coach’s KB strength workout.

training run in grays lake des moines
Peek-a-boo. I see you, Des Moines!

TUESDAY A little different scenery for my evening easy run, as I had the Grand Blue Mile on my schedule with my husband — he’s not a runner, so this was SO much fun for me. Beforehand, I finished 5 (humid) miles from downtown to Gray’s Lake and back. It cooled off A LOT before the Mile race started, so much so that I had to go back to my car to put on my long sleeve.

grand blue mile race downtown des moines

Grand Blue Mile results: 10:00.40

WEDNESDAY I needed another rest day. Just feeling… off. So, no speed workout this week.

THURSDAY My first meet-up with the Green Runners, as we focused on cleaning up the area around Drake campus — to coordinate with the Relays. What a fun time! These group runs happen almost every Thursday for the next few (warm) months, and rotate around different locations in the metro area. It’s a fun group that caters to all running abilities (and even good for walkers) — you should join us! But get ready to do some squats. 😉

Des Moines Green Runners

While it was mostly walking on this route due to the neighborhood and traffic, we got in a mile.

FRIDAY If I had any plans to make up workouts, it wasn’t tonight! Though I enjoyed hanging out with the husband, watching movies and fattening up on Jeni’s Pistachio & Honey ice cream.

SATURDAY It’s been a couple years since I took a DNS, but I decided not to run the Drake Half Marathon on Saturday morning. This impacted my plan for my 20-mile run, but I planned to recover some of that mileage on my treadmill at home. I ended up with 8.69 miles before the machine started smelling like burning rubber so badly that I had to turn it off. Seriously, can someone recommend a better brand of treadmills?

SUNDAY I needed some redemption on my missed mileage from Saturday and a skipped run from mid-week; and despite the TERRIBLE weather conditions, the radar showed about an hour of no rain on Sunday morning (though, still 40 degrees and high winds, because Iowa). I was able to get in 8 miles before the rain started again. I felt good DURING the run — and even my paces were faster than I expected for an “easy” — though afterward, WOW, I felt positively drained.

april miles des moines runner blog
Don’t I look thrilled?

Even after a recovery muscle soak, my body felt sore and awful. I don’t generally feel sore after running, so it’s annoying and a little frustrating. So, no double digit long run for me in week #16, though still over 20 miles and 4 runs for the week. AND another 100+ mileage month for April!

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WEEKLY RUNS: 4 runs
WEEKLY MILES: 23.85 miles
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 325.57 miles
TOTAL APRIL MILES: 113.3 miles

Only a month away until Race Day! Still time to register and join me in Burlington, Vermont for the Vermont City Marathon: Use code BibRave10 to save $10 on your registration!

Vermont City Marathon: Training Week #15

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 city marathon training week 15 blog

All bundled up for the Illinois half marathon, SO CLOSE to race day, and Chocolate Milk forever and ever. Amen.

It’s crazy to think that I’m on this “other side” of marathon training. With less than 5 weeks until race day, I’ve experienced about every type of weather forecast and every type of emotion. And to be truthful, I really wish training was over. I know that it’s good to have this insight having DONE all this training thus far to maybe not do a 20-week training program next time and that I’m capable of getting through the next few weeks. Though my focus and resolve to deal with every day bullshit (and the weather) has waned, and I’m really ready for it all to be over. Only a few more weeks until taper time, but I already feel like giving up.

And yes, I’ve got another marathon yet that I am training for this year. I KNOW.

This week I was proud to get all my runs done (despite having messed up my watch somehow TWICE), and I did all my strength and core workouts. *fist bump*

MONDAY Rest day. OH GLORIOUS REST DAY.

TUESDAY An easy run on the schedule, ending with 6×20 Strides and my at-home kettlebell strength workout. My warm-up routine for this day starts with foam rolling, and besides my calves, everything feels OK. Somehow, I messed up my watch when I got an incoming text — and somehow forwarded to my splits, and had to restart the workout. I finished 1.15 miles on the first cycle (12:01 average pace) and 5.44 total miles on the 2nd cycle.

Mile 2-6 Splits: 11:47, 11:51, 11:49, 11:56, 11:54

Felt really MEH about this easy run, but got it done. And then I felt like I tweaked something in my right knee coming out of a side plank. I guess it’s time in marathon training where THAT starts happening, too.

WEDNESDAY Another easy run, ending with 4×20 Strides and a core workout. Despite the weather not being too bad during the week, I opted for both easy runs on the treadmill. I messed up my first Stride by almost forgetting about having to do them, and stopped the treadmill.

4.27 miles / 11:50 average pace

Lots of foam rolling before bed, and spent some additional time with my Moji foot roller on my arches.

THURSDAY Rest day

FRIDAY It was nice to have a short week at work, taking a PTO day to drive out to Illinois for the 5K in the evening. Read my recap of Race 1 of the Half I-Challenge at the Illinois Marathon.

I was supposed to take it easy and have fun. Though I’m pretty sure that a PR is not exactly easy – but it felt easy! And I had fun! I mean, I was definitely sweating by the end of it and had that “high” of being able to push myself to the finish. Bonus: I ran by feel and didn’t look at my watch until I crossed the finish line. THAT FELT AWESOME.

Splits: 9:31, 8:41, 8:38

SATURDAY Read my recap of Race 2 of the Illinois Marathon Half I-Challenge (the Half Marathon).

A cold day for the race, but my cranky mood about weather turned quickly when I realized how much fun EVERYONE was having (I wanted to have fun!). My official finishing time made this my 2nd fastest half marathon. I felt strong; it felt easy. Go read my recap!

10k split: 1:04:45 [10:26 pace] 10 mile: 1:43:21 [10:21 pace] 12.4 mile: 2:07:13 [10:16 pace] finish: [10:09 pace]

SUNDAY Rest (and travel) Day — back home to Iowa and time to eat ALL THE THINGS.

WEEKLY RUNS: 4 runs
WEEKLY MILES: 27.16 miles
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 301.72 miles

Only a month away until Race Day! Still time to register and join me in Burlington, Vermont for the Vermont City Marathon: Use code BibRave10 to save $10 on your registration!

Race Recap: The Illinois Half Marathon — Race 2 of Half I-Challenge

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

Illinois half marathon bibrave blog

Catch up onPart 1 of my Illinois Marathon race weekend and expo recap. For this post, I’ll recap the half marathon and summarize my overall experience in Champaign-Urbana.

illinois half marathon bib race weekend

And hey, I ran my 10th half marathon!

The college was celebrating its 150th birthday, and race day was a PARTY. When the Race Directors said that the city gets behind this race, they really meant it. And with the spectators having so much fun, I was feeding off that energy.

Illinois marathon race weekend birthday cake

Location: Champaign-Urbana, Illinois!

Registration and Cost: As my disclosure states above, I received a free entry to the Half I-Challenge series. If you register for the race early, you can run the half marathon for as cheap as $60. There are several incremental increases as the race approaches; expo registration (pending availability) went as high as $90. The Half I-Challenge for the half marathon and 5K starts at $85 and goes up to $140.

Pre-Race: The communication from Illinois Marathon RDs was EXCELLENT leading up to race weekend. They utilized Facebook and Twitter and interacted with participants, and sent out several emails regarding race info, packet pickup, and after parties.

Illinois half marathon flat runner

Swag: Each race had its own drawstring race bag and t-shirt. The half marathon shirt is great — a bright neon yellow short-sleeved tee with a more breathable tech material. I also love that it’s v-neck. The drawstring bag for the half has a mesh back and extra zippered pocket in the front. I have SOOOOOO many drawstring race bags now; I wish that there was only one for the Challenge runners.

Weather: While I knew it was going to be chilly, race day was downright COLD — at the start it was feels like temp of 35. I was a little cranky about it, but also glad that I had an extra long sleeve. It was also pretty windy, so that added to my pre-race chill.

Course: The course for the half marathon was basically flat — and it was fast. A lot of it was run through neighborhoods and some through paved trails in a park, but none of it was boring.

Illinois half marathon course map

Start Line: Definitely not as crowded as the day before (thankfully). Not the same start location as the 5K, but still on campus near the Stadium and only a .5 mile walk from my hotel. There were wave starts and a countdown for each start.

Illinois half marathon start line blogger

Aid Stations: There is an oranges station sponsored by Meijer around mile 6, which was a nice surprise (I love oranges during races!). There were a few hydration stations with water and some with Gatorade (I missed the first Gatorade stop because I didn’t realize until I was already at the water tables). I got a strawberry-banana GU (my favorite!) at mile 6.5-ish, too. I was able to store my GU for later on when I had some awful stomach grumbling from hunger (I carried some Figgies & Jammies with me, but didn’t feel like “eating” during the race).

Finish Line: Muscle Milk (chocolate and vanilla) and bottled water on the field. I walked all the way up the stadium seats until I realized that I forgot to pick up my Challenge medals back in center field. After walking back UP the stairs, I saw the signs…

ERMAGAHD GLUTEN-FREE PASTA AVAILABLE IN THE CONCESSION STANDS!!!

illinois marathon post race gluten free pasta

I was more than a little excited (thanks, Biaggi’s!).

Fans and Experience: Crowd support was probably the most engaging and fun of any race in which I participated. There were signs everywhere (my favorite: “We’re blocked in our driveway, run faster!”) and spectators lined the streets and neighborhoods — high-fiving and cheering and handing out samples of beer and makeshift water stops and tissues to runners. I find some of the larger races to be overwhelming with people, but this was the perfect amount of energy; I was really feeding off it. It reminded me a bit of the neighborhood support when I did the Akron relay.

I particularly loved the genuine “Welcome to Champaign” (was that the mayor?) greeting as we ran through the downtown area and the “Finnish Line” (hilarious!). There were Cheer Zones and live music (I loved the multi-instrument band with the accordion and brass — I wish I caught the name of their group) and even Elvis! The entertainment was awesome throughout the course. Around 8-9 miles in, some friendly neighbors were passing out cups and cans of beer — not for me, obviously but if there was something gluten-free, I may have taken something; I was sincerely loving the energy.

Even better, the RUNNERS seemed to all be having equal fun.

illinois marathon finish in memorial stadium

After Party: The 27th Mile celebration was just outside Memorial Stadium, similar to the party the night before — free beer for participants and free cake and live music. After walking back to my hotel room, it was breakfast, a hot shower and a long nap; and then a friend drove in to hang out over night. I needed to fuel, so it was (gluten-free!) burgers and buffalo chicken dip at Scotty’s Brewhouse first, and then we drank wine and ate stinky cheese and caught up in the hotel room afterward. The weekend overall was a total blast.

illinois marathon post race drinks
Water, chocolate milk, coffee… I like options (and the hotel was EXCELLENT at keeping the breakfast going a little late for runners)

OVERALL
The Great: THIS RACE WAS AWESOME. SO FUN. ALL CAPS.
The Good: I negative split the 2nd half of my race — WHOOP!
The Bad: Blah, weather. Tolerable, but I thought winter was over!
The Ugly: As runners are approaching the stadium for the finish line, the course kinda narrows; well, I came up to a band of walkers spanned across the distance. It was irritating, and I got a little run rage-y — I may have yelled at them to move left (sorry).

TL;DR: My weekend in Illinois was incredible. A 5K PR and my 2nd fastest half marathon time — and probably the best overall race energy and experience. They put on a great event there in Champaign-Urbana, and if you’re looking for some fun (or a PR), I would definitely add this race to your calendar.

Splits:
10k split: 1:04:45 [10:26 pace] 10 mile: 1:43:21 [10:21 pace] 12.4 mile: 2:07:13 [10:16 pace] Finish: [10:09 pace]

Illinois half marathon finish line

OFFICIAL RESULTS
2:12:55

Illinois marathon half marathon finishers certificate

Vermont City Marathon: Training Week #14

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 city marathon blog runner

Love the light at this time of year, hanging out with my foam roller and other trigger point apparatus, and why does yoga give me hives???

Thankfully, I was able to shake off my training funk during a couple awesome-feeling easy runs. There’s something that happens in the span of a short half-hour run that allows for freedom to explore emotions tied to marathon training — rather than dreading the hours-long trod of long runs (maybe with too much time to think or your emotions to run the gamut). The lightness of running for fun returns, and then I feel full of hope again and ready to go to work.

MONDAY Rest Day — plus a massage after work. My session felt pretty mediocre, which is disappointing (as I’ve been seeing the same massage therapist for several months now). I’m hoping she was just having an off day, but it was bad enough for me to consider maybe scheduling my next appointment with someone else. Bummer.

TUESDAY Easy and Strides and strength workout all on the schedule. I felt OK enough to get in my easy run outdoors… but didn’t feel like doing either my Strides or my strength workout. I know, I know. I feel you judging me! But the weather was beautiful, so I was at least able to finish my 5 miles outside.

5 miles / 50:13 / 10:02 average pace

Splits: 9:50, 10:10, 10:04, 10:07, 9:59

vermont city training in iowa blogger

WEDNESDAY I opted to do Wednesday’s Intervals 8×400 workout on the treadmill to target consistent paces. And looking back, my 400s were considerable slower during this workout than they were a few weeks ago. Yuck.

5.98 total miles / 1:03:55 / 10:42 average pace

warm-up 12:04
1: 7:57 (pace) / 11:46
2: 7:51 / 11:55
3: 7:51 / 11:57
4: 7:59 / 11:52
5: 8:26 / 11:55
6: 8:20 / 11:51
7: 8:27 / 11:51
8: 7:53 / 11:57
cool down 12:09

THURSDAY Another solid Yoga Roots class. I took an extra 20 minutes before class started to lie in the yoga room in savasana and just BE STILL. It felt incredible. And then I broke out into a rash again mid-way through the class. ?

FRIDAY Rest Day! And lots of foam rolling before bed.

Vermont City Marathon training week 14 blogger
My Capital Striders buddies for this week’s 20-mile route — at one of our water stops sponsored by Fitness Sports.

SATURDAY The big fat 20-miler! Yes, I’m 6 weeks away from my marathon date, but I have 2 20-milers and another 22 on my plan. I know that I can easily run a half marathon distance. I’m confident even that 15 is challenging but doable. But I need practice on that really bad place around 18 miles in; hence, why I’m actually happy that my training is structured as such. I’m also not sure of my fueling strategy yet; I repeated what I used on a long run a couple weeks ago to see if it would get me through my 20… and I was getting indigestion from the Cytomax, which I’ve never previously experienced. SIGH.

There were a lot of moments during this run where I had to remind myself: How do I feel right now?

I was constantly doing a body assessment — what feels good and what doesn’t — to get myself present and not thinking ahead. Think about the mile you’re in… That’s one of the most important things for me right now in training. I already know these long runs will be hard (spoiler alert: it was). But thinking about that at Mile 4 won’t do me any good.

vermont city blog running training

The 20-mile course with the Capital Striders took us from Drake University all the way to the Fairgrounds, back through downtown, up Ingersoll and back to campus. I actually really enjoyed the route!

I did look to my 2015 marathon training to see what time I completed my 20-miler then (I only did one in that training cycle) — I finished this run 5 minutes faster. Cool thing to look at and compare for a little perspective.

SUNDAY Happy Easter! I felt weighted down by all the food and drink from the holiday and never completed my Recovery run. I apparently have hit the point in marathon training where I keep making excuses not to do my workouts. At least I foam rolled again before bed? So, yeah, I need to stop that!

WEEKLY RUNS: 3 runs
WEEKLY MILES: 30.98 miles
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 274.56 miles

Vermont city marathon run blog

Join your fellow runners in Burlington! New discount for Vermont City Marathon: Use code BibRave10 to save $10 on your registration!

Vermont City Marathon: Training Week #13

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!

Hal Higdon quote I continued running

I’m pretty sure that I CONTINUED will be tattooed on my forehead at the end of all this.

I went through a super funky funk in Week #13. Here was my original note:

This was not a successful training week for me — and I’m generally feeling bummed out. I know you can’t rush marathon fitness, but I feel as though I should be better conditioned than how I feel during my runs (particularly my easy ones). I have my first 20-miler next weekend, and I just don’t know if I can do it.

But I feel completely opposite of that feeling as I’m sitting here today. I’m EXCITED about Saturday’s 20-miler, and despite feeling really fucking tired (sorry… ear muffs), I know that I CAN do it. So: SHUT UP, BRAIN.

MONDAY I should have looked at my training plan earlier; I didn’t realize that my strength workout was scheduled. I rested.

TUESDAY Easy run day, followed by a core workout. This run felt really good – and I must have been running the right effort level because I felt like I could have run 5 more miles.

57:48 / 11:32 average pace

Splits: 11:40, 11:31, 11:29, 11:27, 11:28

WEDNESDAY I had Intervals on my training schedule and took another rest day. We originally had our Broadway subscription tickets on Friday evening, but we changed our tickets since I had to wake up super early on Saturday to drive out to the Hawkeye race.

vermont city marathon training yoga cross training blogger

THURSDAY My weekly yoga class at Life Time Fitness; felt really strong and class was much-needed.

FRIDAY Rest for my 25k! Spent some time foam rolling before bed.

SATURDAY Drove out to Solon, Iowa for the Hawkeye 25k — a trail course and my first 25k race! Race recap coming soon. I wish I could have enjoyed it more (though I certainly did enjoy parts of the course), but I was too deep in my funk to really have fun. My effort level felt harder than what I thought it should be and I couldn’t push past the negative thoughts.

After finishing the 15.2 miles of the course, I ran another 2.08 miles. Those last miles were SO SLOW that I gave up trying to complete the one additional that I needed to make 18 for the day.

15.18 miles / 2:52:11 / 11:20 average pace

2.08 miles / 25:35 / 12:20 average pace

SUNDAY I waited until late evening to complete a run on the treadmill (after eating a bunch of tacos! haha) and followed my run up with another core workout.

2.06 miles / 25:13 / 12:13 average pace

vermont city marathon training BECAUSE
BECAUSE.

WEEKLY RUNS: 3 runs
WEEKLY MILES: 24.32 miles
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 243.58 miles

Join your fellow runners in Burlington! New discount for Vermont City Marathon: Use code BibRave10 to save $10 on your registration!