Island Line Trail Run & Ride

Summer is the best time to take a road trip and explore new places. Even though I have lived in New England for six years, there is still plenty for me to see. Recently mrC took me on a weekend getaway to Burlington, Vermont complete with running and biking.

The weather was predicted to be perfect for packing up a few of my summer running favorites, along with my running gear essentials.

Oiselle Lesko bra, Athleta Record Time Run shorts, Nike Racerback,
Mizuno Wave Paradox, Simple Hydration Waterbottle, and Nike GPS Sportwatch

Burlington has a really nice bike trail system that runs north and south of the city that is also perfect for running. I chose Airport Park as our starting point because it offers free parking, rest rooms, and easy access to the trailhead that heads north along the historic causeway. We got a later start than we had hoped, so the 8 mile run was warm. It took about 1.5 miles to actually reach the causeway which was disappointing, but not for long. The views of Lake Champlain were amazing. We followed the Island Line Trail until we reached the Bike Ferry and turned around.

Wanting to be ready for anything, I threw together a mix of items for the bike ride along the waterfront.

Old Navy Tank, J.Crew shorts, VS bikini, Athleta No Rush Hoodie,
FlipBelt, Saucony Bullet Vegans

This time we hopped on the bike trail at North Beach Park and rode south into downtown Burlington. Once again we had gorgeous weather and spectacular views for an amazing 10 mile ride. Along the way we watched an Army rescue training session and even sat in a Blackhawk helicopter. I learned the story behind Champy, the Vermont equivalent of the Loch Ness Monster and watched a little of the US Women's Dragon Boat time trials.

Where did your last road trip take you? 

Training Truths: ZOOMA Week 4 - Building Endurance

It's hard to start a training week on sore legs, but that's what I had to do for week 4 of my ZOOMA half marathon training. Luckily, I can find some extra motivation on the ZOOMA Cape Cod Training Page to help me push past the hard parts.

Despite my sore legs, this week of building endurance was a success. In fact, I felt really good after my long run and went on a nice bike ride the next day.

Sunday - 4 mile hilly loop with mrC on legs that were still very sore from barre classes (421 calories)

Monday - I felt terrible about my 6 mile morning run until I saw my negative splits! Love when that happens! Went urban surfing with the girls. It was littleCs first time to SurfSet and she liked it! (611 + 341 calories)

Tuesday - Went to my first Track Party Tuesday with Manchester MRTT Group at a local high school. After a one mile warmup, I ran two 400s which were tough even with a 400 break between, so I switched to 200s and ran 4 with 200 jog in between (283 calories)

Wednesday - REST

Thursday - This 3 miler after a professional development day at school was less than stellar. It was warm and my calf was tight, but it was a run (310 calories)

Friday - Ran my long run in Vermont with mrC by my side for most of it. My goal was to stay near a 10 minute pace to keep it "comfortable" and I'm surprised I did after 3 hours in the car and an 11AM start (875 calories)

Saturday - Enjoyed a leisurely, sight-seeing 10 mile bike ride on the Island Line Bike Trail in Burlington.

How do you deal with sore muscles?

Fitness Friday: Stand Up Paddle-boarding

At the beginning of the summer I put Stand Up Paddle-boarding on my summer-to-do list (here) and last week mrC and I headed to Hampton Beach to make it happen.

Since our appointment wasn't until 1PM, we decided to start our day at the beach with a 3 mile run. I could run everyday looking at views like this.

After having lunch and relaxing at the beach, we walked over to Hampton Parasail and Stand Up Paddle. The business operates out of a small building on the harbor across from the beach.

After checking in, we picked out life vests, prepped the boards, and then carted them to the cove where we would spend our one hour lesson.

The one hour lesson began right away. We put the boards in the shallow water and climbed on getting into a kneeling position first. After a couple of minutes using the paddles, our instructor guided us into the standing position. She showed us how to manage the waves and use the paddles to make a turn. She also had us practice kneeling down and standing back up in the deeper water. We followed her around the cove and on a little adventure under a couple of piers.

Then we were on our own.

Besides being super fun, Stand Up Paddle-boarding is a great workout:

Arms - carting the boards to the beach, paddling

Core - balancing on the board, paddling

Legs - squats while going under the piers

I'm confident that all our urban surfing at SurfSet classes (see my review here) helped us with our balance on the boards.

What do you think about Stand Up Paddle-boarding?

Workout Wednesday: Hip Openers

If I had a dollar for every time that I have been told by my PT, chiropractor, and barre instructors that I have tight hips, I'd be….well, not exactly rich, but able to buy a new pair of running shoes ;)

When I came across the article Basic Stretches For Tight Hips on Pop Sugar, I knew my hips would be changed forever (see the article here). My favorite pose in the 8 pose sequence is the Open Lizard.

from Pop Sugar

Then I found another article (here), 10 Yoga Poses for Runners on Fitness Magazine's Pinterest board. A couple of the poses were for targeting tight hips. I like this one.

From Fitness Magazine

Last week after a kettle bell-swinging-squat-happy SurfnTurf class, two barre classes, and my long run, my legs were toast. Using theses stretches, I was able to rid my legs of most of the DOMS while working on opening up my tight hips.

Since I know that most runners are in the same boat as me, I had to share these articles. Not only will they help our tight hips, but they are also great stretches for our legs in general.


What is your favorite hip opener stretch/pose?

Training Truths: ZOOMA Week 3 - Building Strength

ZOOMA week 3 was about building strength with more miles, increasing the distance on my long run, and adding more running days to the schedule. In addition to what was on my training plan, I also added a couple more cross-training workouts.

I felt really good on all of my runs, but by Friday my legs were toast from barre classes. I met the planned mileage for the week and the goal for the Summer Run Challenge that I've been doing, but from now on, I will limit cross-training workouts to non-running days or after shorter runs.

Sunday - Zip lining in West Virginia which gave my arms and core a really good workout (recap here).

Monday - 3.75 mile treadmill run after arriving home from WV on a rainy evening (370 calories)

Tuesday - 3 mile run at the beach with mrC and Stand Up Paddleboardng - recap coming soon! (320 calories)

Wednesday - 3 mile run with mrC and SurfnTurf (307 calories + 374 calories)

Thursday - 3 mile run and back to another Booty Barre class using my Groupon deal (317 calories + 398 calories)

Friday - Checked out a new local barre studio and class called Barre Burn (aka glutes on fire) with oldestC and then ran 8 miles downtown after (321 calories + 865 calories)

Saturday - SurfSet with mrC. I woke up with very sore legs so this class was a challenge for me (374 calories)

A friend commented to me on how lucky I am to have all this time to run and go to fitness classes, and I couldn't agree more. I have been trying to take full advantage of my summer vacation and cross all the goals off my summer-to-do list (read post here). During the school year my focus turns to running because it's challenging to squeeze in exercise around teacher duties, sporting events, and family time.


Does your fitness focus change throughout the year?