You are so strong. Look down at your legs and flex your quads and think about how hard you’ve worked up to this point. With 3-4 months of training behind us, we are now only days away from the Vermont City Marathon.

I was feeling waves of nerves and excitement up to this point, especially as I began to taper. With only 2 weeks to go, all I wanted to do was ease my mind by running harder, faster, and stronger. But that was the opposite. It was quite luxurious I’ll admit to drop my mileage and be able to fit in all my runs during the day or spontaneously in the morning before work. However, the first week of tapering was mentally and physically challenging for me. My body wasn’t used to feeling satisfied by shorter runs, but then again that’s what it needed. The importance of tapering is that your legs can relax and feel lighter before a race by allowing them to store carbohydrates and glycogen, your race day fuel.

The sun’s beaming, the snow’s softening, and it's finally time to shed those layers! I love the winter, but this time of year is so special. Everyone is ridiculously happy and we get to see blue sky’s multiple days in a row. It almost makes you want to scream, “We made it!”

With the change of seasons comes a change in how we dress while you are training for the Vermont City Marathon (or any adventure) in April . A great pro-tip would be to make sure that you keep a synthetic layer or wool and synthetic blend as your next-to-skin layer. This will help to wick moisture from your body, keep you dry, cool, happy, and out there for longer.

That being said, here are some of my new favorite pieces broken down by different scenarios.

My name is Will Robens. I am the founder of Ironwood Adventure Works, organizer of challenging adventure trail races in the Northeast. Our races to date include the Frost Town Trail Fest in the Finger lakes of NY, Black River Beatdown hosted by Craftsbury Outdoor Center, Smuggler’s Mountain Race, Trapp Mountain Marathon, 24 hours of the Northeast Kingdom at the Northwoods Stewardship Center, Paine Mountain Race in Northfield, and last but not least the Catamount Ultra hosted by Trapp Family Lodge.

Catamount Ultra was our first and flagship event, created in 2014. That year, I had some free time as a stay-at-home dad and trail running became more of a presence in my life and a healthy outlet for me. For most people, trail running is a pretty attainable sport; all you need is trails and a decent pair of shoes! I was surprised that there wasn’t already a long distance trail race going on in the immediate area. As a lifelong runner and in more recent years, an avid ultra-runner, Catamount Ultra was created out of personal desire to have a great trail ultra-race in my own backyard. For some reason, at the time it didn’t occur to me that I wouldn’t actually get to run this super fun race!

1 month of consistent Vermont City Marathon training, and look where your feet have taken you! It’s pretty incredible to think about how many miles you’ve traveled, and how much your body has adapted, grown and experienced in this short period of time.

I set out on my 10 mile long run this past Saturday feeling a mixture of excitement and nervousness. It’s a big milestone, first double digit long run…goodbye single digits! As I had mentioned in my last post, this was the longest distance that I’d run before and let me tell you, it was night and day. With consistent training, proper nutrition and hydration, Clif blocks, and the right gear I shaved off 30 minutes from my time 2 years ago!

Hometown: East Longmeadow, MA

Years of Experience: I have been skiing since I was 3 and snowboarding since age 8. I have 3 years experience in softgoods. At Skirack, I specialized in alpine softgoods, helmets & goggles, and running shoes.

Certifications and Awards: Masterfit Associates Plus, Certified Public Accountant (CPA)

Outside Interests and Hobbies: Kayaking, surfing, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, biking, stand-up paddle boarding, reading and practicing my Spanish and German.

Most people wake up in the middle of the night because their mind is running a mile a minute. Two days after Christmas I woke up in the middle of the night because I realized that I wanted to run a mile every ten minutes, 26.2 times. At 12:06 am, on December 27th, I did what no one in my family ever thought I would do and signed up for the Vermont City Marathon.

Initially, I signed up because I simply wasn’t sure if I could run 26.2 miles. That’s a lot! I’m still not sure, but I’m curious about what my body can do. I’ve always loved spending the day crushing long distances on my bike, and once ran 10 miles on a whim, but in general the mental and physical challenges that come with long distance adventures excites me.

Different winter activities, including but not limited to, hiking, running, and even walking, require different equipment. Making sure you have the appropriate traction is an important step to staying safe outside in the winter.

It can be overwhelming with all the options out there - luckily, I’m here to guide you in the right direction!

Hometown: New York, NY

Years of Experience: I'm new to Skirack with 3 years of experience leading long distance cycling tours.

Certifications and Awards: Wilderness First Aid and CPR

Outside Interests and Hobbies: Skiing, cycling, hiking, fly-fishing, farming, photography, painting, really anything that has to do with art and being outside.

Favorite Gear: My Specialized AWOL Elite, Patagonia baselayers, Darn Tough Socks.

FOLLOW YOUR BODY. FIND YOUR RUN.

Join Brooks at Skirack on November 17 from 10am - 3pm for a FREE Run Signature, Brooks' radical new approach to gait analysis.

Run Signature celebrates your individual running style. Discover how your body moves and choose an experience you love so every run feels just the way you like.

And while you are at Skirack, check out the NEW Adrenaline GTS 19 from Brooks!

Join Skirack and Salomon Running at Catamount Outdoor Family Center for a fun and challenging 5K trail race with a twist!

Teams of four run together and compete at various trivia stations. Get a time bonus for correct answers.

Raffle prizes, Giveaways, Donuts, Cider & More!

Free Salomon trail running shoe demos.

FREE Salomon Swag Bag for the first 50 registered runners.

For every registered runner, Salomon will donate $5 to the National Trail Systems Act in support of their 50 year anniversary!

In case of weather cancellation, decision will be made at 8am day of race.

Click here for more information and to sign up!