Cabin Fever Challenge
We are all feeling a bit cooped up - why not spring for some leg speed? For the month of April, challenge yourself with a weekly interval workout. Adding an interval session to your weekly routine is a great way to spice up your running and to gain aerobic fitness.
Fear not! This is not about hitting exact paces or going all-out. It’s about learning how to run smooth and controlled as you push yourself. Consider this a fun, low-stakes introduction to interval work. The work you do now will help you set a fitness baseline that you can then build off of as you continue to run and train through the summer. To cap it all off, we’ve put together a virtual 5k on the first weekend in May to put your new-found speed to the test. Plus, earn points towards a random prize drawing as you conquer each new workout, run the virtual 5k, and get creative with bonuses!
It should go without saying that participants must respect social distancing and complete this challenge solo, or a safe distance of 6+ feet away from another person. Embrace the individual challenge of pushing yourself for yourself. Take motivation from knowing others are out there doing the same. Let’s continue to tackle safe, solo running together!
The Challenge: We’ve mapped out a four-week series of interval workouts for you to run on your own, at your own pace, and on your own schedule within the set week. Complete each workout during the scheduled week and you’ll gain one “point” per completed workout. Every point earned is equal to one raffle entry. At the end of the challenge, we’ll select two lucky winners to receive Cabin Fever Challenge prizes - gift cards to a local Craftsbury business! See below for full details on how to participate.
What about these interval workouts? You can do these as time based or distance based workouts, whichever you prefer. The distances and times provided are not exact 1:1 conversions, but don’t worry about that. For each workout, focus on finding your “comfortably hard” pace - you should feel tired after each interval but able to maintain the same pace throughout the workout. Your ability to speak is a great way to dial in the intensity level. Ideally the effort will be too demanding to carry on a conversation but relaxed enough that you could say a word or two. Think of these workouts as a way of dialing in your 5k pace. Remember: be kind to yourself. Simply getting out there and moving your legs faster than you might otherwise is a win!
Week 1 (April 5 - April 11): 6-8 x 400m with 3’ rest OR 6-8 x 2’ with 3’ rest
Week 2 (April 12 - April 18): 2 x (800m / 400m / 400m) with 3’ rest OR 2 x (4’ / 2’ / 2’) with 3’ rest
Week 3 (April 19 - April 25): 200m / 400m / 1600m / 400m / 200m with 2-3’ rest OR 1’ / 2’ / 8’ / 2’ / 1’ with 2-3’ rest
Week 4 (April 26 - May 3): 4 x 800m with 3’ rest OR 4 x 4’ with 3’ rest
Some helpful notes:
400m = 400 meters = ~ .25 mile
All rests should be “active rest”, meaning don’t sit or completely stop moving in between intervals. Walk around or lightly jog to keep muscles warm.
Take the allotted rest between every interval. For example in the second workout, run 4 minutes hard, rest 3 minutes, run 2 minutes, rest 3 minutes, etc. The recovery period itself is a critical part of an effective interval workout.
Choose the distance-based workout OR the time-based workout each week. Don’t do both!
Adjust as needed. If this is way more than your body is used to, back off. If you want to do a little more, do a little more. It all “counts” for the challenge!
Cabin Fever 5k: The Cabin Fever 5k is a virtual, solo endeavor to cap this month-long challenge. Run your own 5k time trial at some point on Saturday, May 2 to earn 5 points. You can do this anywhere - on your favorite road loop, on a track, etc. We set up a 5k course on Strava (map and course notes below) in Craftsbury for our local running community to run on their own. With the course set on Strava, we can track the times of local participants for live race results over the weekend! Top three times from the Craftsbury course will receive race awards.
Craftsbury Course Notes: The Cabin Fever 5k starts on the Common at the Northwest corner (corner closest to the Library) and finishes in the Northeast corner (corner closest to Craftsbury Academy. Begin by running a clockwise loop around the Common before turning left until North Craftsbury Road. and following the rest of the course. As you near the finish return to North Craftsbury Road, again run around the Common clockwise to finish at the end of the school parking lot.
Ready to join the Cabin Fever Challenge? Here’s how to do it:
Join the Strava club Run Craftsbury and respond “I’m in!” to the Cabin Fever 5k. We’ll post updates via Run Craftsbury throughout the challenge.
Run the workouts as outlined each week. Earn one point per completed workout.
You must post activities to Strava in order to earn points. Strava is a free app! If you don't have a gps watch or don't like carrying your phone, you can upload a manual entry to Strava via your phone or computer instead. Here’s a Strava guide from Runner’s World.
On Saturday, May 2, run a solo 5k time trial, either virtually or on the course set in Craftsbury. Earn five points for completing the time trial!
Tag your interval workouts and time trial on Strava with #cabinfeverchallenge and #spring4speed in the activity descriptions. Activities must be set to “public” to earn points.
Earn 2 bonus points each by 1) sharing photos from your runs on social media and/or 2) challenging a friend to join the challenge in a social media post. You can earn points for Option 1 once per workout and once for the time trial (for a total possible 10 bonus points). You can earn points for Option 2 once. Each bonus point submission must include the tags #cabinfeverchallenge #spring4speed.
ENJOY the glorious freedom of running outside and pushing your body!
We’ll send our randomly selected challenge winners gift cards in early May, as well as prizes to the top 3 times for the Craftsbury 5k Course.