MEXICO 7/11 to 7/18

7/12 Monday: 5.1 miles in 40 minutes

Easy running around Playacar. Then Heather and I were off to Xplor, a really cool park for exploring the natural caves and underground rivers that are prevalent on the Yucatan peninsula. It also had some sick zip lining!

7/13 Tuesday: 9.1 miles in 66 minutes

Running in Playacar. Felt OK today so I put in a longer run. Still hot....and humid! Spent the day relaxing on the beach!

7/14 Wednesday: 6 miles in 48 minutes

Really feeling sluggish and slow today. The heat and humidity is really taking its toll on me. Spent the day exploring some awesome places today. First stop was the ruins of Tulum, then we were off to Akumal for snorkeling. First we hit Yal-ku lagoon were we saw a Manatee! It was an awesome sight! Next we hit Akumal Bay to swim with sea turtles which was also an awesome experience.

7/15 Thursday: 6.3 miles in 46 minutes

Treadmill day......wanted to be nearby a bathroom. Did 3 miles easy, 2 miles at 5:56 and 1.3 miles easy plus a run to the men's room. Legs are feeling good.....stomach....not so much. Spent the day on the beach and in the pool!

7/16 Friday: 5.1 miles in 40 minutes

My stomach was really feeling pretty bad today. It was one of those runs that I just wanted to get over. Another beach and pool day. Walked into Playa del Carmen for some shopping and after dinner we all took a night time dip in the pool!

7/17 Saturday: 6.1 miles in 49 minutes

Another day of feeling pretty bad. Just got the run done with. Then it was time to head home!

7/18 Sunday: 15.1 miles in 1 hour 49 minutes

It was so nice to be running back on home turf. This weather is so much easier to run in. I felt much better today than I felt on any run while I was in Mexico. Still having some stomach issues though.

Total: 52.8 miles

Overall this wasn't a bad week of running considering I was in a foreign country on vacation and had stomach issues the last 4 days. I wanted to be closer to 60 miles on the week....but I'll take it. Next week its back to some higher mileage!

Training 7/5 to 7/11

7/5 Monday: 8 miles in 61 minutes

Hiked out 3 miles from the Franconia Falls Camping area. Went to work for a couple hours then did and easy 8 miles of running.

7/6 Tuesday: AM: 10 miles in 73 minutes PM: 5 miles in 38 minutes

AM: Rattlesnake Hill Road loop. Wicked hot out there!

PM: Easy run later, still hot

7/7 Wednesday: AM 5 miles in 38 minutes PM: 10 miles in 70 minutes

AM: Easy running from work

PM: Ran over to Winikinni and did some miles on the trails. Did 1 minute pickups at the start of miles 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

7/8 Thursday: AM: 5 miles in 38 minutes PM: 10 miles in 63 minutes

AM: Easy running from work

PM: Run from the Whirlaway with a large group including Kevin Alliette, Jim Johnson, Ruben Sanca, Andie Colon, the Quintal brothers and some other fast guys. Started off around 7 minute pace and worked it down over the whole run. Splits 7:09, 7:01, 6:30, 6:31, 6:20, 6:06, 5:58, 5:55, 5:48, 5:54. Felt really good and strong the whole way.

7/9 Friday: 17 miles in 2 hours 4 minutes

Long run from home. Tried to keep things comfortable, felt heavy towards the end.

7/10 Saturday: OFF/Travel

Traveled to Playa del Carmen with family and friends for vacation.

7/11 Sunday: 7 miles in 50 minutes

Ran around Playacar. Hot and humid!! Its going to be a tough week of running!

Total: 77 miles

Good week of running!!

Whistleblowers 4k

On July 3rd Heather and I decided to head over to Gloucester for the Whistleblowers 4k. We were looking for a race that fit into our planned activities for the weekend and this was the one that fit best. This race is in the Lainsville village section of Gloucester, on the northern shore. I did the course as a warm up to get a good look at what I would be racing. The course is not flat as stated on the website, there are flat sections, but there are also many short steep ups and downs along the middle coastal portion of the course. The starting section is very fast with mostly downhill, and the last section is back uphill to the start finish area.

After a quick change into my racing gear I was off to the start. A few strides, a national anthem that was actually very very well done, a few instructions, and we were off and running. Right off the start another younger faster looking guy and myself went right to the front. I later found out this other runner was Tom Davis a former Division 1 runner from Richmond University. He went out hard and fast through the downhill sections of the first kilometer. I was actually running as fast as I could on some of the downhill sections just to keep up. During this section we put a pretty good gap on the rest of the field. We hit the 1 kilometer mark in 3:19 (5:20 pace) which did not seem right at all, I knew we were well under 5:00 minute pace for the first kilometer. Once I heard this split I figured the splits would probably all be off. Just after the 1 kilometer mark there was a sharp turn and a slight up hill to a long flat section. Here the pace settled down a bit and I felt a little more comfortable as I followed Tom down the road. We hit the 2k mark in 6:19 and 3:00 (4:50 pace) flat for the 2nd kilometer. Probably a short kilometer due to the long first kilometer. The total 2k distance was probably close to accurate. At this point the course goes right, leaving the main road, and Tom swung wide to the left and I ended up in the lead. I think Tom thought the course went left, but lost only a step or two and tucked in behind me. Just after this right hand corner the course goes down a steep hill right down to the water and a hard left hand turn. After a short run along the water it goes right back up a steep hill and back onto the main road. At this point I was still in the lead with Tom right on me. Soon the course makes another right turn back towards the water and some winding rolling side roads. As we made our way back up a hill we hit the 3k mark in 9:42 and 3:22 (5:25 pace) for the 3rd kilometer. The rest of this course makes a steady slight climb back up to the finish. At this point Tom put in a move and went past me and I could not hang on. He wasn't moving away fast, I just could not match the pace and he slowly put some distance on me. I kept pushing the whole way back to the finish and got to the line in 12:40 and 2:58 (4:46 pace) for the last kilometer. This was well below the course record of 13:28 (Jason Cakouros) but still 8 seconds short of Tom winning time of 12:32.

Overall I was pretty happy with the result considering the heat and the rolling course. I just felt like my legs had no speed in them in the end, which is to be expected since I have not done much speed work at all. Heather also ran to a second place finish in 15:29, 12 seconds short of first place. After the race Heather and I took our first loser status over to the Cape Ann Brewing Company for some fresh beer!

Results

Training 6/28 to 7/4

6/28 Monday: AM: 5 miles 39 minutes PM: 8 miles in 58 minutes

AM: Easy morning shakeout run

PM: Did some easy running over in the Bradford area of town

6/29 Tuesday: AM: 5 miles in 38 minutes PM: 12.4 miles in 68 minutes

AM: Easy running

PM: Track workout 3.5 mile warm up, 7 x 1200 at 10k pace (5:15 per mile) with about 200m rest in 1:30 min, then 2.8 miles of cool down. Felt very smooth.

6/30 Wednesday: 10 miles in 76 minutes

Downtown Andover run. Felt pretty solid.

7/1 Thursday: AM: 10 miles in 73 minutes PM: 3.5 miles in 28 minutes

AM: Rattlesnake Hill Loop with 6 x 20 sec strides

PM: Very easy shakeout run on the treadmill

7/2 Friday: 7.2 miles in 55 minutes

Easy running. Feeling little a bit sluggish today.

7/3 Saturday: 11.5 miles in 84 minutes

Warmed up 5 miles, raced 4k in 12:40 more than 50 seconds under the course record, but only good for 2nd place. Cool down 4 miles. Race report coming soon!

7/4 Sunday: OFF / Hiking

Hiked 15 miles. Did Owls Head and camped in the Franconia Falls area. Great day of adventure!

Total Miles: 72.6

Plaistow Old Home Day 5k

On June 26th Heather and I made the 5 minute drive up to Plaistow, NH for the Old Home Day 5k. I was looking for a race for Saturday morning and this one was nice and close. Once signed up I ran into some Whirlaway teammates in Craig Fram, Paul Doe, Nancy Corsaro and Frank Corsaro. Soon I was off for a warm up with Craig, we ran the course so I could check it out as I have never run this race before. The course was pretty quick with the first mile pretty flat to down, then some steady but gentle up hill in the second mile, and some down and up hill in the third mile.

After a quick change into my new Nike Lunar Racer 2's I headed over to the starting line. After a few commands we were off and running. Right off the start a group of high-schoolers took the lead and led us out for the first 1/2 mile or so. Soon Craig went to the front and I went after him. Pretty quickly we separated ourselves from the rest of the pack and we were off on our own. We hit the first mile in 5:13 and Craig was looking pretty strong. I was feeling pretty heavy, probably due to the miles I had put in the few days before the race. A little bit after the mile mark we started heading up a gentle up hill that goes for most of the second mile. It was here that I pressed a bit and opened up a bit of a lead on Craig. Throughout the rest of the second mile I continued to put distance on Craig. I went through the second mile in 10:27 (5:14 mile) and was feeling pretty rough by this point. At this point the course has a gentle downhill that allowed me to recover a bit and get ready for the push to the finish line. I took a peak behind and saw that I had the race in hand and I just needed to get myself to the finish. After a bit of an uphill back into the center of Plaistow I hit the finish line in 16:21. Craig Finished 2nd in 17:05 and Alex Brown 3rd in 17:08. For the women Gisele Bundchen ????? finished first in 19:54.

Results