Back from vacation, race report

Hello, I am back from vacation and other then 400+ emails in my work email inbox I am very relaxed and refreshed. This is the second year that I have taken the week of the Fourth of July off to go camping (don’t get crazy, I am talking about an RV not sleeping on the ground) with the Family in Maine at Kokatosi Campground (http://kokatosi.maine.com/). We use a company in Maine that we rent an RV from; they deliver it, set it up and then remove it at the end of the vacation. It is a nice vacation because it allows my wife and I had the opportunity to relax, swim, hang out and work on my sunburn and get in some running. The campsite is located up Route 302, then Route 85 in Raymond Maine, as much as I thought the “RV Crowd” wasn’t my thing I found out last year that it is a great family vacation. I have one child, a very social 6 year old who really wishes he had 6-7 siblings so a vacation that allows him the ability to be around other kids all day is the perfect vacation for him.

One reason we go to Maine is to run the Bridgton 4 on the 4th road race (http://www.fouronthefourth.com/) in my wife’s hometown. This is a race that has been going on for 32 years and is one of the largest races over the holiday. It is a great race with 1722 runners this year. The course goes flat for a quarter of a mile then climbs up hills through mile 2 then one more hill at mile 3 before you run downhill for the ending. Last year I ran it in 32:53 and this year I did it in 33:51. The strategy for this year was to get out of the start quicker and run at under 85% of my Max Heart Rate through 3.5 miles then finish strong. I was successful at this and I monitored my HR not my pace during the race but I did get splits at each mile that had me running a steady 8:30 pace for miles 1-3 and then my final burst for the finish went from the last ½ mile to the last ¼ of a mile.

I was happy with the results and though I was off my PR by 58 seconds but it was a good finish for the race. I came in 417 of 1722 so top 25% and 27/62 for my age group. The time is also consistent with what I ran my 5k in this year. See the PR from last year was right after my PR for the 5k and then I got injured last year after this race and I have yet to get back to the 8 minute mile pace for 5k to 4 miles.

The rest of the vacation was very relaxing, I wanted to run at least 5 days while on vacation and get in a 10 mile run if possible. Well on Monday I tried to run the local roads but after being almost run over by a logging truck doing 90 with no interest in sharing the roads I asked around for some trails to run. The one trail I was told about was more of a run up a mountain and ¼ mile into it I discovered the trail was washed out so there went plan B. So my week of running wound up being laps on the 1 mile dirt road within the campground. It wasn’t an exciting run but I chose “Life and Boredom over the thrill of dodging tractor trailers on the area roads” and I survived.

Most of the runs through the week were focused on me keeping my HR at 75% which on most days was between a 9:45 and 10:05 pace for the 5 miles. I got back on Saturday and ended my vacation with a trail run through my back yard West Hill Dam route with Jill.

So back to reality and back to my training, I am still planning on running the Portland Maine and Bay state Half Marathons in October I just don’t know if I will be running Portland with the goal of a PR or just run to enjoy the course. Until then I am letting my HR set my paces and focusing on the time on the roads over the distance and the pace. This is tough for me but it is working I just need to remember that I “enjoy running” and that is what the goal is not how fast….