Thursday Day 4 was stuff day. Leo got her race numbers, credentials and invite to the after dinner party. I even got stuff too. My credentials are below. Other than that it was training as usual for the athletes with Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner mixed in there. O yeah card playing as well. Just living the dream!
To begin where I left off, the rest of day 2 was pretty simple. Leo and I went for a walk along the beach and then through the town. Leo then went for a second run with the rest of the New Zealand. When they returned we played some cards, which was a good time and laugh. We then headed off to dinner.
I don't know if I have mentioned how nice the food is, but it is delicious. Open buffet with all foods imaginable. Since I am not running it is hard not to dig in for seconds and thirds. I am definitely putting on some pounds being here. (I have started going for 5 mile walks out to the course and back to burn some calories)
After dinner we headed to bed.
The next morning we got up around 8AM and went for breakfast. After breakfast we chilled out a bit until we went for the training session up at the race course. Some team members had workouts, some were doing some stuff in their spikes and others just for a run. The course is really nice, well maintained and going to be tough.
The course is a 2km loop on well manicured grass surface. Along the loop there are rolling hills, man made hills and 2 sets of 3 logs jumps 8 meters apart. All made to break up rhythm and keep the runners on their toes. The course lacks flat sections to work on the rhythm and so forth. I would estimate that there is about 500 meters of broken up flat throughout the loop. This course should make for some good tactical racing.
Here is a photo of Leo doing some strides in her spikes.
After the course run everyone headed back to the hotel for showers, lunch and some down time to relax after the tough morning. The team is small so all our rooms are in the same stretch of hallway. So we alternate hanging out in each others room playing cards and just BSing. Its a good time.
The rest of day two was pretty boring, we just chilled out waiting for dinner. Some team members went for second runs, others stayed behind and played cards. Leo and I played cards. Then we headed off to dinner, where nothing exciting happened.
These blogs are pretty boring, we are not getting out and doing much. For the athletes this trip is like a business trip. All work no play. After the race some people will be down to do some sight seeing. With the race on Sunday, that only leaves us Monday, Tuesday and we fly out Wednesday to see some stuff.
I will have some blogs showing you guys the hotel, the food and some other cool stuff.
Smooth sailing from New York to Madrid, however from there is where it gets interesting. We landed at 10 AM local time and had to board our connecting flight at 11 AM. That doesn't seem too bad until you realize you have to clear customs, take a 5 minute train ride to the next terminal, find what gate your are going to and then clear security again. Needless to say we made it to the gate with a few minutes to spare, so no big deal. Then we had to sit on the plan on the run way for an hour to take off. No delays in New York, but Madrid 1 hour.
All that just meant that we arrived an hour later then we were scheduled for. We had a VIP Shuttle waiting for us in Seville to drive us the 90 minutes to Punta Umbria. Once in Punta Umbria we got our room and hurried off to take a nap.
After the nap we went for a walk around town before heading to dinner, we were out for about 2 hours, and then back to our room to chill and get to sleep by 10 PM. The first day was pretty slow going, there were no other team members here, so nothing really to type about.
Day 2 started with Leo getting up at 8AM to go for a short jog. When she got back around 9 AM I got dressed and we met some of the other team members for breakfast. After breakfast Leo got her racing uniform and warm ups. That brings me up to typing this blog.
The rest of the day we are going to head to a supermarket to pick up some things, then go for a nap, Leo will have her second run and in between all of that we will have lunch and dinner. Today is when the rest of the New Zealand team arrives and many of the other Nations.
I will try and update this everyday with the daily happenings of the trip.
Beach to Beacon has to be hands down the coolest race that I was at that I did not participate in. For starters we drive up the Friday before and meet with a host family when we arrive. At this race instead of putting elite runners in a hotel they have them stay with a local family for the weekend. That was really neat. The family we got paired up with was an Italian family that comes from Long Island, small world. Anyway the family pretty much acted like our slaves for the weekend. We didn't ask them to but they were always asking what can they do to help Leo with her race.
Race morning comes the alarm sounds at 5 AM, the race gun goes off at 8 AM. Leo likes to be up at least 3 hours prior to her race so she can eat a nice meal and relax a little bit. The elite athletes were asked to be at the Elite tent near the starting line around 7AM for final instructions and all that good stuff.
We dropped Leo of at that tent at 6:55 AM and then headed to the finish line area. Since Leo was an elite runner we had VIP passes that gave us parking near the finish, our own bleachers to watch the finish and our own breakfast buffet of bagels, rolls, doughnuts and refreshments.
While waiting at the finish area for Leo to come running down the final stretch was killing me, I was also very anxious. I knew that she was in very good shape and could run a fast time. Here is a video of all the finishers from the Male winner down to about 34:30. Leo ran 33:25 (5:23 per mile pace)
Once the race was over there was a sense of relief. Leo finished 5th overall winning $1,000 and beating Catherine Ndereba. There was an awards ceremony then a big party for all the elite runners and the volunteers. The Beach to Beacon 10k was such a cool experience I would recommend it to anyone.
Monday August 2nd - 10 miles on a grass loop. Tuesday - AM 40 minutes PM 8 miles with a fartlek of 2:30 on 60 off 60 on 2 min off 5x. Wednesday - AM 3 PM 7 Thursday - 8 miles on the hilly roads PM 7 miles with cut down hill repeats. Friday - AM 6 miles PM 4 miles Saturday - AM watch B2B PM 9 miles Sunday - 17 miles over the B2B course 2x with add ons.
Week Total - 85 YTD Miles -2291
Back Home
Monday August 9th - AM 5 PM 9 miles, nice shakeout runs. Tuesday - 10 mile cut down - 1st 3 @7min Middle 4 @6:17 Last 3 @5:45, solid work. Wednesday - easy 12 miles run Thursday - AM 5 PM 9 miles with the Saucony Group Run @ SRC Friday - WO w/ Leo 10 miles with 8 x 2 minute (90 sec) fartlek, another solid work load. Saturday - AM & PM 5 mile recovery plods. Sunday - 2 hour run at Connetquot closing the few fast, about 17 miles.
Week Total - 87 YTD Miles - 2378
My legs are getting used to the heavy miles and I am really enjoying it, WEIRDO! I am looking to hope in some races here and there. I will keep you guys posted.
