Workouts in Mexico

Yesterday I posted a ton of photos from our family trip to Mexico. Here's a bit about my workouts while we were there. We left early Saturday morning and got back the following Saturday night. So here were my 8 days of workouts in Mexico:

• SAT: easy 5 mile run. We got to our hotel and got situated well before supper. So I took off for a quick "exploratory" run. I put on 1 of my 2 new pairs of compression sleeves from my mother-in-law (thanks Monica!!) before taking off:

Still nicely creased! So fresh.


There was a trail that went between the 4 lanes of traffic outside of our resort.


The trail jumped across the road a few times. It was like an old asphalt track.


An opening to the Pacific!


The sun about to set. (This was about the most clouds we ever had!)

I got sweaty, but it wasn't too bad. What I WASN'T used to was all the little hills! I usually run along the SMALL rolling hills of the Mississippi River, but this was like that x3. There was nearly 140 feet of elevation change from highest to lowest.

• SUN: good upper body and a bit for legs. This was the only day of vacation that didn't have a swim, bike, or run. But I did a real good strength routine. They had an outdoor gym where I went most days while Sarah, Charlie, and Henry napped:

Free weights ahead, spinning bikes right-of-center, and machines off frame
to the right. With treadmills and an area to stretch inside to the left.

• MON: easy 45 minutes on a spin bike. Again, this was at 3 pm when everyone else napped, so it was hot. I realized I was NOT in the mood to put in any effort during the heat of the day, so I just spun easy and stretched.

• TUES: long run of 9.77 miles. I wanted to go 10+ miles, but I misjudged the time. (I needed 80 minutes, but I only allowed 70 before I needed to be back so my Sis and my wife could go for a run together.) This run was EARLY, so I was 4 miles in before the sky got bright. I was on alert making sure I was safe. But in those first few miles on that trail, I ran into a few "runners." The first guy I saw was a local running in a tech shirt, a thin white cap, and had on a fuel belt. "OK, if locals are on this trail running at this time, then it's safe!" Then I ran into a husband and wife where the wife looked like a "runner" and the husband looked like he ran with her once/month for "fitness." (You know what I mean.) An then I ran into another long-distance runner.

East first (towards Ixtapa), then back with more along a nature preserve to the north.
(That light green area is all a nature preserve with lots of "watch for crocodiles" signs!)


A pic my sister took of some crocs in that preserve!

I also lifted well again that afternoon, and here's the sweat dripping off my leg as I'm not used to lifting in 86 degree temps:

• WED: approx 9x160 in the pool. My wife spotted people "swimming" in the pool just after it opened at 9 a.m. one morning. So I figured I'd be ready to go at 9 this morning to try to get in a workout. And it worked well! A few kids had jumped in already, but we all stayed out of each other's way.

I swam 2 "laps" as a warm up, and based on my time, I figured the length of these 2 pools from end-to-end was about 80 yards. So I figured I'd do 1-lap intervals while calling them about 160 yards. There's a bridge over the middle of these 2 pools, so here's 2 photos from after I was done taken on top of that bridge looking in either direction:

I started at the red dot, went around the dark blue island, and headed under the bridge...


... then I headed around another blue island and up to the side of a pool-side bar.

Then I came back for a total of 160 yards. I swam 160s of 2:28, 2:37, 2:34, 2:36, 2:34, 2:35, 2:35, 2:33, and 2:31. That's averaging 1:32 - 1:38 / 100 pace, which is on the slow side of normal for me. (My last workout of 200 repeats averaged 1:30 to 1:34 pace.)

A elevator selfie on my way up to the room post-swim.

• THURS: failed 2x2 mile intervals. The only time (or I should say "by far the BEST time") for this workout was right at noon. So it was hot. And I'm used to running in 20 degree Minnesota. This wasn't smart from the start. I ran easy for 1.25 miles, and then got ready for intervals along that path seen above. My first 2 miles was about what I had hoped: half mile splits of 3:05, 3:01, 3:14, and 3:07 for 12:28 total. Then when I started my 2nd interval, I got about 40 seconds in before I eased WAY up. I felt like I was going to make myself sick in 10 minutes, and there was no need to do that in Mexico. So I just eased up and ran for a few more miles. Oh well.

(Oh, there's also 40 minutes of "sports" on the calendar for this day which was our kayaking out to Ixtapa Island and back.)

• FRI: 40 minutes moderate spin. Some 0:60 intervals. Nothing too hard.

• SAT: easy 5 miles in the morning. Before our flight home. I ran along the beach for the first mile! Down past the pier and past all these umbrellas, and then back to the pier and onto the road for the rest:

I ran in shoes in the "harder/wetter" sand because I'm not sure how I'd do barefoot for any distance.

So overall, I had pretty crappy workouts except for lifting: skipped a swim, failed on some running speedwork, and only short and easy spins on the bike. But at least I HAD *some* workouts. I was happy to have gotten 4 runs in, and I was just fine with the easier spins. Last week back home, I hit things a bit harder. BECAUSE I'M RACING THIS WEEKEND!

If you missed all the fun family pics from our week in Mexico, then make sure to check out yesterday's post.