Back From Mexico

 

I spent last week in Mexico but was able to get some work in.  I took Monday off since it was a travel day.  It was my wife's birthday on Tuesday so I wanted to get everything out of the way as soon as I could, so happy birthday to Patty.  I woke up at around 6:30 and swam for 50 minutes.  I estimated the pool at 70 yards in length based on stroke count.  The pool wasn't really built for swimming laps but it worked out just fine.  It had an island in the middle with a fountain that had to be avoided. 

Another obstacle each morning was the pool cleaner.  It was a bummer swimming over the top of the hose. 

After my swim, I went back to the room.  My wife and I had breakfast next to the pool.  I decided to go ahead and do a five mile run.  The sun was up and it was getting warm.  I found a bar next to the pool and asked the bartender to have a glass of water for me each time I ran by.  It was a mile and a half from one end to the other so I just ran back and forth until I got to five miles.  My guy in the bar was right on each time by.  It was a really tough run that day.  Each day was happy hour at the pool.  We met a bunch of people at the swim up bar and pretty much hung out with them all afternoon every day we were there.  It was alot of fun.  The next day, the resort was putting on a 5k race around the resort.  They actually called it a 5k marathon, which was kind of funny. 

I was supposed to do 3 miles on Wednesday, so it was right on plan and was a good opportunity to stretch my legs and see where I was.  The resort did not do a very good job of keeping everyone on the right path.  There were alot of twists and turns.  I was with the leaders for the first mile but a few guys were faster than me.  I ran with a woman who was training for a real marathon in Hartford.  She was fast and was turning miles at the same basic 7:30 pace I was running.  The two guys in front took a wrong turn and headed towards the highway.  We did an extra loop somewhere as well and fell behind when the gate wasn't open we were supposed to run through.  We caught the rest of the group and were in the lead again.  I actually won the race despite not being the fastest runner.  The funny thing was the 5k ended up being 2.25 miles.  I asked the woman running with me if she wanted to run an extra mile so we did that and called it a day.  My miles were all in the 7:20-7:30 range.  I was happy.  We took a tour into the jungle and climbed a Mayan ruin.  I don't know what that counts for in the exercise department but it was really cool.  Over a hundred steps to the top of the ruin.

We swam in a Cenote and zip lined across a lake as well.  It was a full day. 

 

On Thursday, I only swam in the morning.  This time I swam for 62 minutes.  It was probably at least 3000 yards in the pool.  On Friday, I ran another 5 miles as soon as the sun came up.  Much better running before the sun starts beating on you in combination with 100% humidity.  It was a nice easy pace.  I was too early for my bartender so I just powered through the five miles and grabbed some water afterwards.  Saturday was a travel day so no workout.  I was happy with getting some work in early in the morning and was able to have the whole day for having fun.  I gained a few pounds while on vacation but it should fall off quickly once I get back into a good routine.