Everything comes to an end. So is our little training vacation.

The “undefeated I.phone google maps world champion” Uli found a killer route beside clermont. Beautiful landscape with perfect sand roads in a “kenian style”. Our workout started with the sun rising. With a moderate pace we ran a bumpy loop between fields and orange plants. A run to remember. The legs are tired so the 120′ weren’t that easy to the end. We also met the fast guys from princeton university. To fast for us…

Another highlight was a visit at the NTC (national training centre) after breakfast. This thing is walt Disney world for endurance athletes. Pool, gym, track… you name it. We worked out in the pool and later in the gym. Just for the gosip ill mention that nina kraft (google for details…) was onsite aswell. Uli was excited… I prefered the college workout – niiiiiceeee.

Now im waiting at the gate to catch my flight back to dublin. 10 days went on so fast – too fast.

What a nice morning workout. We drove out to Run an trail. Beautiful 60′ run on perfect paths.

As always i went out for easy 25′ on the evening.

Legs are sore. Back in daytona it was time for easy 30′ on the beach in the morning.

My evening run was an easy 55′ workout on the beach.

Time for some action! Gate river run, Jacksonville. The US 15 k champs.
A really foggy morning was the opener for the race today. A huge field (around 15.000) lined up. Uli and i had seeded numbers so we were aloud to start from the front section. Beside us was a good bunch of US pros. A bit scary to see all those super fast guys around. Anyway. The race was brilliant. A windy but exciting route through Jacksonville with a brilliant support from the locals.

For me the race was tough as the legs have a huge amount of kilometers in this week. Bill Rodgers warned Uli and me the day before. The last bridge would be the killer. He was right. That blue thing was a true killer.

Finally I ended up with a 56:13 time. It’s ok as the race was just part of our little trainig holiday. Uli clocked a 51:46.

Now we are back in daytona to enjoy the sun and a bit of running.

Before we drove up to Jacksonville we stopped at daytona beach for a little “break”. The beach is perfect for running. Before breakfast we were running moderate 45′ with faster sections at the end.

We relaxed on the beach and made our way to north Florida. In Jacksonville we went directly to the expo where we picked up our numbers.

I went out for a quick run before we went to bed.

After the heavy session yesterday it was time for an easy recovery run. No big deal just jogging around for 45′.

30′ easy jogging on the beach was my cool down for the day.

to avoid the heat we went out before the sunset. our destination was the “historic Indian trail”, a stunning sand road west of vero beach. we started with 60′ moderate running and finished up with 80′ at marathon pace. nice but tough workout on a really scenic route.

The legs got their deserved relaxation with an easy swim in the afternoon.

With the sunset we went out for a 85′ moderate run around vero beach. My legs are feeling good and the sun is shining on…

I skipped the evening run for a little swim session and “airball” (basketball without getting close to the ring…) beside the local pool. we dropped the standard on the court to a unbelievable low level. no chance for the next draft… we keep the balls where they belong.

This morning was time for some speed. We ran a long warm up with a couple of sprints. Then it was time for 2 x 20′ fast. Pretty tough for me as the temperature was rising fast too. Cool Down was a easy jog home on the beach plus a dip in a cool atlantic.

Again i jogged 30′ around the local golf course in the evening.

I arrived safe in the sunshine state. The flight was alright but the immigration procedure at Orlando Airport took me nearly one hour. Pretty painful after 8,5 hours in a plane.

Uli and i started out today in the warm Orlando morning sun. It was a beautiful morning and we ran our first session on nice backroads.

I finished the day with a easy 30′ jog on a beautiful evenning around our “base” – vero beach.