Home Stretch...and other stuff!

Where has the Summer gone? Only four weeks until B2B and our training group is heading into the home stretch. If you have been training, you must be preparing by doing some tune up races. Lot's of folks gear up by participating in Pats Pizza 5-mile Classic. 5 miles is a good test prior to Maine's most celebrated race and the Yarmouth course is a "Fair" assessment of where you are. It starts at the same time, tempature's are about equal to B2B and it's two weeks prior. Most of our group make this their last race before they taper and get ready for the B2B. The next few weeks, our group will concentrate on shorter interval repeats with shorter rest, to sharpen up, get a little quicker and get ready to rumble down Shore Drive and finish at Portland Head Light.

Speaking of races.....Ethan Hemphill continues to have a great racing season winning his 4th "LL Bean 10K" in 32:36, in Freeport over the weekend. Ethan says he will skip the Clam Festival this year to concentrate on B2B and the "Unofficial" Maine State 10K Championship. Watch out for Yarmouth's Matt Lane, who finished 2nd to Hemphill at the LL Bean 10K... He quietly is picking up his training and when you have a 13:20 5K P.R. and a Sub 28:00 10K on the track, it shouldn't take too long to get back in Gear. Maine Running Company's Stan Pyle also is having a strong summer as well. He took 1st place at the Bridgton 4 on the 4th in 20:26, edging Donnie Drake by 2 seconds. Kirsten Barry is peaking at the right time as she set a new course record of 35:12 at the "Bean" 10K, besting Emily LeVan's old mark by over a minute and beating teammate Sheri Piers.

Speaking of Sheri and Kirsten....Michael Gaige, their coach and Maine Running Company Head Coach, is featured in this month's Runner's World, under the Training section on Page 38. Michael is featured in the "Workout" segment and gives advise on 10K training. We're lucky to have him.

Over 5,000 folks participated in races in the Greater Portland Area over the July 4th weekend! Running continues to grow as Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association reports there are nearly 31 million runners in the U.S.... up over 5% from 2006. By the way, there are now 80 million walkers....looks like folks are getting out!

Anyone watching the Olympic Trials in Eugene, OR this past weekend saw some outstanding races. Maine's (Greenwood) Anna Willard became the new American record-holder in the 3,000 meter Steeplechase, when her time of 9:27.59 beat the previous mark (9:28.75) held by Lisa Galaviz. Having witnessed and run several track meets in Eugene, there is no better venue for this meet to be held at.

Finally, Maine Running Company's Fall Training program starts on Thursday, August 7th @ 6pm. We will concentrate on 10K and 1/2 Marathon Training during the 1st 8 weeks, then transition for shorter races with the Turkey Trot 5K and Thanksgiving Day 4-miler the focus. We'll also have Jeff Galloway on Thursday, September 11 and Bill Rodgers on September 18, provide training, racing and running advice.

It's hot out there, so remember to hydrate and stay cool....and remember, Run Happy!