Tuesday 7/30 (Day 17) - Race Day
     Slept in again as the race wasn't until 6 that evening. Left my hotel in Salem, NH and headed for Newburyport to bum around until the race. I checked out their running store (very cool), and bought some good New England beer to bring back too. I also went to the Maritime museum which was the old customs house in the citie's port days. It was a good way to learn a lot about the history of the city. For lunch, I went out to the Parker River Wildlife Refuge which was the barrier island. I ate lunch overlooking the ocean, then bird watched some of the salt marshes (very nerdy). I ended up seeing a lot of cool species, including a few I had never seen before. I even wish I could have had more time. I would definitely go back.
     The race sucked. The course was great, the competition was there, but I just didn't have it. I opened way too fast, thinking there was no way that there could possibly be that many guys opening that fast. I ran through in a 5:02 probably 15 seconds back from the lead group. Needless to say, I didn't hang on too well. When I hit the hills on the second half of the loop, I was cashed. A very awful 54:55, 2.5 minutes off of where I thought I could be. Damn
     Hit the road as soon as I was done cooling down and made Albany for the night. Happy to be headed home!

Day high: Oddly enough- Bird Watching in the refuge
Day low: It's never fun to blow up in a race

Stats:
Miles: ~210
States: Massachusetts, New York
Birds: Bald Eagle, Great Egret, Semi-Palmated Sandpiper, Rough Winged Swallow, Little Blue Heron, Greater Yellow Legs, Mute Swan, Snowy Egret
License Plates: N/A