Corre Mucho

The bike is awfully dusty these days...

Since beginning my marathon training shortly after the Grand Columbian Half Ironman, I have been relegated to running shoes and Monday Master's Swim. Do I miss the bike? Eh, maybe just enough to actually wish I was spending half of my Saturdays climbing in the West Hills and time trialing at low cadence around Sauvie's Island. But alas, I must remember this is time to focus on becoming a faster, more efficient runner. Last night was one giant leap in that direct.

A few of us Ironheads met up at the Fairmount loop for a nine mile session comprised of 3 minute Z2 rest/recovered followed by 1 minute Z4 bursts. I brought my buddy Drew along, who is a very strong "recreational" runner who works at Nike. Apparently, if you don't run 6:30 pace marathons at Nike you are relegated to plebeian athlete status. The group was Dave, Ann, Chris, Matt, Grant, Rachel, Drew, and me. Shortly after the first interval, I found myself holding on with the Greyhound Pack of Dave, Drew, and Matt. Chris and Grant, both absurdly strong runners, were gone (but not long gone), and we would not see them until the finish.

This was my first time hanging with the Greyhound Pack of speedsters for the entire nine miles without getting dropped. The metrics for the run are as follows.

Distance: 9 Miles
Time: 1 Hour 4 Minutes 15 Seconds
Pace: 7:08 average

That was faster than any race I have ever run. Looks like all of this training is panning out. My next entry will be after a leisurely twelve miler at Forest Park with Rachel on Sunday.