Tempo-ing with Ethan

Distance: 5.7 miles
Pace: 6:45/mile
Avg/Max HR: 164/189

So I was left alone to run with Ethan today. And he said he wanted to turn it up a little. I just came off training for and running a 100 miler and here I am running with one of the best 5K-10K guys in the state, if not New England. Ethan is a true champ, extremely likable and friendly, and a good guy. Also a fantastic runner, one who I would love to have run the inaugural Bradbury Bruiser. The only issue is that he is gunning for the Maine Grand Prix championship and the last race conflicts with the Bradbury Bruiser (even though that race was established first, I say it conflicts with the trail race as God laid the forests before people laid the roads). Hopefully he will have racked up enough points for win to skip the Great Pumpkin 10K.

So we started at a pedestrian 7:20, all the while I was selling on the virtues of trail running and why our race is better than his, next we slipped down into Ethan's warm up pace of 6:45 for the next couple miles. He then got tired of listening to me talk so he shifted into his 2nd gear and my 6th gear and started cruising along at a 6:30 pace. During any other phase of my running life this would not have bothered me but after 100 mile training, this was just torture, so after a mile of this I let Ethan get his training going as he slipped by me running a pace somewhere in the mid 5:00s. He is quick. I actually was able to cruise home at a near 6:30 pace for the last mile and a half and felt great doing it. The weather was definitely a factor as we have been blessed with some of the best weather of the season. Although I am looking forward to some warmer weather this weekend.

I did attend the last half of Jamie and Ian's talk at Peak Performance last night. They gave a great talk about trail running that will hopefully be taken on the road to other shops around town and also to some race expos where we can promote the Bradbury Bruiser. It's gonna be good!