Watching other Runners

On occasion I get to venture out and run with other runners and this past weekend was no exception. Saturday, several of us hooked up for a tempo run and then I met another group on Sunday morning for a nice 11 miles.

Running with others often gives us a chance to catch-up and see how things are going but it also allows us some insight into how their training is progressing.

Take for example, my tempo run with Mike and Megan this on Saturday. Mike has run several marathons before but sometimes, it take a little personal discover before we figure out how to run them faster.

Mike has been going through this process over the last year and he is in shape to knock down a really good one.

This became evident to me during the latter stages of our Marathon Paced tempo run this past weekend. Mike started dropping 5:50 miles not early in the workout but late in the workout. He was ticking off 5:50 miles for 16, 17, and 18, and probably ran mile 19 around 5:55. This was about the time that my Garmin heart rate monitor started beeping which was a red flag to me that it was time to let Mike go. Watching him bound up the hill and toward the finish, it was pretty easy to tell that he still has plenty the tank.

Granted, one workout doesn't make a Marathon but key workouts are great indicators of great fitness. In my opinion, this was key workout and has me thinking Mike may run at least 2:40 in Twin Cities.

Oh, to everyone else – the Cool Down Runner is always watching even when others don't realize it.

 

Thoughts from the Cool Down Runner