A nice memorial day weekend it has been. Two meals off the grill and the third of baby back ribs is currently cooking, decent weather, which at this point really means no rain and highs above 50 and two good runs.

Saturday I joined the group for 10 miles. This group has really exploded, from 20 or so when I first started in October to 45 on Saturday. We migrated out of the parking lot on a loop that would lead back towards my neighborhood of Ballard and within a block of my house. Started with 45 and lost people along the way to different routes or different speeds until it was just me and Pete for the last few miles. Pete is much like me in the fact that he has shorter races (5k - half marathon) that indicate he can easily run a sub 3 hour marathon but just hasn't been able to put it together on race day. In fact his PRs solidly beat mine but still just barely missing. I wish him the best as I know how frustrating this can be. The marathon is tough to figure out.

The 10 mile run was just under 8 minute pace and but felt like I had only run 5 or 6 miles when I finished. A nice morning.

I took Sunday off and joined the group once again on monday for a hill repeat work out. There is always some type of interval workout on Monday mornings at 6:00 am that I never can get out of bed for but today due to the holiday the start time wash pushed back to 9:00. This afforded me the chance to grab breakfast with the family and still get a morning workout in. About 20 people. We warmed up with a mile on the track and then made our way over to the hill. A moderately steep, wide gravel path along 50th street. The incline was constant and just long enough for a workout. I almost never do any interval work with other people so kind of a new experience. We lined up and took off en masse at just short of a full sprint and increased the pace from there. Whew. 10 of these were going to hurt. 18 seconds on the first trip up but I poorly split the rest. I am betting they were all around 19-22 seconds with 2-3 minute recoveries as we walked back down and lined up. A real sprint workout.

Having 20 people ahead and behind me encouraged me to push much harder than I normally would. There were a few guys that were clearly better at this than me which was all the better. 10 trips seemed over in no time but definitely kicked my ass. Cooled down with a jog back to the track and another mile or so at a very easy pace. I should note some tightness under my left foot that is still lingering right now. Not pain but more like light cramping. I am guessing it is due to the hard workout combined with the lighter trainers. I'll have to lay off racing flats a it until my feet adjust.