Runnin’ of the Green, prepping for Mazatlan
On Friday, nearly our whole team will be going to Mazatlan, Mexico for the ITU Mazatlan Continental Cup on Saturday. The field looks to be stacked, with about 60 guys and 30 women. In 2008 the waves there were pretty nasty which could make things fun. The waves weren’t too big at the start but get decent when the guys hit the break, keep watching the video…
This year it’s a 2 lap swim but apparently they’ve moved the swim to a less wavy location down the beach. Either way it’ll be a good time. We’re staying until Tuesday and I’m hoping to spend the post race hours surfing. Balzer moved to Reno last year to take over a business and he’ll be with us in Mazatlan so that’ll be a good time.
On Friday of this past week we hit the crit for a ride working on paceline riding with 2 runs off the bike. Nothing too aggressive, mainly getting comfortable again riding at speed on a wheel. We got in a good swim Monday but with the water heater at the Y broken we had to swim on our own on Tuesday and Wednesday when the temps got too cold to bear. I like racing in cold water but training in it…..
Sunday I ran in the Runnin’ of the Green race in Denver. It’s a 7k that gets a big field along with many of the faster local runners. Ofer lives at the 2 mile mark so he, Matt K, Tom, and I ran to the race from there. It felt like we were in college again running from the dorm to the race.
2010 Runnin' of the Green Start Line
I felt good from the get go and pushed things early, going through the mile at 5:01 with 2 time Olympian Michael Aish next to me. By the way, if you want expert running help, Michael now works at the Greenwood Village / Denver Tech Center Boulder Running Company store. The two of us held that and managed to get some separation from the rest of the field. At the base of the nasty hill in the race, just prior to the 2 mile mark, Michael took off. I was hoping that there’d be a period where I could get dragged along by him but when he went he went, showing that he’s in a different league.
I hit the 2 mile in 10:17, 5:16 for the past mile which was good considering the hill. I checked back and saw the bright yellow outfit of Ewen North, a good runner who I knew would be in the mix. Ewen ran a 1:07 low at the Austin Half Marathon on January, beating me by 2 minutes. 5:06 for the next mile and I was really hurting trying to hold it together. The race undulates under bridges and this can be a difficult section to hold a rythym. I checked back again and Ewen had halved the distance to me.
Fortunately I managed to pull it back together with a 5:11 back on the flats. The extra little bit brought me in in 2nd place, only 2 seconds ahead of Ewen in 3rd.
5:09 pace for me which I’m very happy with. Feeling good going into Mazatlan on Saturday.
Finish of Runnin' of the Green
Done working out = time for a Mix1
Post race at Paris on the Platte. Kemptonious likes coffee, what he likes even more is a pitcher of coffee. We split it.
Random, Ofer and Matt making butter after the race.
