Rhode Runner Run Club

Time: 56:51
Distance: 11.00 km

W/u: 14:56 for 2.78 km
W/o: 6 x 800m w/ 400m jog
C/d: 7:47 for 1.42 km

I traveled down to Providence today for a run club with Rhode Runner. I arrived much earlier than expected so I sent a note out to Pat Tarpy asking if he wanted to catch up and watch the UEFA Cup semi-final between Spain and Portugal. He was game so we met up at Ri-ra in downtown where many pints by Brown runners have been consumed. Around half-time another former Brown 800m runner, Jon Andruchow aka Chow, showed up to spectate. It was a fun time and ultimately Spain took the victory in penalty kicks. Fortunately, the game ended with just enough time for me to head over to Rhode Runner for their run club.

Usually, store run clubs consist of an easy 30-40 minutes along some route near the store. Not Rhode Runner. I had two options: 1) run 8 miles easy with 4-5 runners, 2) run 6 x 800m at the track with a group of 20. I chose the latter option and headed off to Hope High School (one of the worst public schools in Rhode Island) track (one of the nicest high school facilities I've seen). This workout was a surprise as I was expecting an easy 30 minutes of running and considering the burger I ate at lunch, I had no ambitions for throwing down anything impressive.

Splits:
2:41.5 (4:08), 2:37.4 (3:24), 2:36.3 (3:49), 2:35.6 (3:39), 2:28.0 (3:45), 2:22.7 for 6.8 km and 34:08

My lunch wasn't sitting nicely until halfway through the workout, but I slogged on. I ran right at the front and ended up leading most of the efforts. We had more than enough rest for the intervals to feel comfortable as each got a little faster. I was glad to have been coerced into doing the workout and will definitely have to return again.