Just Another Day at the Oval Office

Fridays are track days.  The kiddo is at preschool (for one more week) and I am able to spend a little bit of time by myself usually without interruption.  The last couple of weeks the track and football field have been filled with middle and high schoolers playing games and running around.  It has made for an interesting time, but I've been able to get in my workout.  This week it was one minute to five minute intervals at fast times.  The one minute interval was done at a sub-6:00 pace and the five minute intervals was a 6:26 pace.  I was moving!  Getting faster!

But that's not the most interesting thing that happened to me at the track.

Another runner came to the track that morning and he looked serious.  He warmed up off the track and then came back and did some drills.  The dude could drill.  I stopped to get a drink and he started talking to me.  He asked me about my Hokas and if I liked them.  Funny, considering he was covered in head-to-toe Saucony.  Literally - shirt, shorts, shoes, spikes.  Everything.  He asked me what I was training for.  I then said, "you look pretty serious."  He said, yeah, that he trained in Ann Arbor (boo!) that he ran the 1500 and that he was heading to Philly for a race this weekend.  He asked me my name, I asked him his, we shook hands, and went about our workouts.  I watched him run.  Holy crap was he fast!

When I got home I googled him.  Of course.  And I found out he's kind of a big deal.  His name is Julian Matthews and he runs for New Zealand's national team.  Yes, he's sponsored by Saucony.

And he's a nice guy.  I left him a message on his Facebook page and he responded wishing me luck at the aquathlon world championships.  He listened and seemed to care.  Cool guy.

So maybe I ran those intervals fast because the training is paying off and I'm getting more fit.  Or maybe it's because one hell of a stud athlete was sharing the track with me and I wanted to save face.  Either way, it was a great day at the oval office.