I run therefore, I am!

Nice work Walter. Very good pace for a drop like that. How did your body and legs respond after last weeks marathon. By the way happy Father's Day my friend.

Holy Cow! I'm going to need to start taking robitussin before ALL of my races! :) You did an awesome job on your race and had some CRAZY runs/legs on the course. Hope you feel better soon!!!

WOW did you say you did a 4:14 mile?!?! That is awesome and speedy. Great job taking on that runner 11 spot.

Kory, the hills were torture going up but down hill felt great. Happy belated Fathers day to you too pal!

Rachel, I took Robutusin after my first and second runs. It kept me from coughing which was pretty bad after the first run. I felt like doggy doo.

Mark, my fastest pace was a 3:52, can you believe that? holy crap I wished I could run a mile in that time! My legs were moving so fast that I had to just hold my hands up for balance lol. There were three hard hills going up for a distance which kept me from getting under a 5 minute average pace. I would have lit it up for a PR if I counted that without telling anyone I was going down an 8% grade haha.

LOL that is so awesome!! Yeah that is very steep downhill. And those mean hills if it was the same as last year is short but very mean ones. Great job again.

Walter your the downhill man!. That's impressive. You really are impressive since after just running a marathon.

Do you ever get up to Pocatello, Idaho to do concrete work?

4:14!!!!! Are you for real????

WOW! I can't even think of an appropriate response to that!!

Nice job Walter James!

Sounds like you all had a GREAT time. Glad you are home safe and sound.

Walter - unfortunately 4:14 most likely means your Garmin was broken during that mile. Breakthroughs do happen, but usually not a week after a marathon. I would say 4:35 down 8% grade would be believable, but not 4:14.

A test to see if the Garmin was right. Go to the Alta Peruvian 8 K course, run back and forth to find the mile markers on the road, stretch really well, do a couple of good strides, make sure you know exactly where those markers are, they have the same paint color, put something visible by the finish marker, e.g your car, or have somebody stand there, then hammer out that mile and see if you can hit 4:05. (I am thinking if you can hit 4:14 in the middle of a 7.3 leg, you should be able to run at least 4:05 for just one mile fresh). The reason I say Alta Peruvian is that any steeper will not help with the speed. Of course, I have to offer a disclaimer that this test is injury prone, although not as much as running that leg. A less reliable, but less injury prone is an all out mile on the track, see if you can break 4:40.

Walter, you did awesome!!! You were so fun to watch and we were all just amazed at how well you performed considering how sick you have been, plus all of the races this spring---including a marathon the week before!!

No matter what, you are a phenomenal athlete. Period. Thanks for running with us "hackers," as Scott so elegantly puts it!!! We love having you around!

Awesome job on the downhill, Walter! You rock!

Oh, and Scott says, "Walter's legs are #1. His eyes are #1. His arms are #1. Walter is #1!!" Scott's accent did not come through in that reply, but just imagine it. And imagine what else he said after. JUST IMAGINE.

Cool run Walter :) We may have to change your name to "The Brown Speedster" :) Take care of those legs of yours :)

Sasha, that is actually steeper than an 8% grade in spots. I was going so fast that my arms couldnt keep up with my legs. You can come to our post race BBQ and watch the video they made of me but I do have to offer a disclaimer that most of those people at the party will probably haze you for the comments you make to them.

Thanks Marion. You always pump me up!

WAlter- you've got to post the video on youtube.

I took the video from the front seat of the car in the rain, I am not sure how good it is. BUT Jose says it turned out pretty good.

Sasha I would have to believe Walter ran that fast. Walter is an excellent downhill runner. I ran some fast miles a week after a marathon. It's possible to run fast after a marathon. Even after only a week.

I would be 100% certain Walter ran that fast. I'm not sure what would make you think it wouldn't be possible for him to do that. Give someone credit when they do something good.

I actually got a 4:04 fastest time running down it but it doesnt say how long. Im going to load it on my computer and dissect it lolto see how accurate it is. Kory, It was close to sonic because I could see the funnel starting to form. lol

"Sonic Walter,".... no "Warp Speed Walter"

4:14 mid-leg mile would indicate the ability to run Alta Peruvian 8K in sub-22:00. While different runners have different levels of downhill ability, I do not believe sub-22:00 in Alta Peruvian would be possible even for the most ferocious downhill demon without being able to run 1:13 in 2009 Strider's Half (I am factoring the wind into the expected time). Walter ran 1:17:50. His other good races in the last three years have been comparable in quality. So if the Garmin is accurate, Walter had a miraculous breakthrough. Such breakthroughs do happen from time to time, but are rare. I feel it is important for Walter to know if it really did, so I am suggesting some tests.

Hmmm, way to go Wally!!!

You're a rock star, Sparky!

Sasha- I fail to see why Walter has to discover if he had a breakthrough or not via your tests. He had a good race and an amazing stretch of fast miles. Congrats, Walter! And let's leave it at that. It is irrelevant to "prove" anything. Walter is a stud, good enough for me.

Michelle, thanks.

Rachel, too funny!

Jon, thanks for the comments. I dont take anything he says to me offensive. Just when I hear it from other runners that I take more offensive for some reason. I dont have to defend any comments I make.

What are you upcoming races? You should come do Logan Peak this Sat! Are you doing Des News, or TOU 1/2, or TOU, or Jupiter Steeplechase? I think those are my races coming up.

Jon:

I've had way too many "breakthroughs" of this kind, and then wondered why in the world I could not come anywhere close to it on a certified course. I learned that when you start celebrating such "breakthroughs" you will never make a real one. I want to see Walter and other bloggers make real breakthroughs.

The rule of thumb is when you've run an incredibly fast time on a non-certified course, try it again on a certified. Sometimes even a supposedly certified course could throw you a surprise. DesNews 2004 was modified at that last minute and ended up 900 meters short. It was a rather embarrassing situation for the race directors. Jon Ndambuki ran 2:16 taking Demetrio's record by a few seconds. It was rather meaningless anyway since Demetrio ran his record on a different, much slower course, you needed a 2:10 guy to take it on the same course, and they did not have 2:10 guys in shape to run 2:10, but regardless they were making a big deal about the new record. To complicate the problem, Demetrio was the one who certified the course before they changed it at the last minute. After the race, Demetrio told me it was 900 meters short. I went to one of the race directors and asked him. He said, no it was right, Demetrio is just mad his record was taken. I did not know who to believe, this was the first time I'd run it, and 2:25:30 for 3200 feet of elevation drop was believable. Next year I found out the truth - the course, now properly certified beyond anybody's questioning, added a 900 meter detour. That is why anytime anybody runs a record they always remeasure the course. It is not practical for us to remeasure the courses that we run PR's on, but we can learn from that practice to always question an unusually fast time and seek to prove it beyond doubt.

I believe that to be true with the knowing that what you ran you really did run. To many times I have ran a race and ended up alot longer then what they it should be. And rarely does it come up short. But either way it makes me wonder if I didnt run the tangent well or if the course was short. Just so that in my mind I can say that I really did run it and set a PR or not.

Walter again 4:14 is awesome. Your going to really rock the rest of the year. This will really prepare you for the future races.

Walter- do you realize that you can run 3 miles in the time it takes me to run ONE? ...yes boys, I am really THAT slow :( Well, 2._ on a really good day of mine ;)

Eeyore out...

Sasha- my point is, but in the end, does it really matter? For one, it's not like Walter raced a 5k at 4:14 pace and will claim that as a new PR. It was a downhill mile in the middle of a race. But even then, I don't see how running a fast mile can prevent you from making future "breakthroughs". We are what we are, as runners, whether fast or slow. We have good days and bad days. I don't understand the need to compare and prove anything. If I run a 2:30 marathon, then I was a 2:30 marathoner that day on that course. If I run 3:00, then I was a 3:00 marathoner. Either way, I'm still just Jon. No need to prove anything to anyone. Not saying I don't want to do my best- I do. And I'll try to keep improving. But it doesn't change who I am as a person, so I don't think it's worth getting worked up over in critiquing people's races.

Walter- on a related note, I'm looking forward to a good TOU 1/2 duel!

Jon:

If you are just Jon, then why do you time yourself? And why do you train to make that time better? Your name will still be Jon :-)

Marion: You've run a 5 K at altitude in 29:43 on a course that is slower than ideal and not short. Nobody on the blog could have run that 5 K twice in 29:43. It would have taken a low-28:00 sea-level track runner. So you are only twice as slow as Josh Rohatinsky or Ryan Hall, at least over a 5/10 K.

COOL!!! :D

Jon and Walter, can I come watch the duel?

Jon, Logan Peak would be the topping on the cake for me of complete overload! haha 5 half marathons in 5 weeks, UVM and WBR back to back. sheesh. Im spent! I will be up there for the TOU half and Full this year. Hopefully in better shape then last year.

Mark, they are soe extreme hills man!

Kory, thanks again. Ill have to show you my computer download. Its insane! My watch actually clocked 2/10ths longer so its possible to be off. Id like to talk to paul and see what his comes up with. It did say I did 2- .1 miles of steep down in under 4 minute pace haha. Id like to really have it looked at close because it is Ryan Hallish. lol The Switch backs couldve messed with the accuracy.

Kelli, come run the Half! its a well organized race that has gotten real popular. They have some nice gifts for those that wait around after too! Im not talking socks either. Gps watches, Smith sunglasses, etc. They really know how to cater to us hard working runners. lol Be there!

HOLY HOT DAYAMN WALTER! Smokin fast legs....If I can PR running 3 miles in the dark after having a Costco Hotdog with a Caffeinated Coke in a time of 18:42..Then you can hit a Mile in 4:14 on the Moon. :D

Here's an inspirational quote for you Walty, "For all our technology, exactly how the athlete's body performs is largely a mystery. Unfortunately, when it comes to contributing anything extraordinary to the training and techniques of athletes, science has a poor record. It works best in observing the performances of elite athletes who have made a BREAKTHROUGH and then explaining why they were successful." ~Joe Friel The Triathlete's Training Bible

You Escape Quantification as Joe would say. :)

Enjoy and Believe your PR. Because I do.

So There! ;)

Missy, I did not realize your PR occurred after a Costco hot dog. WOW, now I am super impressed!

Walters occurred after zero sleep and in the pouring rain, with my by his side (in a car, of course) yelling at him to run faster.

Well...That PR on with the HOTDOG happened years ago before I quit running for 3-4 years..lol..My new Treadmill PR I was actually bloated from protein pancakes..Usually they sit light..Think I Had too many liquids and my tummy went crazy...Still had a good Treadmill pr that day. :D

Kelli, I am hiring you to crack the whip at my next race! :)