13:23 5k

My go to running partner is far too modest to discuss his exploits so I will do it for him.  On all but the hottest days he pushes the pace the first few miles of our runs.  I wanted to know his full potential so I took my bike out and let him set the pace to see what kind of effort he had in him without me to hold him back.

At his happiest

Our first mile was knocked out in 4:10.  Sounds fast and it is considering pinching out a loaf is included in the time.   Lefty really buckled down for mile two and turned out a 4:04.  Fatigue set in by mile three with a split of 4:34.  The last point one featured a full scale meltdown as he slowed to 5:42 min/mile pacing and I had to get out in front of him to encourage him to finish.  His final 5k time was 13:23, far outclassing my 18:26.

This makes him a bit slower than the men’s world record 5k time of 12:37 and a bit faster than the women’s record of 14:11.  His top speed, just shy of 30 mph makes him faster than most dogs.  Sure breeds like greyhounds can out sprint him for short distances but that is OK, greyhounds make for horrible endurance runners.  This dog is a multisport athlete - an excellent swimmer and brawler in addition to running.

On the recovery run back home

Despite his great 5k performance he is a 3 season dog and most summer days he is not capable of even moderate distance at my comparatively slow human pace.  Even on cool days he seems to max out a touch over 10 miles as he approaches six years old.  He always does seem to have plenty of strength to pull with all he has when he sees a deer though.  He has a big heart, when he isn't capable he still gives it his all and I need to call it for him so he doesn't kill himself from heatstroke. 

To train for this 5k Lefty got plenty of sleep.  Some days it seems like it is all he does.  When he wasn't sleeping he was eating.  When he wasn't sleeping or eating he was swimming, chasing tennis balls, and running down other dogs at the park.  He employed a lot of sprint work and got in a lot of tempo and distance work with my wife and I.  His strong work ethic had him putting in a lot of two a days when my wife and I ran separately.  Come to think of it he has it all figured out when it comes to training and recovery, I can only hope to follow his example.