180 a minute?

I ran an easy 4 miles tonight in town. It was about 78 with a 17 mph wind out of the West and 59% humidity. I was reading in Runner's World that most elite runners average in the neighborhood of 180 strides per minute. If I'm out slogging I generally can make about 167 or so and I decided to periodically check my stride rate today. I checked it three or four times and seemed to get between 172 and 178 but couldn't hit that sweet 180. I think the trick is to barely lift your feet off the ground and take shorter strides, duh. I wonder if I looked like a huge dork? I bet if I'd been running earlier the high school guys would have let me know as they were leaving track practice.

I ran my 4 miles in 32:48 with mile splits of 8:11, 8:15, 8:12 and 8:10. I spent 32:24 in zone and had an averge HR of 158. Tomorrow is a tempo run. I'm going to warm up a mile or two and then run two miles at about 6:50 pace followed by another mile or two to cool down. I think my lower back is starting to get a little out of whack from sitting at my desk so much. I'm going to have to hit the yoga and core exercises a little more consistently.