This race is one of the races that I try to do every year--it is put on by the club I belong to for one thing, but also there is a certain allure to racing a mile for me. Because the mile is unit of measurement for my runs, it seems that running a mile race gives me a sense of my base.
I went into this year's race further behind in my training--I'm in the third week of doing hill work--than I would like but my better than expected results in other races left me optimistic that I wouldn't be too far off.
When I'm in reasonable shape, my mile times bunch pretty tight--5:16-5:20.
My pacing strategy coming into this race was to sit behind two runners--Jenn and/or Fred, my shoe guy. Both are normally close to where I finish and while I had not raced either this year, both of their times seemed to be a bit better this year, so maybe they could pull me along to a fast time.
I got to the race in plenty of time, got a two mile warm up and some stretching in. Switched into my flats and did a little speed work.
The race itself went by awful fast--had to dodge some little kids that typically lined in the very front. I never saw the first quarter mile marker, finally at 2 minutes I checked my watch and confirmed I had to be past it. Around that time, I also decided that I was going too slow for a mile--wasn't hurting enough yet, so I passed Jenn and set my eyes on a further target.
I never spotted Fred during the race, ended up he was behind me. The problem, I decided afterwards, with using Fred & Jenn as pacers was that they've been running fast MARATHON times, which doesn't necessarily translate to fast mile times..
Hit the half at 2:39--right about where I wanted to be. Thee quarters came at 4:00, again right on pace. The race was run in the opposite direction this year, finishing with a slight curve in the final stretch, so I couldn't sight the finish until it was almost too late. Pushed hard but I left a little too much in the tank. Finished with a 5:18 watch time. With a little better course awareness, think I could have run 5:16 at least.
I should have prerun the course--the street itself is one I've driven hundreds of times and have run often so I warmed up along a nearby bike trail. Prerunning the course would have given me a better sense of where around the bend the finish actually was and hopefully I would have noticed where the 1/4 mile was so I could have gotten some pace feedback a little earlier although I think I benefited by running the first chunk a little easy.
Overall, I am happy with where my fitness is but a little unhappy with how I actually raced. Does leave me yearning for a chance to run an actual mile race on the track with others running around my pace.
Free Running Swag
I have intentionally not promoted my blog anywhere, just wanted to see who stumbles across it. But since noone has left a comment yet, thought I would run a little promo. First person to leave a comment to this post wins a "i run" bumper sticker or any other of my oval sticker designs found at
CafePress, including my popular 26.2 design. The fartlek one is one of my favorites but almost noone has bought it.
Roots
Ran a trail race, Chippewa Valley Firecracker, this past weekend. One of the first things I remembered about this type of race was to look out for roots because they are easy to trip over. Rocks, branches, streams, soft spots, hill sides and clumps are other dangers.
Do a trail race also brought me back a bit to my running "roots". My first organized running was the fall of 1984 when I went out for cross country as a freshman.
While I was a huge Green Bay Packer fan, I was small in size and my mother would not let me go out for football. I've never told her, but that actually was a relief because I probably would have gotten hurt worse than tripping over a root in the woods.
Most of my training is along roads and almost all the races I do are on roads, trails are more satisfying to run on, even at a slower pace.
This race was listed as a 5k but in the prerace announcements, the race director said the course was actually just under 6k, which is fine but I would have like to know how close, just to know what my actual speed was. My Nike SDM measured it at 3.5 miles but I am not confident the calibration translates to trail running--especially since I wore my spikes.
Also a note about my ancestral roots--my last remaining grandparent, my paternal grandfather, passed away this weekend. I am sad about it but not overwhelmed--feel a little guilty that it does not bother me more.
Do a trail race also brought me back a bit to my running "roots". My first organized running was the fall of 1984 when I went out for cross country as a freshman.
While I was a huge Green Bay Packer fan, I was small in size and my mother would not let me go out for football. I've never told her, but that actually was a relief because I probably would have gotten hurt worse than tripping over a root in the woods.
Most of my training is along roads and almost all the races I do are on roads, trails are more satisfying to run on, even at a slower pace.
This race was listed as a 5k but in the prerace announcements, the race director said the course was actually just under 6k, which is fine but I would have like to know how close, just to know what my actual speed was. My Nike SDM measured it at 3.5 miles but I am not confident the calibration translates to trail running--especially since I wore my spikes.
Also a note about my ancestral roots--my last remaining grandparent, my paternal grandfather, passed away this weekend. I am sad about it but not overwhelmed--feel a little guilty that it does not bother me more.
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