Hip Redux
Short version: 1 mile, 7:25min, 1st/6 in AG and 10/26 women (7 of the women ahead of me were under 17yo. I say that doesn't count. :P).
Preface: So, in reality, I have no real business racing a mile. I do no speed work, I don't have any mile specific training. But I figured it would be fun, and isn't that what it's all about? And I have a husband who is speedy and I wanted to see what he could do with a mile (5:50min, 7th overall). Based on McMillan's estimate with my last 5k (28min), my mile pace should be 8mm - but that 5k was hilly and the mile was flat, so I thought I could easily get into the 7's. However, that 5k was also two days ago so I wasn't sure if that would work against me. My fastest mile in a race was 8:11mm, and that was last year sometime.
The event: What a neat event. It coincides with the Memorial Day parade so they close down the big boulevard and the race starts off the day of events, then the parade follows. I would not have imagined so many spectators for a mile! We had four lanes totally closed down to traffic, mostly a straight away, for 70 racers, with both sides of the street with people. No chip timing, just the rip the bib off at the end sorta thing. Great little townie, low key kind of race. I definitely want to do this one again next year!
The t-shirts.
The splits (according to strava):
I took LRB and scap's advice and split the mile into four segments. Of course, at the starting line I forgot all the rest of their advice except for that and "sprint" at the end. So ok. Off to a great start. lol I did a quick 1 mile warm up with some strides.
1st 1/4 mile - 1:40min 6:40mm pace
I knew I started out too fast. It was hard to not get caught up in the all out sprint at the start. I actually felt ok, but I knew it would kill me at the end.
2nd 1/4 mile - 1:53min, 7:31mm
This hurt. A lot. It was amazing how quickly I went from "OK, this is a little fast, but just hang on" to "WHAT THE EFF". It felt like that final surge in a 5k, but I wasn't even at the half way mark in the mile lol I figured at this point, I had banked some time, so it was ok to let it go a bit because I was way in the red and knew I couldn't hold anything close to the pace I started at.
3rd - 1:57min, 7:47mm
I pretty much was holding on for dear life here. Most of it was a blur.
4th - 1:59min, 7:51mm
Because we were on a straightaway, I could see the finish line once we hit the 3/4 mile marker. I told myself to sprint, but I had nothing. As I got closer, I could see the clock and it read 6:40 and I said "Well, I could see how close to 7min I can make it, or I can just stay the course since I'm already ahead of where I should be." And I totally let go and went with the later. Then I heard my husband yell "Don't let her catch you!". Well, crap. So I sped up a bit (barely) and realized that one of my AG contenders was right on my butt - I beat her by one second!
The mile was really as tough as I thought it would be - red line the entire way! Wow.
Bling: The trophy is a little much for such a small race, but hey. The smaller one is my husband's - they allow double dipping so the overall winner also got the 1st in his AG, so he got 2nd in his AG.
Thanks for reading!
Wow, outstanding performance! Keep at it & pile up some more hardware! I bet you are hooked now, can't wait to hear about your next one. Those his & hers trophies should go on a wedding cake.
Dave
Congrats. Awesome! Nice PR!
Damaris
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I would love another chance at a mile, now that I have some sense of what it's like. But... I can't find any that aren't kid's "fun runs"! I am pretty sure I could beat the 5 and 6-year olds.
Watch out ... those kids are tougher than they appear.
Nice job on the first dip into the mile pool ... may it not be your last.
Train smart ... race smarter.
Chief Unicorn Officer
Congrats!! The mile is my absolute favorite distance (and luckily, late summer/early fall is like "mile season" where I live--we have 5 of them to choose from within 2 months). It does take a few tries at racing to really get a handle on how to pace it--but you did great for a first try! Way to go.
Mile 5:49 - 5K 19:58 - 10K 43:06 - HM 1:36:54
Good job!!
Trail Monster
Wow! Great work! I need to find a mile race. That sounds awesomely painful!
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4/20 North Coast 24 Hour
7/27 Burning RIver 100M
8/24 Baker 50M
10/5 Oil Creek (distance to be determined)
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Go figure
Way to bring home the trophies for both of you! Reports like this seriously make me question whether or not I want to do my own mile race this year. Part of me says, "OOHHH FUNNN," and the other part says "OHHH F***." Anyway, nice work hanging in there as best you could and smashing the heck out of your predicted time.
Trying to find some more hay to restock the barn
very very cool, congrats! and yes it does feel like your redlining it.
marathon pr - 3:16
uʍop ǝpᴉsdn sǝʇᴉɹʍ ʇI
Me too! Nice hardware.
Bruce - you ain't kidding. A lot of the field today was track kids - and two 11 year olds in the top five came in at 5:15 and 5:38. Right, so maybe I can't beat 5 or 6 year olds if they grow up to be those kids. lol
MJ - I totally get the intrigue of the mile. You really have to know what you're doing to make the most of it!
Banshee, SIAR - doooo ittttttt. Really, it was just a rush! Well, and a lot of pain. But it's over quick. :P
Thanks D, Robin, LRB, Ric, Jack!
Mmmmm...beer
Great job to you and DH!
I have my first miler in Aug, looking forward to it, even in the heat.
-Dave
My running blog
Goals | sub-18 5k | sub-3 marathon 2:56:46!!
Nice trophy! The mile is an interesting distance. Redline the whole way is a nicedescription.