Notes
Mile race at the Wartburg Qualifier. This race ended up being much smaller than I expected and the 2-3 guys seeded at low 4:2x all scratched so I knew I wasn't going to have many people to run with. Two guys were going for 4:18ish and the rest were trying to break 4:30.
I decided to just jump behind the first two since I didn't want to run the entire race on my own. I also wanted to do a better job of getting rolling early since the last couple of races I haven't seemed ready to go. We got out fast 31-200 and 64-400, and honestly I felt really good. I let the pace go and settled back a little over the next 400. I'm not sure what I went through the half in but I think it was around 2:11. Then I tried to pick it up again since I was still feeling pretty good. I felt like I attacked pretty well the second half of the race, but with no one to chase I was just racing the clock.
I really tried to close the last 200m hard but the posted results have final 200 and it was a 32, so not very fast. The second half was also a pretty big positive split considering how good I felt (maybe I went through the half slower than I 2:11).
Overall this race felt far better than the last two though. The time still wasn't as fast as I have run in previous years but it was getting closer and I'm confident I could have knocked off another 2-3 seconds with someone to race in the second half. I never felt like I was struggling in this race. I felt strong the entire way and was able to think about moves like I usually can. I can tell I'm lacking some general speed, especially closing speed compared to the past when I could run 30.xx at the end of any race but other than that I felt great. Really good step to finish off indoor and give me some confidence for outdoor. It is a little disappointing to feel this satisfied with a 4:26 but I think I am more excited about the way I felt in the race than the time for this particular race.