Notes
Club Relays Mile. Placed in the first heat from last week's mile. Was ranked 16th of 17 and came away 8th in my heat and 10th overall. Bit of a different mindset this week. Instead of really trying to get after it, I was just content with sitting and waiting for things to end. The race went out slower than last week (69 opening 409 (35 first lap). 800 was 2:16 so it appears I negative split slightly.
Started in the outside alley - my alley members were content not to run away and I was surprised that I wasn't way back when the alleys cut in. Found Somerfield and went directly behind him. Passed him around 600 and found another kid in an Illinois singlet. Had to work to close the gap on him, but got him after a lap. He made a strong move to pass me after which I was not about to match 600 out. Instead, it seemed as though a lot of the field was coming back to me, so I shrugged internally and started passing. I think I got two on the last lap with the Illini kid (Kellum) right before the line.
Nice to note the differences between the two races. This was slightly slower, but I offset it with a pretty good kick. While it was not another sub-4:30, I just ran the two fastest miles of my life back to back weeks - the time difference between the two was negligible so I'm happy I could show to myself that this is just where I am now.
On to the marathon.