Today I finally got to see some results of my 600+ off season training miles I've put in. We started with a 10 minute warmup and some strides on the track. After that we broke out the short shorts and started the mile race. I tried taking 200m splits with my Garmin's auto lap option but it wasn't as precise as I'd hoped it would be. Splits went something like this. - Lap 1 ~68 seconds - This lap was just keeping with my pace. I made sure not to get in the way of any of the people who were shooting for 4:30's and after they passed me I just tucked in behind them and tried to keep my distance so I didn't start out to fast. Apparently it didn't work because I was aiming for 70's and a 4:40 time.
- Lap 2 ~73 - I could feel that I was working hard already from lap 1 but I knew I still had a lot left in me. One of the 4:30'ers had started falling back towards me but after I saw the splits on my watch I stepped it down a notch because I knew it was about to get tough and I needed all the extra energy I could get.
- Lap 3 ~73 - On the backstretch of lap 2 I had caught up with the slowing 4:30 runner and tucked in behind him to avoid running straight into the wind. The wind was actually fairly bad that day and I know I could've ran 3-5 seconds faster without it blowing in my face. Now was when the mind started questioning why I was still running. My form tightened up and my arms were no longer swinging effortlessly at my side. I tried to relax but it's a lot easier said then done when you're going all out. With about 600 to go I made my move and passed up the 4:30 groupie. I was now mentally preparing myself for the effort it would take on Lap 4 to stay ahead.
- Lap 4 ~71 By now my lungs were burning and my form must have looked pretty bad to anybody watching. The 4:30 runner passed me on the first turn and I kept on pushing as much as I thought was reasonably possible, but he kept extending his lead throughout the lap. My pacer who had hopped in at the 800 was yelling at me to get on his shoulder but I was pushing as much as I thought I could. When I finally rounded the bend of the last 200 I went all out but was regretful that although my lungs were burning like mad and my heart was ricocheting around in my chest, my legs didn't feel like they had been pushed as hard as they could've gone. I finally passed the line in a time of 4:50.
That probably doesn't add up to 4:50 but oh well. My goal since winter had been for my first meet to be in 4:40, and that is still 3 weeks away. I know the wind was slowing me, and I'm still in the middle of my interval phase so I think I'm on good pace to reach that goal. That was a PR for me, but my previous PR was from the end of my freshman cross country season. I had an injured hip and lots of sicknesses during track last year. I think how I felt showed how much better I might do in a two mile race. It's kind of unlikely I'll be racing the mile often in track because we have a lot of good milers at our school but I've put in a lot more miles then them this offseason. Anyway, we finished with a 20 minute cooldown and I had a chocolate shake afterwords. Sweet stuff, and I'm looking forward to seeing how far I can push myself this track season. If you want a detailed report from the front of the pack check out Tyler's blog. Not sure when he's gonna write his up.
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