One Mile Fun Run

Today I ran my best mile time ever, with the help of my very competitive co-workers.  About 5 months ago, a bunch of us were at work talking crap to each other (gotta have something to break up the time, right?)  We decided a one mile fun run would be a great way to see who’s the fastest.  And I use the term “fun” loosely.  I scheduled it for March, thinking it would be nice & warm.  The run was supposed to be last Friday, which was damp, chilly, and downright miserable running conditions.  So, we planned for today–ended up 65* & sunny.  Darn near perfect!

We ran at the track behind the local YMCA.  When I say “track” it’s mostly dirt with some gravel-y spots, and just about 1/4 mile.  The total mile was 3 and 3/4 laps.  So I marked the start and finish by dragging my foot in the dirt.  Only 8 of us showed up to run (of 20-something invitees), with 5 more spectatin’ and cheering us on.

My pre-race snack: a medium banana, 2 hours prior.  A GU packet 15 min prior.  Some Gatorade.

My warm-up: 1 mile on the treadmill at 6.2 mph pace.  Half a mile on the track.

Attire: Wore Under Armour shorts, New Balance shirt, Athleta sports bra, Oakleys, Mizuno WaveRider shoes.  No watch, no iPod (since the iPod broke… wahhhh… at least it lasted 5 years!)  The thought behind no watch is I would go faster without having it.  And one co-worker read off splits so that worked just fine.

Goal: sub-7 minutes.  With the 7:20 I ran in December, I figured this was a realistic goal.

We started at high noon, with all taking off at once (to avoid timing confusion).  Two guys immediately jumped out in front, and I was near the back of the pack.  My strategy is to conserve, let them burn out a bit, and make a move around laps 3-4.  After one lap I was at 1:33–went out a bit fast.

I had moved up to 6th, but I wanted to come in 3rd.  I just focused on the lap I was on, told myself I was strong and well-prepared for this, and tried to stay relaxed.  After lap 3, I knew it was go time.

I still had 3 dudes in front of me, so I went for it with less than 300 yards to go.  After passing all 3, I just had the home stretch–100 yards.  I dug in, but could hear one of them right behind me.  I found a gear I didn’t know I had (as my lungs were on fire!), but he passed me right at the end:

Darnit!

He kinda bumped me, so that’s why my arm is out.  All good–ran my best time, so I didn’t care!  It was a great race of all of us.  I ran a 6:43, whoop!  Smashed my goal 🙂  Everyone sent me their times and ages, and I did the age graded results from USA Track & Field’s website.  I ended up with a 62% (where 60% is locally competitive, 70% regionally, 80% nationally, 90% is elite, and 100% means you have the World Record, if I understand correctly).  I was pleased to come in 2nd place with the age graded calculator!  My co-worker who won is 42 and ran a 5:45… that’s smoking fast!

When I got home, my race shirt came in the mail:

That’s what I’m wearing for the half.  I got it from One More Mile, which has super cute running clothes with funny (or inspirational) phrases.  I chose One Bad Mother Runner (obviously) because I thought it was cute.  And the purple wasn’t my first choice, but now I love it!  Special thanks to Gabe for taking this pic 🙂

I got this free magnet too… doesn’t take much to make me happy!  It was a very happy running day!  My quads are killing and I might need to foam roll and go to bed early.  Have a great night!