My Attempt at a Sub-5 Minute Mile

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Pharmie and I had an exciting New Years Eve. I got a double cheeseburger from McDonalds at 7 pm:

We cracked into the bubbly at 9:22 pm:

And we were in bed by 11:30.

Then Pharmie didn’t get up until after 9:30 am.

Yep, that’s how we roll in the Stenzel/Pharmie household.

Once Pharmie got up, she decided to come to the track meet with me, which I thought was AWESOME news! She grabbed the camera and got a photo of me warming up:

And then of me stretching my heel:

The mile was the first event. I was in the first heat, and we all got ready to run:

Pharmie actually got talked in to helping record laps and times for the runners, so she was handed a clipboard and was put to work! She snapped a few more photos as the race was getting ready to start:

Two weeks ago when I ran the mile in 5:00.7, my 400 splits were 1:15, 1:15, 1:18, and 1:11. Today, my goal was to take 1 second off of each 400, to put me just under 4:57 (although anything under 5:00 would do). So I kept track of my splits and compared them with the same race 2 weeks ago.

Gary shouted GO, and we were off and running.

First 400: 1:11. “4 seconds faster than last time - take it easy.” I was running in 5th place.

Second 400: 1:15. “Nice pace, same as last time.” At this point I passed a 16 year old to move into 4th. I think it was around this time that Pharmie was able to grab these 2 photos:

Third 400: 1:14. “4 seconds faster than last time! I’ve got this PR!!” This is the toughest part of any race for me. So to have actually ran this split FASTER than my last 400 was a great sign!

Last 400: 1:13. That was 2 seconds slower than my final 400 during my last race, but I had ran the first 3/4 of the race much harder. Here I am giving chase to the guy in 3rd as we’re heading to the line:

Hitting the finish line:

DID YOU SEE THE CLOCK IN THAT PHOTO?!?!

Total: 4:54.60. YYYAAAAHHHHOOOOOOOOO!!!!! That’s 6 seconds faster than last time! I was THRILLED with that!!

1 Mile Run
4:54.6
4th out of 21 runners
2nd out of 4 in Age Group
(lost to 2 high-schoolers and a 20 year old)

Pharmie snapped this photo after I had finished, and even my nipples were excited!

I chatted with Brenna and Danielle. I’m not sure, but I think my eyes are trying to steal Danielle’s soul:

I look so weird because just finished running hard,
so cut me some slack. Thanks.

They were getting ready to start another heat of the mile, and Pharmie was in charge of 2 runners again. Here she is doing her civic duty (counting laps and taking splits):

And here’s the second heat ready to take off:

(Side note: I teased Danielle [above in orange] before the race and asked her if she could hit 6:05 today [she ran a 6:12 at the last meet]. She rolled her eyes and said “Yeah right.” Well, she finished in 6:04 today! Nice job Danielle! And Tom did about 8 seconds better than he thought he would in the 800!)

After that, they were getting ready to run the 200 meters. I thought, “Aah, what the heck. Sign me up for the 200!” I’ve never done that short of a distance before, but I thought it’d be fun. So I got my name added to the roster, and I was put in the first heat.

We lined up for the 200, Gary gave us a 3-command start, and we were off! Do you know what these next 2 photos tell me? They say “your hair is slowing you down.” See for yourself:

So I finished my first 200 meter run today. It wasn’t that fun. I’m not built for short bursts of speed. Here’s how I fared:

200 Meter Dash
28.24 seconds
4th out of 13 runners
1st out of 2 in Age Group

Well, my feet had had enough. (Remember what happened at the last track meet? Scroll down a few posts to see.) I got changed and we got ready to go. One last stop at the goodie table:

“Apple Fritter, get in my belly.”

Gary, thanks for another fun Charities Challenge race! I’ve set my PR and I’ve gotten under 5 minutes, so I don’t think I’ll race any more track meets this winter. Time to focus on half-marathon training!

And another reminder: Saturday, 11:30 am, Coliseum at the State Fair, $3, running stairs! See you there?

Happy 2009!!