'Meet of the Miles' 1-Mile Track Meet

Well, I got a late start to the track because Henry decided to shit everywhere. It wasn't as bad as the 2 photos in this post, but it still wasn't good. He had poop up his back, on his arm, and all over the sleeve of his onesie. AND he manage to get a foot-ful of poop too. Great. Here he is THRILLED to be taking a bath post-poop-plosion:

Oh, you can see his 2 teeth in this photo!
They came in on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Anyway, I got to the race, warmed-up a bit, and watched the SPEEDY heat start:

I was going to be racing in heat #2. I didn't know what to expect in this mile. As I posted yesterday, I have NOT been doing as much speed-work lately, and I HAVE been doing more longer-distance runs. Here are my 4 previous 1-mile times:

Dec 2008: 5:00.70
Jan 2009: 4:54.60
Dec 2010: 4:53.01
Jan 2011: 4:49.53

I KNEW I wasn't going to be able to keep descending it like that! Pre-race, I typed up what I thought my chances were:

- 4:49.5 or better (a PR): 2%. I can't COMPLETELY rule out a PR, but it is highly, highly, highly, highly unlikely. Highly.

- 4:50 - 4:55: 38%. Decent chance I'll end up here. I'd be REALLY happy with this!

- 4:55 - 4:59.99: 40%. Even better chance I'll end up here. I'll still be happy with this. Sub-5 is my main goal for this race.

- 5:00 or slower: 20%. Much better chance of this happening vs setting a PR. This is quite possible. I expect to be right around 5:00, either a little above or below it.

I gave my camera to Nordica, and I toed the line with 10 high-school boys. Really. Well, maybe 1 other guy was older than 18. But still... it was a little intimidating.

"TO YOUR MARKS..... GGOOOOO!"

I'm in the 2nd row under the 5.

Just like last year, I was nearly in last place in my wave right off the bat. I was running along side of one kid with only 1 runner behind us:

I'm in purple to the far left.

I got ahead of the kid I was right next to, and ran most of the race in 9th in my heat:

2 kids behind me.


Trying to work my way up.

FIRST 400: 1:14.9. "Decent. Good start. Keep the pace, Steve!"

SECOND 400: 1:15.7. "You're feeling good! Don't get any slower than this. Go! You're at 5:00 pace, but you've got PLENTY left to go sub-5!"

If you've read some of my 1-mile reports, you know that I usually slow up too much near the middle, and then have TOO much left at the end. Well, I was doing that again. I KNEW I was going to go sub-5 even though at the half-way point I was just over 5:00 / mile pace.

I hit the 800 meter mark, and I kicked it into another gear. After running most of the race so far tucked in 9th, I passed 3 kids in the first 50 meters of that next lap. Bam, bam, bam. Steve Q, Stephanie B, and someone else (I think) were all shouting "Nice move, Steve! Nice!" Thanks guys! Then I passed another runner in the next lap. I was now in 5th.

Photo from Stephanie B. I'm the blur to the far left!


2 laps left!

THIRD 400: 1:13.5. "Nice! Go! You can do better than that!"

Working hard with 1 lap left!

I caught 2 more runners in that last lap. Look at that photo above - I was behind a guy in orange. Look at this next photo of me heading to the finish - I put 10+ meters on that guy over that final 200 meter lap:

Hitting the line / my watch.

FOURTH 400: 1:09.9. "Whoa. TOO MUCH 'LEFT IN THE TANK.' Again. But nice job!"

4:53.86 officially!

I'm thrilled with that finish! It's my "middle" time of my 5 mile races, and I think that's just swell! I need to thank everyone for the cheers and support out there - I heard my name a few times each lap. Steve Q was watching my strides and telling me to keep from over-striding. Other people would be telling me when to "go." And thanks to Nordica for all those photos of me! Thanks everyone!

Here are a few more photos from the rest of the heats:

Willie running with the boys.


Many familiar faces in this one: Suzie, Chad, Sean and Paul!
(All to the left with a guy in red between them all.)


Tom (in white) in the middle of a pack.


Nordica's first track meet since 6th grade! (She's in the blue.)


Nordica had an epic battle to the finish line. OK, not "epic," but whatevs.
(That's Claire taking splits for Nordica to the left,
and someone on the right telling them their finishing places.)


This little boy was IN FRONT for most of the final heat! Everyone was cheering for him!

I cooled down a bit and headed home. It was a fun night catching up with old "racing buddies," and a successful race! Back with more results and some goals for 2012 shortly. Thanks everyone!