Pre-Race Thoughts for an Upcoming 1 Mile

Time to say this out loud...

I'M SHOOTING FOR A LIFETIME 1 MILE PR TOMORROW: SUB-4:49.53.

Yep, that's wild. I'm 43 years old and thinking there's a chance of a 1 mile PR. It's FAAAAAAR from a sure thing, but I'm excited that it's a possibility.

In the last few months, I've set 3 PRs (5 mile, 10K, and 5K), and I have a shot at this 1 mile PR. I've thought since last year's race that a PR was a possibility. A lot still has to go my way!

The results in the past years seem to round up to the next second, so I have to be extra fast. One of the more disappointing things that could happen is if I run a 4:49.2 (a PR) only to have the results show that I ran a 4:50 (not a PR).

I'll be trying to keep my 1/4 mile splits as close to 1:11.50 as possible, and that's kind of terrifying - that seems wild fast to me. If I can do that, that would put me at 4:46, which means even if it ended up in the low 4:47s and was then rounded up to 4:48, it would still a PR officially (and unofficially).

Here's last year's race report with my 4:52 finish (1/4 miles of 1:12, 1:12, 1:13, and 1:13), and here are photos of me finishing (including images of me beating one of the USA's 3 female Olympic marathoners heading to Paris soon!). And my PR was run on a track with splits of 1:13, 1:13, 1:12, and 1:10 - I will NOT be able to negative split my race tomorrow like 29-year-old Steve could do on the track. (And yes, that was a TRUE mile - the first split included the extra 9 meters to turn the 1600 into a mile.)

Wish me luck! Back with a race report soon!! (In the meantime, if it's good news, I might post a pic on Instagram post-race.)