One Mile Timed run

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kodi

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 29, 2006
Messages
617
Location
Lake Havasu City, AZ
Our local running club is hosting an event in August and another club loaned us their timing system. To learn to use it our president thought it would be fun to do a timed mile run. So at 5:00AM most of us went for our Sat AM swim (part of our August event) then headed to the track. Based on my recent running times and some interval workouts I figured I should be between 9:05-9:15. My time came in at 9:13, right on target, not too bad for an old guy 70+, well at least in my opinion. I really think if I would have warmed up a little more than I did and didn't have somewhat of a headwind on the back side of the track I could have been sub 9:00.
 
There are plenty of opportunities to run the mile in my area. There's one T&F series that's in it's 43rd consecutive year. They have meets 9-10 weeks every summer. I've done the mile there dozens of times but not yet this year. Tuesday July 6 I'll get my first chance.

The mile is a tough race to pace properly. No margin for error. Get the first lap too fast or too slow and you've ruined your chance at an optimal time. To do it well you have to run it frequently. I'll generally do 4 or 5 weeks in a row before getting it right. Then the next summer your legs and lungs need to relearn it all over again.
 
Well, our Tuesday night club mile race didn't happen. Canceled due to heat. The T&F meet went on though but with severe cautions prior to each race, except the sprints. Sprinters love this weather for some odd reason. I bagged any thoughts of the mile and ran 800m. Maybe next week I'll get a chance to match Mel's time.
 
You guys in NY don't know what heat is. lol. I ran this morning at 5:00AM and it was 88, right now (2:53 AZ time) it's a cool 104.
What was your 800m time? I like running 800s more than the mile. I do them fairly frequently.
 
Yeah, but it's a DRY heat. My 800m was 4:11, way off my 3:56 in 2009 but I ran conservatively. On a cooler night I probably could have been close to 4:00. The mile was postponed until next Tuesday. If the heat doesn't continue I might be able to do 8:20-8:30.

I ran the mile 4 times last summer, 8:21, 8:00, 8:44, 8:12. The 44 was on another one of those 90+ days. My 5K a week before track season was 31:23, mid-way 28:25 and the week after 27:29. Pushing yourself through track workouts can do a lot for your long game.
 
Ran my first mile race of the season today, 8:51.5. Not bad considering where I am training-wise. Not good the way I ran it. As I said before it's really tough learning how to pace these properly. I did the first lap in 2:10 and thought that was a bit too fast so I backed off by what I thought was just a bit and hit the half in 4:30, way too slow. Third quarter went by in 6:48. Then it was gut-check time. Was I going to settle for 9 minutes or push through it. It hurt a little but I cranked out a 2:03 for the final lap.

If you check the age grading calculator a 9:13 at age 71 beats 8:51 for age 62 by almost half a minute. I've got 3 more weeks of these meets to attempt to do better. I think I can get it down to 8:40 maybe 8:30. That still wouldn't beat Kodi's time.
 
Ran my first mile race of the season today, 8:51.5. Not bad considering where I am training-wise. Not good the way I ran it. As I said before it's really tough learning how to pace these properly. I did the first lap in 2:10 and thought that was a bit too fast so I backed off by what I thought was just a bit and hit the half in 4:30, way too slow. Third quarter went by in 6:48. Then it was gut-check time. Was I going to settle for 9 minutes or push through it. It hurt a little but I cranked out a 2:03 for the final lap.

If you check the age grading calculator a 9:13 at age 71 beats 8:51 for age 62 by almost half a minute. I've got 3 more weeks of these meets to attempt to do better. I think I can get it down to 8:40 maybe 8:30. That still wouldn't beat Kodi's time.
You're putting the pressure on. We're going to do it again on Aug 7. I'm not a short distance sprinter, I hate anything under a 10K...but do them when there isn't an alternative.
 
BTW the first 70+ runner in yesterday's mile did 6:43. He's been a track runner for ages and is the pres. of the local USAT&F association. We've got a few guys in the 60+ group who can break 6 and there was a woman 62 who ran 7:10. This is not a club for the feint hearted.
 
My second mile race on the track, 8:47, down 4 seconds from last week. I was pacing along at 2:15 a lap then kicked in a 2:02 in the final circuit. I ran the 800 meter race 20 minutes later in 4:05, and paced that more evenly, 2:02 and 2:03. Also a few seconds faster than the last 800m. I'm happier with how I ran the half than the mile, but it is an improvement in both.

Each week as I do more running events my shot put goes lower and lower. My best week was the first meet in May and each week since then I've lost a couple more inches on my throws. That's OK though, running is more important to me.
 
Raising the ante. My mile last night, 8:36, was down another 11 seconds from the previous week. Still a few seconds off last year's mile but getting closer. I've got two more weeks of these meets and if it ever drops below 85 degrees I suspect I could run even better.
 
Clipped off another 8 seconds this week, 8:28.3. I even managed to kick in the last lap faster than 2 minutes, so the legs are starting to remember what they're supposed to do. It's those middle two laps that I struggle with. There's only one more meet to go though. Then I need to do some hard 5Ks. I have two lined up in Aug and one on Labor Day. In the fall I'll be looking for some longer ones.
 
excellent progress, Jack! The only problem in upstate NY is just when you get in peak shape, outdoor tracks get snow covered! :)
 
Good job Jack. I'm doing my second one this coming Saturday at 6:30AM, temps will probably be in the low 90s. I'm hoping to be close to 9 minutes. Stay tuned.
 
Well I did my 2nd time mile this morning at 7:00AM. What's first, the time or the excuses? Ok the time. I ran 9:30, 17 seconds slower than the first one. I will say I was a little disappointed because I really trained more for this one with 400 and 800 meter track workouts and thought a sub 9:00 would be in the stars. Now the excuses. I got up at 5:00 AM to a very windy morning. It was so bad the water was almost splashing out of my pool. When I got to the track it was a little better. The wind was from the south so the backside was the problem. I also did a pretty hard bike ride on Thursday at 2:00PM with the temperature about 112º and don't think I quite recovered from that one. Anyway, I was there and I did it. Our fastest runner (age 47) was hoping to break 5:00 and came in at 5:30 which made me feel a little better.
 
At 112 I wouldn't even leave the house unless it involved being immersed in water. I've only seen temps above 100 two or three times in my life and it was not pleasant doing anything let alone run/bike.
 
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