Mile Time Trial

On Tuesday, I'd found an online miler training plan (Miler Method) via FinalSurge. To sign up, the plan required a current time trial, so I opted to do that at this week's SpeedworkThursday. I'd had the foresight to TELL the SpeedworkThursday crew my plan on Tuesday and couldn't back out of it this morning. When we met up in the parking lot, C told me she was going to do my mile trial with me, which meant I definitely couldn't back out now. ;) 

Expected Time: 6:20ish
Goal: Anything under 6:30
Result: 6:33 (laps: 1:27, 1:38, 1:44, 1:44)

Reflections
I had a great first lap. I was just a bit behind C, and it was motivating to have her ahead of me, but not too far ahead. I felt good on this lap, like I could do another four at that pace. Mid-way through lap 2, I felt like I had to poop. I spent the next 2.5 laps mentally debating bailing out and finding a spot in the woods, wondering if it were possible to continue at this pace and just "horse it" if it came down to it, considering just stopping and making a lame excuse, and wondering if I could just hold a decently fast pace and push the last lap.

I ended up slowing myself out of fear of losing my sh-t. I focused on my breathing, which, by the 600m mark had gone from a comfortable 4-4 to a focused 2-2. I focused on my stride, lifting with my quad and getting some length instead of just increasing my cadence. I forgot about my arms, and barely used them at all. 

At 1000m, I wanted to stop. If I hadn't had my teammates on the track with me, I certainly would have. At 1200m, I felt re-energzied-- only one lap to go. At 1300m, I felt dead to the world. At 1400m, I felt hope. The end was near. It's funny to look at my pace graph and see the little spikes everytime I'd mentally "reset" at the 200 or 400m marks. 

spikes of optimism... lol

While I didn't come anywhere close to the time I wanted, I know the GI issues definitely factored in. I've run 6:3x miles pretty consistently for the past few months, and all of them I've felt (in the moment) that it was a bad race. 

Flying Pig: scared of injury, coming off injury, cold and rainy weather, had just eaten half a bag of tostitos, felt alone and unmotivated... 6:34

Braves: hilly course, defeated up the last hill, sunny, hot, long course... 6:31/mi 

Today: felt like crapping myself... 6:33

Soooo, I think my body's pretty well tuned into running a 6:3x mile on a "bad day". This means I should be able to run a good bit faster on a good day. Maybe not a 6:00, but certainly better than this. I had a really good experience this morning learning about what is and isn't "muscle memory" for me (like my arms :P), remembering what it feels like to push (physically and mentally), and reflecting on how bad I want it. ("it" meaning the fastest mile I can get out of myself) 

Answer: I want it badly enough. :) Looking forward to starting this miler bootcamp in a couple weeks and dedicating myself to some serious training.