mile

"I'll teach me", is the phrase that comes to mind :)

I was upset enough about what I felt was a poor performance in the mile on Sunday, that instead of awarding myself ice cream and the rest of the day off, I took myself out for a punishment run. Abby and a friend visiting us from England were doing some of the Boulder 360, which is a 20-mile (or so) "citizens" bike ride on some gorgeous trails round the city. My original plan was to ride with them; I decided to run.

Only 6 over-50s got under 5 minutes in the mile at the USA Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships - and our own Dave Albo was one of them.

In the 55-59 age group, living legend 58-year-old jazz trumpeter Nolan Shaheed won in 4:43.72 -- good enough to have won gold in the younger age-group and a massive 30 SECONDS clear of the silver medalist!!! Someone check my math, as I don't believe the numbers (result below).

M50 1 Mile Run
1 102 Cannon, David M51 Club Northwe,Seattl 4:43.89
2 118 Chantry, Stephen M53 Colonial Roa,Willia 4:45.89

Chase (Finish Strong) asked: "Any thoughts about running on an illuminated , but dark-ish road vs. the light of day , as it might relate to speed ? I sense that stride length may be shorter at night because of a caution factor . The watch will tell the tale. The Master's Midnight Mile." ((Rest of his comment here.)

Hi all,
Race 28 was the Fifth Avenue Mile. We ran one mile down 5th Avenue from East 80th to East 60th. The race is run in heats by age and gender categories. I ran with women 40-49, in the 8th heat.

With Kyle hovering so close to the 5-minute mile mark and me nowhere near it, I figured a sacrifice to the Gods of running was necessary.

So I donned my ceremonial robes (new blue Nike vest, yellow Nike Mayfly shoes that weigh less than pair of socks), successfully negotiated the opening ritual (three cups of tea, two miles steady, then dynamic warm-up followed by strides)...

Yep, the 5k is where the action is, according to the latest numbers from Running USA's Road Running Information Center.

"The 5K – the most popular distance since 1994 – accounted for 38% of all finishers and 50% of the events in 2006", it says.

There's some guy out there using my body.

He looks just like me, but he runs like crap.

He was at it again last night in the Mountain Avenue Mile in Fort Collins; a perfectly straightforward, straight, fast, trending slightly downhill, Downtown Mile, which he completely screwed up by going out WAY too slowly.

A moment of truth today, an "official" not-secret time trial over my chosen race distance -- one mile.

We did it on a slightly downhill dirt road with a rising headwind after half a mile. The last 400m was hell, pure hell, but I staggered in with 5:28, about 15 seconds down on Kyle.

It was enough of a test of dedication to start with. The mission: to repeat last week's bring-you-to-your-knees muscle endurance workout, only this time unsupervised and solo on the track.

The workout is 5 x 300 with a scant 30-second rest between each one -- just about enough time to cram your heart back into your chest -- followed by a 3 minute break, then 8 x 200m with 100m jog between each one. I prepared myself for the ordeal; and then the snow storm rolled in.

Not to be put off, I summoned my British stiff upper lip and resolved to "just do it". An unexpected bonus: at the last minute I got a call from Arturo, one of the guys I used to run with last year. He said he was injured, but would join me for the warm-up. It was great to see him, and great to have some company for a change. Bearing in mind that it was training with him and Gabino Toledo that taught me how to "suffer like a Mexican", I shouldn't really have been surprised when, as the snow got heavier, Arturo declared he would do the workout with me, despite his painful Achilles. Halfway through the opening 300s I asked him how his leg felt, was it hurting? "Oh yes", he says, matter-of-factly..."it's painful". What can you do with these guys??