Portland prep timed mile 2

I don't think Rob really thought running a scheduled timed mile today was a good idea but I felt I should at least try after last week's failed attempt. But I have to admit, entering the track this morning, I had my doubts; I just didn't feel that well.

It's so dark at 5:30am anymore; I hate that fall is quickly arriving.

I ran a mile warm up before Rob got there and in that warm up, I did a about 4 200's so that I could get a sense of where I wanted my pace to be. I was hitting them about 50 seconds and I knew I had to run a bit harder; 50 seconds for a 200 was 1:40 for a 400 and that was too slow.

I didn't even stretch, I just talked with Rob a bit and then hit the track. I get so nervous for these things, but I really think the nerves are what gets my blood pumping and the adrenaline flooding and therefore run a bit faster than we can. I hit the first quarter at 1:35 and this was the ONLY time I looked at my watch; I didn't want to do the mental math and only wanted to run on a perceived effort. I wanted to "feel" my pace and it never even bothered me that I didn't look. The 2nd lap 3:14, 3rd 4:53 and the final time: 6:32.

No one more surprised than me!! I honestly thought I'd end up around the 6:36-8 range. I did not look up any of the statics from my last mile; I did not want to know. But somewhere I thought I ran a 6:35 last time, even emailing Dennis and boosting on FB that I had lowered my time by 3 seconds. It wasn't even until around 5:00 this evening that I went to look up my old time. Eternal thanks to Rob for being there!

Nope, last time: 6:31.

Bummed? At first ... mostly because I was wearing a PR Portland prep mile high all today, which seemed to elevate my mood. But for all the issues I had during the past week, I'm going to try to look at it as a triumph simply that I got there and ran it and didn't give up. That is an accomplishment and well worth a second slower, considering all circumstances (this week has HAD to be one of the worst weeks I think I've ever encountered in a very long time). I ran it smarter this time, not going out too fast like last time, and I felt consistent throughout. Pretty happy with it now.

2 miles run