The Mile Time Trial

For a few weeks I've been considering running the Charlie McMullen one mile race in June. With spring finally here in western NY and the tracks free of feet of snow, last Sunday was a perfect time for me to do a time trial.

I like going to the local high school track on Sunday mornings. Usually I am alone, occasionally one or two other people might be running or walking. Many times I use Sunday morning as my "play" day with running. I typically bike the 1.4 miles to the track and then begin the run workout with a 1-1.5 mile run. The pace is often a bit quicker than I run on the roads. After 800-1200 yards I'll generally pick up my pace on the straights for 100 yards.

Then it's play time. Depending on my mood I might do 6-10x100 yard sprints, or I'll continue with fast straights and jog the curves for three more miles. I might go off and run up and down the bleachers then come back to the track for a couple of laps before repeating the bleacher run. I may do a series of 200s, or more likely a ladder with 100-200-300-400 and back down and up/down again. On Saturdays I may run 8-10 miles with friends so my legs aren't always fresh for a full track workout, but in my younger days these are the kind of back to back days that seemed to make me stronger in races.  

This past Sunday was all about business though. A good mile race or time trial can be a hard thing to set your mind on. It's going to hurt, especially by lap three, and you need to mentally be prepared to accept that pain. Alone on the track it is easy to give up, slow down a bit, wonder if it's worth it. I have done little speedwork this year other than some telephone pole pickups or a couple of times running hard for 90-120 seconds seven or eight times during a five mile run. I had no idea what to expect in my mile time trial. Well, I had a goal, but didn't know if I would be close to it.

After my first lap I was pleased to see my watch read two seconds below my goal. The second lap became a bit harder and I came through the 800 at two seconds over the goal. Still doable. Lap three the bear came jumping on my back clawing and screaming. I was suddenly really glad no one was there to hear me. It seemed to take a long time to run the third lap, but also at 1000 yards I told myself it was almost over. Whatever time I ran was what I needed to design my future workouts around and improve from. I would have a yardstick to measure progress and I desperately needed that. I came through 1200 at six seconds over the goal.

The fourth lap was hard. I consciously picked up the pace, especially the last 100, and matched my first lap time. I was four seconds over my predicted time, not horrible and an effort I could be happy with. I rested before running another 1.25 miles and biking home. Now I'm ready to work and see if I can get in shape to race the McMullen without embarrassing myself within my age group.

The Track

There is no better place to measure your speed, or lack thereof, than the track. Now that the snow has finally melted and it's light out until 7pm, I was able to head to the Spencerport high school track after work last night.

The high school team was gone and no one else was on the track. It was just me, my Garmin and the 400m oval. My plan was to run 4/800 with a 400 jog recovery. I didn't need to go all out, but wanted the effort to be on the edge. Time is getting short for conditioning to race a decent 1/2 marathon at Lake Placid in June.

Yasso 800's, created years ago by Bart Yasso from Runner's World magazine, is still one of my favorite 1/2 and full marathon workouts. Simply build up from 3-4 800's, adding 1-2 per week until you can do 10/800 about 10-12 days before the goal race. The speed should be equivalent to your marathon goal pace (or faster for the 1/2). Want a 3:30 marathon? Then run the 800 repeats at 3:30, 3:50 marathon, repeats at 3:50, and so on. Simple in concept.

I checked the Garmin after the first 800. Wow was I glad no one was there. Well, maybe I was just getting warmed up? Second 800, faster, but geez I'm slow and maybe I can't do all four? Heck, four was an arbitrary number I picked anyhow. I'll change to 2/400. No, don't be a wimp, no one's here to judge me, another 800, who cares what the time is? Go out at a decent pace for 400m, then push it the last 400m, that's doable, right?

Third one done, hey, same time as number two. Well, that's okay, slow but consistent. The Bear came out at 600m, not good. No speed or endurance is not a great combination. But only one more, I can do one more, right? Again I take off at a good pace and pick it up for the last 400m, the Bear joining me at 600m, wow I am so noisy, this is ridiculous. Fat, old and slow. My new motto, maybe a tattoo?

The good news is I hit the same time again. I have a lot of work to do, and most of it will be alone, behind the scenes, hard work. If I don't have hope then I might as well forget about racing again. Next week will be 4/800 again, but hopefully at a much faster pace.