Today, decided to take care of that unfinished business that I mentioned previously, so I went out in 30 degree, windy, but sunny weather to the track for my final attempt of the year. As you may know, my best mile this year, for some reason, was only 5:51, back in October. When I arrived at the track, I nearly aborted the attempt, because there were several patches of snow on the inside lane. However, the sun was out, so I spent several minutes kicking snow off the track, then running a warmup while it melted down. This took care of the snow problem, so all that was left was to run a mile by myself in the cold.
Splits were 85, 2:52, 4:20, and then a blazing 83.8 second last lap for a 5:43.8. Anyway, I didn't feel all that bad, and beat last year's best time of 5:49, and this year's previous best of 5:51. At our age, any time we beat a previous year's time, I consider it a bonus, or as Andy Norton would say "icing on the gravy."
It's a strange sensation running a mile at 49 years of age. When I'm out there on the track, I guess I feel exactly the same as when I ran in college or high school. I "feel" like I'm going just as fast as I ever was, but it is simply a cruel delusion.
Anyway, I've got to make a decision soon concerning next year. Mainly because it sounds like a good marketing slogan "Sub 5 at 50", I would like to consider breaking 5 in the mile at 50 years old (any time after April 1, 2008). However, I think that in order to make that a reality, it will involve training fairly "seriously" (yes, I used to be the leader of the unserious contingent) throughout the winter. So, my plan is to either run or cross country ski 4 or 5 times per week, and try to include a longer run (6, 7, even 8 miles) once per week. If I can start out this spring with a reasonable base, I think it would really only take a couple months of cranking it up again to get close to 5. Any thoughts out there, or should I just act my age and give it up?
Splits were 85, 2:52, 4:20, and then a blazing 83.8 second last lap for a 5:43.8. Anyway, I didn't feel all that bad, and beat last year's best time of 5:49, and this year's previous best of 5:51. At our age, any time we beat a previous year's time, I consider it a bonus, or as Andy Norton would say "icing on the gravy."
It's a strange sensation running a mile at 49 years of age. When I'm out there on the track, I guess I feel exactly the same as when I ran in college or high school. I "feel" like I'm going just as fast as I ever was, but it is simply a cruel delusion.
Anyway, I've got to make a decision soon concerning next year. Mainly because it sounds like a good marketing slogan "Sub 5 at 50", I would like to consider breaking 5 in the mile at 50 years old (any time after April 1, 2008). However, I think that in order to make that a reality, it will involve training fairly "seriously" (yes, I used to be the leader of the unserious contingent) throughout the winter. So, my plan is to either run or cross country ski 4 or 5 times per week, and try to include a longer run (6, 7, even 8 miles) once per week. If I can start out this spring with a reasonable base, I think it would really only take a couple months of cranking it up again to get close to 5. Any thoughts out there, or should I just act my age and give it up?
1 comment:
Mark,
Don't give up! You are an inspiration. In terms of training, I'll make a post about that so it less likely to get missed.
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