I'm not sure why, but I decided to finish 2010 with an indoor mile - the Roger Messenger Memorial Mile at RIT's Gordon Fieldhouse in Rochester, NY, this past Thursday, December 30, 2010. (see me in photo, in 2nd place).
Result? 5:17.62, 2nd place out of a whopping 8 over 40 runners, most of whom were over 50 (2 in their 40s, 5 in their 50s, and one in his 60s).
The bad? Slower than I hoped. In the back of my mind, I thought sub-5:10 was possible, but it just wasn't going to happen. Perhaps a lack of speed workouts (only did three, and two were on the streets as the track was snow-covered. Co
uld also just be the lack of track races. I did a mile time trial in May (5:43), and have not done any track races since then. This fall was all cross country or trail races, ranging from 5k to 8.3 miles.The good? 3 seconds faster than my 2009 time, which occurred in September 2009. Thus, at 1 year and 3 months older, I ran 3 seconds faster. At our age, I guess if you run faster in one year relative to the previous year, we can't complain. Also good was just getting back on the track and trying to run a bit faster. It hurt, but it was a good experience. Splits were fairly even, as best as I could tell. I think I was 2:39 at the half, so almost dead even halves. I might have been a bit faster at the quarter, but I can' t quite remember the clock. I might have seen 78 or 79 seconds just past the quarter.
Also good is that I will use this as building into next year. With a fresh year, it is easy to start dreaming of a sub-5 again!
Mark
Results below or click on the blog title (scroll down to the Messenger Mile).
http://rochestersummertrack.com/results/WinterHolidayClassic2010.htm
2 comments:
I don't see any bad. 5:17 indoors with very little prep is one heck-of-a time!
Mark continues to be an inspiration.
I'm still a bit disappointed. I thought 5:10 was possible, and was even thinking, "say, if I go through the quarter in 75 or 76 and don't feel terrible, I could potentially try for a sub-5." The truth is that a sub-5 at my age will be quite difficult, although I think it is possible. I think it's going to take a few 30 plus mile weeks at least in the spring, then about 6 to 8 solid weeks of once per week track workouts, plus possibly a couple time trials first. In other words, if I want it, I have to work for it!
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