That year I raced this on a whim, as I had been preparing for my marathon and didn't do a lot of summer racing. This year I raced it on purpose, and while I didn't specifically training for a mile race, I did incorporate some 800m repeats in speed work this year at mile pace.
Race morning came and we had a bit of rain in the early hours, but as we arrived to sign in at the race, the rain had cleared off and the air was just slightly warm.
First up was the women's race. We watched as the first few ran to the finish with some speedy times. Then we had to take off to the other side to get ready for the men's start. Just as we did, the rain started. It came hard and fast. We got soaked. So much for staying dry for the run.
It came time to line up, heavy soaked shoes and socks and all. I took to the front to get ready and then we were off.
The run starts on a downhill for a couple hundred meters before starting a climb up. I picked a decent pace and just held it. The uphill felt perfectly fine and as I crested the top of the hill (likely around halfway through the race) I was in 3rd place overall and felt fine. As the downhill portion started, I lost 3rd place but picked up my overall pacing. Like any good mile race, the aches and pains of running started to come on strong. The race finish as the downhill settles out to a more or less flat 300 meters of agony.
One more person passed me at this point but I was more concerned with overall time. I pushed as hard as I could, but ultimately did not make my goal of a sub 5 minute mile. I clocked in officially at 5:07, 5th overall, 3rd age group. It was a good effort and I think I ran it well. The rain that soaked us certainly did not help and may have slowed me down a bit, but who knows.
Shaving 11 seconds off my mile time after a 3 year absence wasn't too bad though. Maybe these aging legs have some speed still. Maybe the sub 5 min mile can happen. It was nice to hear my name announced during the awards though.
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