Week: 16.5 miles
Workout: Mile race at the Armory on its indoor 200 meter track.
When the man organizing the heats called for 5:00 - 5:05 milers, I momentarily thought about joining the heat even though I felt I was only capable of running 5:12 or so. But when he saw he didn't have enough people, he called for 5:05 to 5:08 milers. Still, no one joined the heat. I looked behind me to see who was still waiting to run and began to worry that I would get stuck in a slow heat, so I jumped into the heat. A few others must have been thinking the same thing because 3 or 4 more people joined the heat after me. I figured I'd rather be the slowest guy in a faster heat than the fastest guy in a slow heat.
I didn't do much of a warm up, maybe 6 or 7 strides. I decided to shoot for 38 or 39 second laps, which would lead me to a 5:08 mile. The first two laps felt great. Of course, that was just the adrenaline. I quickly realized that my legs were not ready to run a fast mile. I think I somehow managed to run 39 second laps and pass a few people. (I ran the first lap in last place!) I passed a couple of people and stayed behind two guys who seemed to have the same pace as I did.
After 800 meters (I passed in 2:35), I wasn't sure if I could maintain the pace. With 3 laps to go, I felt the guys in front of me slow down, so I passed one guy. With 250 meters remaining, I passed the other guy and ran about 36 seconds for my last 200 meters. I timed myself at 5:09. I was satisfied with the time.
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