Chase the Pace 1 Miler 2018

This past weekend I took part in the Chase the Pace 1 Miler. The goal of this event is to have pacers run the track at a set pace, while people try to get a PB. I signed up hoping to finally break 5 minutes (though really this would only be my 4th attempt in 3 years to actually try to do so).

I had hoped there would be a 5 minute pacer, but the closest pone to my goal was 4:50. That is quite a bit faster than I figured I could sustain. So the question was, do I follow that faster pace, drift off near the closing laps and hope to hang in, or go out easier and see if i could make up the time by the end.

I'll be honest, I usually have some sort of a plan, but come the time for race day I was totally without one. Track running for a PB is not my strength and so I was totally out of my element.

One thing I did know though, was to make sure and get a good warm up run in. I did so with Luke. He was going to be chasing his goal of a 6 minute mile (which he got).

Well, it came up to race time, and I got my race shoes on and headed out. Many of the runners had spikes on. I think this probably threw me a little as spikes do help you run faster, and now I wasn't quite sure what sort of speed people would be running.

So having psyched myself out, I basically dropped to the back of my pack and tucked in. For the first 100m or so, we were all together, but soon enough the lead group started to pull away. That left four of us running together with me at the rear. By the end of the first lap we were down on our goal time by 6 seconds. So not a great start.

By halfway through the second lap a small gap formed between our pack. I made the choice to surge past the next runner, then bridge up. The three of us then met the next lap down even more time on the goal. 

As the final corner of the third lap approached, I realized that I wasn't going to make that sub 5 minute mile. But I also knew I could salvage a good finish, with a strong final lap and at least beat the guys I was running with (wink). 

So I laid down a fast lap. I pushed hard and surged even harder coming to the finish. I put a pretty big gap between myself and the three guys behind me. I think my final time may have been 5:08? 

What I learned was that track running and road running are way different. Doing loops makes it tricky to really know your pace. Ideally I would have had a pacer at the pace I was hoping to achieve. I didn't, so it was kind of best effort.  Also, I should have trusted my legs and pushed harder earlier on, my timid start to the run let me down.

Many great runs were had by others though and I still have some speed in my legs, so it isn't like it was a bad day. The Mile will go away now, and maybe next year we can try again. But onto other challenges now.

Thanks for the warmup running Luke, and the great race Bryan.