A little bragging

I’m going to brag a little bit today.

Yesterday, Janice and I went to a very nice track at a nearby middle school. (It was kind of amazing for a middle school track, actually). I wanted to run a mile for time just to see how I would do. A while back, I had run a time of 9:17 on the course around my gym, and I felt pretty good doing that, like I could definitely go faster. I figured I had a shot at getting under 8:00.

So I warmed up well, running a few laps with pickups on the straightaways. I was loose and feeling good. It was pretty early, so the heat and humidity hadn’t picked up too badly yet. I wanted to start out a little slower than 2:00 for the first lap, just over the 8:00 pace, because going out too fast, as opposed to just fast enough, is not good.

I started out a good pace, and it didn’t feel too fast. I came across the first quarter in 1:35, way too fast. I thought, “Oh great, this is really going to suck”. I pressed on, but I found that I didn’t have any trouble keeping that pace. I realized that I actually felt pretty good.

I soon knew that I had the 8:00 mark for sure, so I keep steady, pushed a bit, but not much, and then ran the last 150 meters pretty hard, but I didn’t collapse over the line or anything. I figured I was well under 8:00 for sure.

I looked at my watch, shocked to see 6:47 there.

And by shocked I mean that I thought hard to makes sure that I had actually run all four laps.

I’m still a little stunned by it, as I had a pretty good amount left in the tank despite the hard finish. I actually felt strong all the way, with an easy stride. I didn’t labor at any point. All that Crossfit is paying off in a new way. (It has already paid off in many other ways…)

I’m still feeling a bit of shock about it, but now, of course, I have to break 6:00, right?