market street mile

so i impulsively signed up for the market street mile this morning. it would be short, fun, and i'd get an idea of what my time for running 1 mile could be. of course i always have high expectations, but realistically, i have hardly done speedwork since the groin injury around thanksgiving. (that was right before a planned time trial in early december that was going to be my benchmark. oh well...)  i was hoping for around 7min. i think my fastest clocked mile was back in 7th grade: 6:59. (i just haven't timed one since!) 

we lined up by age group. actually, 2 were combined at a time, so the 30-39 females were together. i was disappointed at the turnout - maybe 10 of us total? i didn't know anyone so it would be interesting. the horn sounded and we were off. i sprinted to a quick lead and then settled in to my "pace" (who knows what that actually is). the course was U shaped - i used this turn to look back and see where the next girl was. (not close - yeah!) coming down the homestretch, some idiot driver pulled into a parking lot in front of me, almost making me slow. (i'd have been pissed if that happened). i crossed the mat at 6:33. WOW! my fastest ever. joey was cheering me on - i think i surprised him, with my lack of running as of late (he figured on a track i could easily knock another 10-15 sec off). my legs felt good, but my lungs were shot. my chest was hurting/burning for a good 15 minutes after. (maybe the cool air irritated them?)

awards were delayed (when they called me up, they announced a 9:27 mile. whaaa??  so i caused a 15 min delay while results were redone). i did snag 1st in my age group (probably close to 3rd overall - some chick ran a 5 something!). i think i might have set a new state record for my age in the mile - somehow it is listed at 7:39, so that would be supercool. (32 & 34 are both sub 6, so i had my birthday just in time!). fellow running buddy sergio whipped out a 6:02 to crush his age group and set a new record - he's 67!!

this afternoon i'm off to the ultra o-gaine. i'm sad i'm not racing it this year, but 12 hrs on my feet just isn't included on the road to leadville. i'll take my mtn bike and ride around for a few hours to cheer on the sufferers :)

--update: state record confirmed. cool!!