#bringbackthemile

Got to work my speed today at the #navymile while tripping the @trottin_oxen. Street mile races are challenging. First quarter was too fast, second way too slow. 800 split about 2:54. That got me fired up and I ended up negative splitting and finishing 3rd male in my age group. I'll take it! #runblr #fitblr #bringbackthemile #fallracingseason (at United States Navy Memorial)

I made another #timetrial attempt tonight, just to see where I am. It’s amazing how elusive a sub 6-minute mile has become thanks to Father Time but I’m not letting him win just yet. About a month ago, I did a mile TT at @wtwoodsonhs the day after running 10 miles and I struggled to a 6:37. So this was a solid step forward from that. I will get there. #runblr #summerrunning #summertraining #bringbackthemile #masterstrackathlete #mastersrunning #mastersrunner #xctraining #keepshowingup (at Justice High School) https://www.instagram.com/p/CEK-9XhHS42/?igshid=9nifh5sc8rd7

From left to right: Jon, John, Jon, and Jon #redcoyoteracing #okcproamclassic #downtownmile #bringbackthemile #everybodyrun (at H & 8th Night Market)

I'm starting to look for races to jump into, though it's been a bit haphazard. Either way, I couldn't resist this one. A street mile? I'm in!

Clocked a 4:56 in the inaugural OKC Pro-Am Classic Downtown Mile to log my 1000th mile for the year! Much love to everyone who participated in the Elite and Open fields today who made this such an AWESOME new event! Can't wait till next year!!! #runlife #1000mileclub #okcproamclassic #downtownmile #run405 #redcoyoteracing #bringbackthemile (at Oklahoma City Pro-Am Classic)

It was back to TC Williams HS in Alexandria today for the second day of the Potomac Valley Games. On tap today, the mile, and this was for me THE MILE that I trained for all summer long. I got there about 45 minutes before the scheduled race time and then headed out from the stadium for a warmup jog on the trail in nearby Chinquapin Park. 1.5 miles was about right, I figured, but when I got back they still hadn't even done first call for the mile yet. No big deal, I did some drills, laced up my spikes, chatted with a few of the other runners and just generally relaxed. Finally a race official showed up and started calling our names and giving us our hip numbers. The field ended up being divided into two heats and I was in the "fast" heat seeded second, which I found surprising. After the first heat concluded, I stepped out onto the track. It turned out the #1 seed didn't show up so I was in the pole position, still not sure of what kind of time I had in me. I had started the summer with a goal of training down to a 5:20 mile but had gotten nowhere close to that, my best result being a 5:49. Somewhere in the back of my mind though, I thought sub-5:40 was attainable. When the gun went off, three guys quickly surged ahead as I searched for the right pace. As I came around for 400 I felt like I was going really fast, faster than I could handle at what turned out to be 82 seconds. But I told myself it's a mile, you marathoner, just keep going hard! I hit the 800 in 2:47 and by now my legs and lungs were burning but I knew I couldn't afford to stop. Somehow I survived lap 3 and got around to the 1200 in 4:12. One lap to go, and I was reeling in the third place guy. I drew even with him with about 250 to go, and at that point I went for it. Hard. Full sprint to the finish, everything on fire inside. I crossed in 5:34, exhausted but thrilled by the performance. After some ups and downs through training, it was very satisfying to bring it at the target event. Today's mile was my fastest in at least 5 years. And yesterday's 5000 was my best 5k of this year. A good way to end and hopefully some momentum for both the fall and ultimately the big long term goal, which is a PR at Boston next spring. And so ends my summer of short speedy racing. Now it's time to go back to being a distance runner. The Prince William Half Marathon is only 3 weeks away, guess I better do some long runs!

I ran in the Potomac Valley Games 5000 meter this morning. Tomorrow I will do the mile. As for today, I ran 19:39 for 5k, a decent result, 4th place overall in the race. For a while I had visions of maybe going after a sub-19 but couldn't hold that pace. I tired in Mile 2, hung on in Mile 3 and was able to pick it up for the last 400. I'll take it. Now to get some rest for tomorrow.

My target event for the summer is finally here, the Potomac Valley Games, tomorrow and Sunday. This is a two-day meet that also serves as the USATF Southeast Region championship meet. Not that I will be in the run for the money or anything. I'll just be trying to notch a solid result for the season. Tomorrow morning, I'll do the 5,000. I have run lots of road 5K races but I haven't raced one on a track since my college days. Still I have a feeling I can nail a better time on the track in spikes than I typically run on roads. Is that a cheater's route to a PR? Maybe but I'd rather not consider that ramification. If I run well I will be happy no matter what. Then on Sunday I will do the real target race, the mile. I've been training to get the time down all summer, with so far disappointing results. Right now I am at 5:49 for the year and I feel like I can do so much better, maybe not the 5:20 I dreamt up back in May, but better than where I am. I have had a nice taper week, aside from the 3 hours of sleep I got after last night's Bruce Springsteen concert, and even this morning though exhausted from the show, I had a great 5-mile run with my XC team. The legs felt really springy. And that has to be a good sign. So let's do this.