The Guardian Mile

This was my first properly-timed one miler! Andrew and I got to Ohio City a bit early so that we could walk around and get some ice cream from Mitchell's. I even had a scoop of coffee ice cream, not totally sure that was a great idea, but whatever!

I watched the mass start for the high and middle schoolers, then the Open Division. But then there weren't many runners left for the Masters Competitive division that I was in. It made me feel a bit self conscious. In the few minutes before the start, I hopped around to keep my heart rate elevated. The start gun went off at 7:40pm on the dot and I bolted out of the gate.

When I got to the first clock, I thought I was mistaken, that I had further to go before a quarter mile. But I checked my watch, and sure enough, it read .25 exactly. But between a quarter mile and the half mile mark at the crest of the bridge was the most daunting part of the whole race. My stomach was starting to twist up a bit and I was starting to feel the pain of (what I assume is) lactic acid build up in my legs.

I kept my eyes focused on that half mile mark and was very pleased to pass it at 2:46. With just a downhill ahead of me, I focused on keeping an even pace down the hill into the finish line. Placing the half mile marker at the crest of the hill is really helpful to understand what kind of effort it's going to take. Admittedly, I did let my foot off the gas a bit coming down that hill, but I really felt like I needed to. And the final quarter mile felt like a bit of a blur. My eyes were hunting for the finish line, and although it was a massive structure at the end of the course, I couldn't quite make it out for sure.

I snapped out of it really fast after crossing the finish line. I think the fastest mile I had ever run up until that point was around 5:55 (unofficial), so I was really pleased with 5:32. I found Andrew and we walked across the bridge back to our car.

I'll admit, I was nervous going into this race. I wasn't sure about putting myself into the so-called Masters Competitive division versus the Open Community division. But I talked it over with someone from the race team at bib pickup and they assured me it was the right division for me. I still felt a little self conscious at the race start, being within such a small field among so many very fast runners. But in the end, I'm glad I showed up.

I'd love to run this one again in the future. It's clearly a very special race to the local running community. It's unique, it has a great course, and there's a celebratory atmosphere all evening.