3:58.73

Wow.

3:58.73.

My first PR in three years. The race video can be found here. My post race blubbering of excitement can be found here and here. Finally, a small article on the race can be found here.

After the injury riddled winter I had, having only been training for three months, having this kind of race was a big surprise.  My confidence has been so down this spring following such a disappointing winter and a rather mediocre race at the Oxy High Performance meet.

But with my first sub-4 mile, the win, and meet record, my confidence made a bold move back in the right direction.  We have been training hard lately and let up just enough before this race that my legs finally felt like they had some zip to them and fortunately I was able to capitalize on the day.

Going into the meet, the elite athlete coordinator took a chance on me just getting me to the starting line since my previous mile PR of 4:04.94 was from 2010.  When I had run that four years ago, I remember the dream of a sub-4 mile suddenly became real—tangible.  But following that year I took a wrong turn on Unlucky Street and ended up in Injury City.  That dream of a sub-4 mile began to fade and over time it weathered to a silvery grey—a distant thought that occasionally slipped in and out of my mind.

Fast forward to two weeks ago when my teammate, Jon Peterson, and I ran a 5 x (500, 300, 200) workout on the track, all at sub-4 pace.  It was one of the hardest workouts of my life, resulting in two collapsed heaps on the track following the last set, yet we were able to maintain sub-4 pace through to the end.  It was when I was lying on the track, gasping for air, lactic acid pooling in my legs that the dream of a sub-4 mile started to gain color again.

As I did my prerace routine of a Clif Bar and coffee, that dream seemed to gain strength and life.  I began to imagine what it would feel like to cross the line and see 3:5X.X.  I told myself that with 500 to go, I could maintain sub-4 pace, no matter how much pain I felt.  I had proved that in the workout two weeks earlier. 

Yet with 600 to go, I found myself not hurting at all—in fact when I heard “2:30” from the timer shouting splits, the only thought I had was, “This is it. This is the day. Sub-4 in the mile is happening right now.”  With 400 to go, I stayed calm and relaxed having a few more gears to shift.  At 250, I decided to swing wide and move around a pack of five, which pulled me even with Leo Manzano (2012 Olympic Silver Medallist in the 1500).  With 150 to go, on the outside of lane one, I was neck and neck with Manzano.  We hit the final straight…..and to my own disbelief, I began to edge ahead.  Inch by inch, I was pulling away.  As Manzano faded out of my peripheral, Hamish Carson came into focus and we fought each other right to the line.  With 10 meters to go, I honestly was just looking at the clock and realizing I was going to finally break 4. In my final step, race instinct kicked in one more time and told me to lean.  Good thing I did because it got me the win by 0.01 seconds!

The final kick

Immediately after finishing, I went up to the finish line official, put my hand on his shoulder, and asked, “That was a full mile, right?” I wanted to make sure it was real!  He looked at me with a confused face and answered, “Yeah….a full mile.”  Only then did I ask if I had won and after a short minute, they reviewed the photo finish and revealed me as the victor.  I could not have been more shocked.

For the first time in my life, I had a line of kids next to me after the race asking for autographs.  The first kid handed me a pair of Saucony LD4 spikes (the ones I had raced in!) and I stood there and asked him where he wanted me to sign them.  He shrugged his shoulders and I laughed, “This is the first time anyone has ever asked for my autograph, thanks!” 

So with that mile under my belt, I now am gearing up for the Portland Track Festival 5k next weekend with a greater sense of confidence.  The time to hit is 13:32, which is the “A” Standard (guaranteed entry) to compete in the US Outdoor Championships at the end of June in Sacramento.  I definitely feel a little pressure going into it to make it happen, but the little boost of confidence from this mile PR is going to help in a big way. 

3:58.73 to win the Adro Mile