Hoska Midsummer Mile - July 8, 2015

This year the Hoska Midsummer Mile is Minnesota's USATF One Mile Championship and held on the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.  It's my first one mile race in 5 years.  I ran the 2010 Medtronic TC One Mile in Downtown Minneapolis and also run two indoor miles.  One in 2009 (Bethel University) and in 2010 (U of M Field-house).  This will be my 4th one mile race, but just my second outdoor one mile.

With my last 3 races all shorter distances (10k or less), I've been doing a lot of interval and speed work the past few months embedded within my 5 mile weekday morning runs.  For this race I've dedicated one workout per week that includes two interval miles at a 6:15/mile pace, with a half mile recovery in between.  Then another workout with four uptempo quarter mile splits at about 90 seconds each, with a quarter mile recovery in between.  A third workout consisted of 6 shorter (75 yard) strides or sprints near the end of a 5 mile run.  The remaining 3 workouts each week were standard 5 mile runs and one longer 10 mile run each week.  Once this race is behind me, my workouts will transition to higher mileage workouts, for my longer distance races coming up in August through October.  But I feel as prepared as I can be for this short one mile "sprint."

I could not have asked for better weather for a mid-July evening race in Minnesota.  Light winds, low humidity, with temps in the mid 70's at race time.  One thing that feels strange for me is the fact that this is a weekday evening race.  The Medtronic TC One Mile 5 years ago was also a weekday evening race.  But my training routing is all early morning based.  I think it's been almost 4 years since I've run even one workout after work on a weekday.  Running in the evening after work doesn't appeal to me.  I'm tired, hungry and ready to relax.  So I was curious and a little nervous to see how my body responds to a hard evening run.  I ran 3 easy miles this morning before heading to work.  After work, I drove directly to the fairgrounds for the race.  With this being the USATF One Mile Championship, I knew competition was going to smoke me for the most part.  But also knew it would help me run scared and hopefully not embarrass myself.  The course consisted of two laps around a small section of the fairgrounds main entrance (pictured below), with the start and finish one block apart on the north end of the loop.   

My best one mile time was indoors at the U of M (5:31) in 2010.  My best and only outdoor mile was same year at the Medtronic (5:48).  Knowing I'm 5 years older, but still feeling good, I would be thrilled to run 5:40 today, which is also the minimum national class standard for my age.  But 5:50 seemed the more likely scenario based on my Medtronic performance and the additional years.  As the race started, I tried to quickly find my pace.  Runner traffic was much more aggressive than what you see in longer races.  Here, runners were diving into each turn to gain the advantage, while trying to avoid getting boxed in.  The course was similar to a 600 meter rectangular track with 4 distinct turns vs the standard 400 oval meter track.  Lot of excitement and risk as each turn approached.  I had to be careful to avoid stepping on runners heals as well as being stepped on myself.

It seemed like this race should be easy on the one hand.  So short compared to most of my races.  Less than 6 minutes of pain.  Sure beats the 3+ hours of torture in a marathon  I can handle that no problem - right?  It's amazing how every race distance has it's own way of punishing the body.  In all races your body doesn't have enough oxygen to maintain the energy demand.  But the speed of oxygen depletion is so much more dramatic at faster speeds, to the point where lactate begins to pool in your muscles and you "bonk."  I found myself sucking air big time as I began my second lap.  But I was able to maintain a steady, even pace throughout the race.  Coming around the final turn with less than 300 hundreds yards to go, I was running on fumes like usual.  The finish was about 50 yards north of Dan Patch Ave, but the finish line always seems a lot further away when you get to that stage of the race where you just want it to be over.  I had trouble correctly interpreting my pace throughout the race, because I had to focus so closely on runner traffic through each of the 8 turns.  I was actually disappointed and discouraged running the last few hundred yards because I thought my pace was around 5:55.  I knew I was giving it everything I had and really expected a better time.  But as I approached the finish line and was able to see the race clock up ahead, I discovered I was much better off than I thought.

I crossed the finish line with a time of 5:38 and was absolutely thrilled.  I beat my stretch goal by two seconds and my 2010 Medtronic time by a full 10 seconds.  I finished 124th among all 303 finishers, 104th among 187 men and 16 of 37 in my (10 year) age group.  These 10 year age groups are rough on me.  All though nobody older than me finished ahead of me.  Of course Bobby Paxton (same age), beat me by 12 seconds.  But no surprise, as he's basically the top runner in the state for my age.

My next race is a 15k on August 16th, in St Paul.  Then a 20 mile race in September, followed by the Twin Cities Marathon in early October, a Half Marathon in late October, and finally a 5k on Thanksgiving Day morning to wrap up my season.  Lots of miles to log before we get there, but I'm in no hurry for summer to end, as short as it is in Minnesota.    

Race results:
http://www.mtecresults.com/runner/show?rid=857&race=3269