Nothing Stings Quite Like The Feeling of Disappointment. 1600 Meter Race Recap

I ran my 1600 meter race last night, and I'm feeling pretty disappointed with myself.  I don't want to turn this post into a whine fest, but I do want to be honest about how I feel this race went.  I'm also a little disappointed with how the track club organized the race heats.

The weather conditions were not ideal

It is what it is. Everyone raced in the same weather conditions,
so I can't really use that as an excuse.

Before the Race

Last Saturday the LVTC was hosting a low key 8k at the Sunrise Picnic Area.  I always want to show my support whenever they host an event there.  If the turn out becomes too low, they may choose to hold less events there.

No Pictures were available from last Saturday., this one is from last May

I ended up running this race as a Tempo progression run.  I accidentally left my Garmin in my desk at work over the weekend, so I got to run this event by feel.... I'm also a complete dork and I erased the time off of my regular sports watch as soon as the race was over... derp...

Here's the splits that I remember.

Mile 1- 7:30

I ran into a fellow track club member/runner friend  and we talked about Tuesday's 1600 meter race. More on that below....

Mile 2- 7:15  I picked up the pace a bit

Mile 3-?
Mile 4-?
Mile 5-?

Finish Time- 35:59  (average 7:15 pace per mile)

I ran into a fellow track club member James Alejandro, whom I always finish just behind or ahead of depending on the day.   He's a great competitor and we don't take things too seriously.

LVTC Members from Left to Right (Toshie, Evan, James, and Me)
James Alejandro gave me his extra Turkey after there was
a mix-up over race results during a low key Turkey trot
last November.

During the first mile of the 8k we were discussing future races that we were training for. I was really hoping that he would run the mile, I told him how I was aiming for low six minute range and he said he would try to help me.

Day of the Race

I went to work and had a typical work day.  I wore my running sneakers to work  because I wanted to keep my feet as comfortable as possible.  I also ate a really big lunch knowing that I wouldn't be eating dinner before the race. My lunch was pita bread with hummus, falafel, and green salad.

I left work a little early to pick up my kids, feed them dinner, and get bath time started early.  I left my house at 6:30pm.  I had about 15 minutes to warm up, stretch and do some strides...  I ran into my LVTC friends Toshie and James.

During the registration process James and I both wrote down that we were going to run a 6:20 mile. With the heat it was a conservative estimate that I thought I would easily  come in under.

There ended up being three different heats for the mile.  The track club split the race up into two men's heats and one women's heat....  I should have asked to run in one of the later heats...  I'm kind of bummed about this.....



The women's race ended up being the first heat.  I ended up being the overall Women's winner.  My finish time was 6:24... Womp. Womp.....

Here are my lap splits
Lap 1-87 seconds
Lap 2 98 seconds
Lap 3 100  seconds (WTF happened here)?
Lap 4 98 seconds

I took the lead before the end of the first lap;  the first lap felt easy, the second lap a little harder, the last two laps were a death march, and I started lapping people during the fourth lap.  I lost my focus after I took the lead. It was really hard to push the pace without knowing how fast I was going.  I used my Garmin to time this race and of course my trusty Garmin measured this mile long......  For shits and giggles here's an overhead view of how off I ran the tangents.

I tried to stay on the inside lane as best as possible.

Even sweeter  is the bullshit my Garmin is trying to sell me.

I ran 4 laps around the track and it took me 6:24
but, if I hadn't wasted any energy passing on the outside
then I could have come closer to 6:00?!
My head hurts trying to make sense of this..

After my race I stuck around to watch the guys race.  My friend James ended up killing his mile race!  He ran a 5:42.  He ran the first half almost identical to what I ran, but then he held on and ran a much faster 2nd half.

I really wish that I would have had the nerve to speak up about racing in a later heat. It was hard not having a rabbit in front of me during my race.  The Las Vegas Track club hosts free track meets so I really don't feel right complaining about an event that was free.  

I don't really know when I will have the opportunity to race a mile again.  I almost want to go out to the track on Saturday by myself for a do over.   

Who knew I would have so much to say about such a short race...