THE MIRACLE MILE

So you may have noticed the 4:59 and the countdown to the Miracle Mile on the right side bar - a brief explanation is in order. The Running Regime, as I have dubbed it whenever I decide to motivate and run consistently, originally began a few years ago when I began training for some 5k races. A successful, albeit brief, regime ensued in which I ran in local races in SF and more or less consistently placed in the top 5 in my age category, then the 20-29 group, in the 5k. The regime culminated with the Concourse Mile race in August of 2003 in which I won my age group and finished 2nd overall with a time of 5:35. If you check out the results, you'll notice I had a good duel with a 61 year-old guy, which depending on your point of view is either encouraging or discouraging. I actually had to take him down in a final sprint to the finish. Good stuff. The 5:35 was not my personal best for the mile though. That distinction was achieved back in high school, not in a track meet but in gym class running for the President's Physical Fitness test during which I ran a 5:25 mile, more or less uncontested.

Despite the 5:25 mile in high school gym class I resisted running the longer distances for the track team. I was still enamored with the glory involved in the sprints - short, sweet and fast. The 100 yard dash was everything I thought running should be about - you had the swagger and jockeying as you get set in the blocks, followed by the gun and a pure all out adrenaline rush of hitting top speed which either lead to a quick victory or a crushing defeat - it was the heavy-weight title belt of track. Of course I wouldn't have felt this way if I wasn't fast and I hadn't already tasted the before mentioned glory. This was due to the success I had running the sprints in middle school. In fact, the pinnacle of my track & field career was probably in the 8th grade. And yes I realize how pathetic that sounds, but i'm comfortable with it, so spare me your jabs. That year I ran the sprints (the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay) and did the jumps (long and high). In middle school track you ran in weight categories and so I dominated the 85 pounds and under division. The high point was the end of season district championship meet in which I finished 3rd in the 100, 2nd in the high jump and our co-ed relay team won the 4x100. At the conclusion of the season I was named team MVP for the boy's that year. Kudos to myself. (And yes I am able to recall the details of that season a little all too clearly this many years later. But like I said, when it's the highlight of your competitive athletic career you tend to file those memories away for safe keeping.) But back to the story - on the heels of this success I moved up to high school track, where there were no more weight categories, and my slight frame worked against me. I of course resisted moving up in distance, despite the fact that I had the prototypical body for a distance runner and not a sprinter. Eventually I was reluctantly inched up to the 800 (1/2 mile), but only stuck it out for 1 season before pulling the plug. Again, no glory in the distance events. Years later I would realize that in fact the mile was one of, if not the preeminent glory event. But alas I discovered that too late for my high school career. Though that revelation might explain the initial resurgence of the Running Regime back in '03.

As for this year's regime? A shot at 'what could have been' is clearly the motivation as i'm shooting for a personal best in the mile, and in doing so attempting to prove the notion that I could have been a great miler is not some self-deluded myth that i've built up in my head over the years. As to why now? Perhaps it's because I recently turned 30 this year that i've decided to take up the torch again, determined to roll back the clock and not only best my 5:25 mile in high school but go one better with a rather immodest goal of running a sub-5 minute mile. (And yes, if I do achieve a 4:59 mile it will become the new highlight of my athletic career and I can let go of the glory that was the 8th grade track season once and for all.) Is it a last-ditch shot at glory? Perhaps, or maybe i'm just hitting the prime running age and this regime will have legs, pardon the pun. On December 17th we shall find out one-way or the other. That is when I will lace up the running shoes for what will hopefully be one damn fast mile when I compete in the aptly named Miracle Mile race in Golden Gate park. (I'm realistic enough to know it will take a miracle to go sub-5 minutes.)

So i've put a countdown to the race, mainly for self-motivation purposes, as is the real reason for writing this post. I figure if I publicize the goal it will prevent me from quitting later this fall when the time and weather change and i'm forced to slog miles after work in the dark and cold. But so far so good as i've logged about 24 miles since beginning the regime in earnest at the start of July. At the moment i'm running 2x a week, but will ramp up to 3x in August - 2x during the week in the park and speed training on the weekend at Kezar Stadium, which is the old stadium for the 49ers and Raiders pictured above. The training program is all very sophisticated, hence the moniker the 'Running Regime'. So 140 days to go til race day. I'll keep everyone posted on the regime's vitals. Long live the regime!