The Not-So-Mediocre Mile: racing a mile at 23 weeks pregnant

On Friday night I headed over to the indoor track at the University of New Hampshire for the "Mediocre Mile," put on by local running club/ race company Loco Running. I figured it would be a fun, low key way to get at least a couple miles in without having to wear all.they.layers. And it was exactly that!

There were several other members of my run club (Rochester Runners) there, but otherwise it was a group of folks I didn't know or recognize. And there were lots of families too. I kind of wish I'd brought along Sophia, but with a Kids fun run start of 7:15pm I thought it would make for a late night, and we'd already had one that week. So I opted to go solo.

The track is 160m around, so a mile (1600m) is ten laps. I ran workouts on the track all last winter and it was fun to be back. I love the track indoor or out, I could run lap after lap and not be bored. Because of the tight quarters, the race was divided into several different heats:

I signed myself up for the first and slowest heat: 7:30-8:00 pace. I wanted to be relaxed, not feel any pressure and honestly I just didn't know what kind of mile pace I had in me. I ran a 5K back in October in 21:18, but my body has changed a bit since then and my pace has slowed in the last few weeks. I didn't think I'd be managing much faster than a 7:30.

There were five of us that toed the line for the first heat. When the whistle went off one guy took to the lead and I followed comfortably behind. We ran the first lap in :42 (7:30 pace would roughly be equivalent to 45 seconds). We were all ahead on pace, and stayed that way for the rest of the race: running splits between 42 and 44.

The first four laps flew by: everything felt relaxed, my face, my arms, my stride. I held my pace and the guy in front of me pulled away. Around the fifth lap another girl passed me and pulled ahead to the shoulder of the guy in front and we ran like that for the next few laps. With two laps to go everyone seemed to quicken their pace and I did too, still feeling comfortable and relaxed. And then with the bell (yes, a gigantic bell rang in the final lap!) we had one lap to go. I quickened my pace and my stride lengthened and by now I was working a bit more, but having so much fun. I gained on the girl and guy in front of me on after the first turn and on the final turn kicked past the guy to finish just a few seconds after the first girl in 6:59. Everyone else followed shortly behind, all finishing under 7:30 pace. I think everyone was playing it safe by picking the slowest time group, but clearly everyone underestimated their ability;)

I watched a few more heats, but left before the sub 5:30 guys went. It seemed like everyone was out there to have fun inside, despite the frigid temps we've been having lately. It was fun to run, be cheered for and then cheer for others as they each ran their mile.

I can't wait to do it again next year!

[Tweet "Running a mile race on the indoor track at #23weekspregnant "]

Have you ever run a mile race? Did you run track in high school or college? Do you still enjoy the track now?

--Sarah

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