13:19

It's time for my latest report on the 2-mile "time trial". Last night was the December '07 version, and I did my best time, a new personal record of 13 minutes, 19 seconds. I beat my old record by about 26 seconds, and bested last month's time by 37 seconds. My 8 splits looked like this:

1 - 1:35
2 - 1:43
3 - 1:40
4 - 1:39
(mile 1 = 6:37)

5 - 1:40
6 - 1:43
7 - 1:47
8 - 1:32
(mile 2 = 6:42)

The key to last night's improvement I think consists of a couple factors. For one, I have stuck to the track workout schedule very consistently for the past several weeks, ever since my abysmal showing at the Victoria Half Marathon a couple months ago.

Secondly, I had some help last night. Turnout was low so there were only about 15 or 20 runners on the track, which opened up the space quite a bit and made me feel more comfortable. (In fact, there were so few runners there that I actually had a top 10 finish! Whoo-hooo! So sad that this makes me excited...). By "help" I mean my friend Robin who decided to coax me through the 2 miles and make sure I didn't fade. He planted himself on my heels and really helped set the 6:40-per-mile pace that I wanted. About ten yards in front of me, my friend Neal was ploughing ahead at a consistent 6:40 or faster pace, so I always had a target. Also, I stuck myself on the inside track so the curb to my left kept me in a consistent line. Previously, I'd always run out in the middle of the track somewhere, which caused me not only to describe a larger oval than most runners (and run slightly farther than 2 miles!), but also allowed me to drift side to side and waste energy. Not so last night.

So, I'm pretty jazzed about the breakthrough. It didn't feel like a fluke at all, and I think I should be able to repeat and/or improve in subsequent tests. I'm actually looking FORWARD to the track work now, which is a new sensation for me.