The Mile

I got into a strange debate at nyflygirl's b-day bash last night with a fellow flyer regarding the 5th Ave. mile. Two other of our teammates were also involved in our discussion but became silent during the forthcoming exchange. He simply stated that the mile and the marathon were the most difficult race distances to run. Seeing how blatantly rediculous the statement was, I tried to express my disagreement softly, by just mentioning that it really just depends on the person and where that person's strengths are. He retorted that he read it somewhere so it must be true (This statement in itself just seemed stupid, but I kept to the topic at hand). I pointed out that it might be true for that one writer/runner, but not necessarily true for others. Then he said he'd read in multiple places so it must be right. Recognizing that the debate wasn't about the distance anymore, and just about this guy wanting to be right, I poked fun, indicating that apparently this (nameless) writer had written multiple articles expressing his opinion. My fellow Flyer didn't see the humour and didn't let up. Determined to be right, he then said that even our assistant coach said that the mile and the marathon are the toughest distances to race, "so it has to be true." So at this point he had lined up two people that thought the same as him: a nameless writer who wasn't necessarily any type of expert on the subject, and our assistant coach who had conveniently left. I stopped there. The other flyers were quiet, and I wondered if they agreed with me or not. I wanted to keep going with poking holes in his arguement, but some people just lack the ability to see the point the other person is trying to make. Kind of like Right-wing Republicans. It seems strange that anyone could be so narrow-minded about such a topic -- something so based on individual ability. He really just wanted to hear, "OK dude, you're right. The mile and marathon are the most difficult races." Conversely, I just would've been happy if he had said "Well, I see you're point, in that there might be other race distances that some people find more difficult, but I really believe that those two distances are the most difficult."

The mile is of course a tough race, just as, but different from, the marathon. But in the same way, the 400m is also difficult race, and so is the 10k, 5k, 100m, half-marathon, etc. Not to mention Ultra-marathon distances. Every race takes a different kind of preparation, and a different strategy in execution.

That said, my mile this morning sucked, even though I set a P.R. for the distance. Two years ago, only six months after joining the competitive running community, I ran it in 6:10, and even at that time I felt I could've done better. Today, on my way back from injury and mildly hungover, I ran it in 6:08. My expectation was more like a sub-5:45, so I'm really disappointed. I have also been coming off a cold this week, so that could've factored in. On the way back on the subway, I had a coughing fit that just wouldn't quit, so that indicated to me that the cold wasn't quite gone yet. I was also late for my heat, so mentally I just wasn't focussed either.

Or maybe my Flyer pal was right. Maybe I just didn't know any better.


As for other things, my watch broke this morning while I was resetting my splits, so now I need to get a new one, which is a bummer. It also made me late for my heat this morning, as I tried to fix it before I left, and got there just about 30 secs after the gun. So I ran with the next age group. The watch thing is even more of a bummer, because I know I'll spend way too much time trying to decide whether I should step up my technology and invest in a HRM-GPS thingy or stick with a basic watch that just records splits. I'm not good with these kinds of decisions.

Also my microwave, which is still under warranty, stopped heating this week, so GE's sending someone by to look at it this week.

nyflygirl's party was a blast, and although I stayed out later than I expected, I also stayed sober enough to keep myself from leaving Manhattan, and eventually made it home in one piece. I saw nyflygirl get carted away, and it was apparent that she definitely enjoyed her transition into a new decade. (Whoa... you're how old now?!)