The Snowball Mile

There is something special about running a mile as fast as you possibly can.

One single mile.

So hard that your chest is heaving and your lungs are burning and your legs are screaming.

It might be shit for predicting race times, but a mile is a fun way to see how fast you can run and how well your training is going.

There are not many, in fact I think only one, mile race in my area. That means whenever I want to run a hard mile it has to be a time trial.

Some people call it a magic mile, but whatever.

I have run both on the road and around a middle school track, and I have done mile time trials both before and after hard training cycles.

And since I just finished a quality training cycle I figured it was time for another hard mile.

The middle school track was off limits this morning since school is in session. I’m sure if none of the classes are out on the track I could probably use it, but I just don’t think it would be a good idea for a weird middle aged man to be huffing around the track during school hours.

I wasn’t worried about the track situation though because I had already discovered the best road mile in my area.

One section over from my neighborhood is known as Snowball Gate. The main road is a loop about 2.2 miles long and on the far end of that loop is a stretch of road that is perfectly straight for nearly a mile and very flat.

It curves in the last quarter mile, and when I say flat I mean slightly downhill. There is actually elevation loss of about 36 feet over that mile stretch. Not much, but I’m sure it gives a little bit of help.

That being said, I have no problem using The Snowball Mile for my time trials.

You can’t just step out the door and run as fast as possible. A good warm-up is vital.

So I setup my Garmin for a one mile run preceded by a warm-up and followed by a cool-down. I followed a two mile route that took me to the start of The Snowball Mile.

As I approached the house on the left that has a number of roosters I knew it was almost time to push it hard. I placed my finger over the lap button and prepared myself to go.

With a beep of the button and a chime signaling the start of the mile I was off.

My pace jumped, and then slowed, and then leveled off all within a tenth of a mile. I knew I needed to keep the first quarter mile feeling like it was too easy, even when it felt hard.

At about half a mile I didn’t think I could keep going. The debate in my head started going. Two voices arguing with each other.

Stop running. You can’t do it today.

Keep pushing, only a half mile to go.

Just stop. This feels too hard.

Breath. You can keep going. Just a couple more minutes.

I looked at my watch as I approached the third quarter of a mile and struggled to see the small box showing me the average pace.

It was fast.

If I could hold on for just another minute or two this would be the fastest mile I had ever run.

The voice came back.

You can’t run any faster. No way will you even break 7 minutes.

Hold this pace. You’re almost there and you will break 7 minutes again for only the second time!

I held on.

The end of The Snowball Mile curves slightly to the right and has a very gentle up hill.

I pushed. I started running faster, breathing heavier, and praying that it would end.

A series of beeps sounded from my watch.

A countdown to the end of the run.

I counted each beep as I ran as fast as possible. The countdown was done and the watch told me the mile was over.

I walked up the road as I tried to catch my breath.

My lungs burned. My legs hurt. And I knew they would both feel like that for the rest of the day.

But when I checked my watch I smiled. The pain felt good, but the numbers on the watch felt even better.

6:49.3

The fastest mile I had ever run, and only the second time I had ever broke 7 minutes.

Nearly all of the miles I run are at an easy pace. I could hold that pace for hours upon hours.

Even when I run intervals or repeats of any kind I am not running at an all out break neck speed. I am targeting paces for a specific goal.

So when I do race a single mile as hard as I can possibly run…it hurts so fucking good.