This morning was the kickoff for the Orlando Galloway training program. Jeff Galloway himself comes out to talk to the group and welcome everyone to the program which is very cool. I was looking forward to it, as I’ve been anxious to get started with a group that runs at my pace.
When I woke up, the weather was wet and drizzly. The weather this week in Central Florida has been just that, rainy. I got ready and prayed we might get some dryness for an hour or two. Thankfully, we got just that. When I arrived at Glenridge Middle School (this is the location where the groups meet for runs), it was still drizzling out and just icky. A number of runners like myself had an umbrella or were wearing raincoats/windbreakers. By the time the presentation started though, the rain decided to give us a break.
Jeff talked with us for a bit about the training program and answered a few questions. Then, we were on the track warming up for the magic mile. I walked the track for a bit to warm up, even getting an opportunity to chat with Jeff for a minute as he warmed up which was nice. He really is a great guy, very sweet and friendly.
A few minutes later, we lined up and were off and running the magic mile. Going in, I had hoped to do at least a 12:30 pace, as I know I can do that easily on a good day. I felt good as I made my way around the track, only checking my watch a few times to see where I was pace-wise. I used my usual 1:1 ratio which I’m the most comfortable with and knew I could still push myself on my running intervals.
Four laps later, I was done. I had hit the one mile mark at 11:30! I was definitely smiling about that pace. I could have come in a bit sooner, but I knew I still had a good amount of gas in the tank with this time. I feel great knowing that I’ve come so far since starting to run again in December.
With this magic mile, according to predictions, here are the numbers:
Magic Mile: 11:30
5k: 37:21
10k: 1:21:59
Half: 3:00:46
Full: 6:31:41