The Miracle Mile and The Marvelous Mile

This is actually kind of a long story, but I'll try to make it as brief as possible. Almost two years ago, Chad and his friends Dante and Bill were sitting around chatting after a game of basketball when Dante mentioned having to run a timed mile when he was training at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, which he did in 6 minutes. Now if you know anything about Chad and Dante's relationship, you know that they are as close as brothers, but also as competitive as brothers, so apparently Dante mentioned that he didn't think Chad could ever run a mile in 6 minutes, at least not any more. Of course, Chad bet Dante that he could do it with some training, even though he hadn't run or even jogged any distance since his senior year of high school (for those keeping track, that was 1990), and hadn't raced competitively since somewhere closer to his freshman year.

So in the months after the bet was made, Chad talked about preparing for his 6 minute mile, but never really got much done in the way of training. I told him he should do what we did in Red Dog's Dog Days, and run a baseline mile first, just to see how much training he would need to reach his 6 minute goal. He finally agreed to do so, and in the fall of 2005 we went to the Lawrence High School track to time Chad in this feat. Although he hadn't run in 15 years, he ran his first half mile in way under 3 minutes, despite the fact that I was telling him he needed to slow down. Of course, with absolutely no training, he lost steam in the third lap and thought he was going to collapse. However, even though he pooped out way too early, he still managed to run a miraculous and amazing 6:14 mile. Needless to say, our friends (especially those who run and understand how difficult a 6 minute mile is) were astounded and thoroughly impressed. Chad, on the other hand, was worried that he'd exerted himself so much that he had permanently damaged his lungs, since he ended up feeling sick for at least 3 days following his amazing feat.

So several months after the miraculous mile, Chad began running off and on. For the last year, he has trained for a 5K here and there, but mostly he has run with the eventual 6 minute mile as his goal. Dante was still egging him on by telling him he couldn't do it, but Chad knew otherwise since he'd been so close with no training at all. He just wanted to wait until he was 100% sure the goal was achievable, so that he wouldn't kill himself trying before he was actually ready. He told Dante and I he was going to make his attempt next Wednesday, and I was excited to go and be a witness to this monumental event. However, yesterday evening he came home from doing his speed work at the track, and when he pulled into the driveway, he stuck his arm out the window and showed me this:




This, my friends, is our Garmin Forerunner, which is GPS designed for runners that measures distance, time, pace, route, etc. This was his proof that he had reached his lofty goal!

I was slightly disappointed that I hadn't been there to witness my dear husband's achievement, but I understand his reasons for not wanting anyone to be there. This day had been built up in his mind for almost two years, and he didn't want to psych himself out by having to perform for his number one fan. Plus, if he wasn't feeling up to par once he got to the track and started running, he decided he would just do his regular speed work and try the mile another week.

Even though I wasn't able to be there, I'm super proud of his diligence, determination, and ultimate accomplishment--even if it was just to spite his best friend! ;)