A few weeks ago, I signed up for a one mile race because it had a cheap entry fee and seemed like a fun event. I haven’t tried to run just one mile since last summer, and I was curious to see what time I could get. I’ve focused a lot on speed workouts and cross training this winter and spring, and I’ve seen a lot of results in my shorter/faster distances. Last summer, my mile time was 6:11 and I was curious to see if I could break 6:00 this time.

The Twin Cities One Mile race is fun because there are different waves of very different groups of people: young adults, older people, parents with kids, and elite runners. The course is super flat and located in a scenic part of downtown Minneapolis. My friend and I decided to run the first wave which was non-competitive.

Although the wave wasn’t “competitive” there were some speedy runners that helped push me in the beginning. Unfortunately, I got stuck behind some slower runners and kids which is always frustrating to waste time getting around other people. I did the first 1/4 mile in 1:24 and quickly realized I was going way too fast. I slowed down a little for the middle half, but picked up the pace as soon as I saw the finish line.

I could see the clock ticking closer to 6:00 and I wasn’t going to let my goal slip out of my hands! There have been some girls mocking my running and healthy lifestyle on social media lately, and the things they say flashed through my head as I was running the last 100m and I thought to myself, I’m going to give them something to talk about. I crossed the finish line with a new mile PR of 5:55.

I’m so proud to have made my body strong enough to run a sub-6 minute mile, especially given that I only started running a few summers ago! I make a lot of sacrifices for my goals, and although it might bother people, I will never apologize for working my butt off for the things I want. It was also so fun watching the range of people trying their best– from little kids with red faces being so proud of running a whole mile to elite athletes crushing 4:00 miles!

It’s definitely a race that I plan to do again next year to see what progress I can make before then.