It's Not About the Time - Magic Miles, Magic Smiles

Remember when you first started running, how exciting it was to be able to run a whole mile?  But once we are out of school, most of us quickly move past the mile and set our sights on longer distances - 5k, 10k, half-marathon, maybe even longer.  The lowly mile seems like far too short a distance to be the main focus of a single run!

Think about it.  How many one mile races can you find?  Race directors know that people won't pay big entry fees for a single mile race.  To further complicate matters, nearly the entire rest of the world uses the metric system.  You won't see the mile in the listing of Olympic events (although some would like to see it - check out the Bring Back the Mile movement).



The truth is that runners can benefit greatly by developing the skills to run a proper mile.  As a short interval, the mile allows you to work on two basics - stronger running and increased cadence.  Your brain will allow your legs to work harder and take more steps per minute because it knows that rest is coming soon.  Mile workouts can stimulate additional muscle development, and when you run a longer distance in the future, the memory of your ability to run stronger and at a higher cadence can provide confidence to attempt to go faster.

Back in August, 2014, Tucson Runners Project held our first "Magic Mile".  Our regular schedule includes a weekly track session, but this was a very special event and was held as one of many magic miles around the world during the Global Magic Mile Event hosted by Marathon Talk.  On a warm summer morning, about 40 runners met at 5 a.m. to test their ability to run one single mile as fast as possible.  It was a huge success and the TRP Magic Mile was born!

It turned out that nobody in TRP was quite ready to break the world record for the mile (4:12 for Women, set in 1968, and 3:43 for Men, set in 1999), but we may indeed have broken the world record for most fun had by any running group!  Many new PR's were set that morning.

One of the coolest things about running a Magic Mile is that once you have done it, you can give an honest answer to your non-running friends and family when they ask, "how fast can you run a mile?"  It is wayyyy better to be able to tell them your smokin' fast magic mile time instead of the mile pace from your last hit-the-wall-and-what-was-I-thinking-when-I-entered-this long distance race!

We now host Magic Miles in TRP about once per quarter.  For newer runners it's fantastic way to establish a fast-mile baseline; for return milers, we get a chance to chase after a new PR.  In a single mile, an improvement of even a couple of seconds is huge!  But the truth is, the Magic Mile events are also a wonderful opportunity to get out and encourage our friends.  We run the miles in small groups so that we can all have plenty of time to give a few whoop-whoops to others.  It is hard to describe how exciting it can be to see your friends kicking it in and flying past the finish line!

Yes, the truth is that how fast you run a mile is really not so important.  What matters is whether you can really put your whole heart into the effort.  It's whether you are willing to immerse yourself fully into the run for a few brief minutes while you push your body around the track.  The time it takes is only relevant in comparison to yourself, and if you give it everything you've got you won't regret it.  You can go run a mile any time, but if you run a Magic Mile with a big TRP cheering squad to support you, I guarantee you'll have a fantastic experience.