13:13

Saturday club workout. Cool in the morning but getting warmer. I warmed up very slowly for about 2.5 miles. When I mean slow, I mean slow. Wally was running again after his minor heart attack two weeks ago. The guy never gives up. I ran part of my warm up with him and a few others. I was thinking 3200 meters on the track. The last time I had run 13:25 with a strong finish. This time I was thinking 13:20 (6:40 pace).

Dimitri was quietly and efficiently waiting for me on the track. Absolutely no wind. We did 3-4 strides. Then he led me out coming through the first 800 in 3:22. By the 1600 we were 6:42 and half way we were right on pace at 10 flat. I just stayed glued to a spot about 3-4 yards behind him and just focused on whatever lap we were running. I felt a slight shift on lap 7. Dimitri was picking it up ever so slightly but picking it up he was. At the end of lap 7 I looked down at my watch and saw that it was 11:40. I figured I had 13:20 no matter what. I was tired but not lagging. I was still feeling strong. Old but strong. The last lap was like pressing down the accelerator of a car(gradually...very gradually). We came across in 13:13 which was a PR of 13 seconds. We had run a 3:13 last 800 and a 93 second last lap. My last 1600 had been 6:31.

We then warmed down around campus. I mentioned doing some 100's but Dimitri recommended that we not do them. "You did your workout," he said emphatically. I knew he was right.

I felt redeemed. With the exceptions of the 1200 meter trials I had done zilch at 1600 or 3200 meters for the past 8 weeks. That 13:25 had been staring at me since May 30th. I feel close to 13:00 flat. Not there but close. The 13:13 age graded to 10:24 at age 30.