I’ve been gearing up. I’ve been training hard. I’ve been getting ready. Sweating buckets because today, Sunday morning, is the Missoula MILE!!!!

That’s right, I’m doing a WHOLE mile! I know what you’re all thinking…can it be done!? I think I can do it! I’ve trained long countless…..minutes for this!

In all seriousness, I am excited for this. I am knocking Montana off my list. I’m already in Missoula, Montana this weekend for my cousin’s high school graduation and the Missoula Mile happened to be the same weekend.

And, YES, a mile does count! It’s an organized race and the proceeds go to charity. It SO counts as a Racing the States race!

The Missoula Mile proceeds go to benefit Prostate Cancer Awareness. There’s not much information about this race itself online, and the internet has been my only resource for this race since it’s out of state. It just says it starts in downtown Missoula, goes to the ice cream shop and back. (I better get some free ice cream after running a whole mile!) I drove through the downtown area Saturday morning as we made our way to the graduation ceremony and it’s a cute, cozy, small downtown. (I asked my uncle and he said Missoula has about a 65,000 people). I’ve been to Missoula a few times when I was a kid since some of my family is there, but I didn’t remember the city all that well.

It is as I remember it being: pretty, lush and green. Last time I was here was 10+ years ago, and we did a small hike up to the “M” which stands for the University of Montana. This trip so far has been pretty cold and gloomy but still fairly pretty, I hope the weather is warmer this morning as I run it!

I’m actually really curious as to how well I will do at this race. I haven’t ran JUST a mile and timed it in a loooooong time. My average pace when running, say a 10k, is about 8:30, so I’m guessing I can do a mile in under 8 min. I’ll let you know! Wish me luck on this WHOLE MILE!