Track Event - Predicted Mile

I ran my second predicted mile. Even some of my running friends don't know that term, so I'll explain it. You write down the time in which you expect you'll run the mile. When the gun goes off, you take off with no clock and see how close you come to your prediction. This type of race gives the slower runners who knows themselves a chance to win, as the winner is not the fastest runner necessarily, but the one who finishes closest to their predicted time.
Two weeks ago I was 18 seconds off; I had predicted an 8:15 and ran a 7:57. I was the female to come closest to my predicted time. Last night, given the heat (90s), that grass allergens are high and I'm allergic to grass, I predicted an 8 minute mile. I ran a 7:59. People cheered when it was announced that I had been just one second off. I think I was the overall winner.
Earlier this winter I ran a predicted 4 mile, and came very close to predicting that time as well. When I mentioned this to my daughter she said something to the effect, "I'm not surprised, Mom. You log and time everything, every last detail. So you WOULD know."
And I thank Coach Ayers of Houghton, New York, for teaching me that discipline. He taught me to log details: weather, food eaten, time of day, splits, distance, times and pace per mile. And studying those details DOES, after nearly five years of running, give me a pretty good idea of what's going on. Once in a while, he said, you'll do poorly and not be able to figure out why. You just have a bad day. But most of the time, logging the details will reveal patterns and help you understand the factors that most influence your own pace.
And who knows? Keep the logs long enough and study them carefully. Then enter a "predict -your-time" race, and you may be a winner, too.