Ambition

I'm almost embarrassed to post the results of today's run; I did not come close to the goal I set in the previous post.

My first mile, warmup, was about what I expected: 10:22, a nice, steady pace.

But then I did not even delay or rest before starting the fast section, and I'm afraid I pushed too hard: 9:10. Yes, I know I said that I wanted to run between a 9:00 and a 9:30 pace, but the idea is to start slower and get faster as the miles go by. This, I did not do.

I had to stop to walk at least twice on my second fast mile, which told me I was not going to do well today. Second mile was just over 10 minutes. And then, I just got slower and slower, with more and more walking breaks. Stopped for water and a couple Clif Bloks twice. And finished with a slow jog-walk for my cooldown (which was only about 3/4 of a mile).

Here's my mile times:

1. 10:22 warmup
   
2. 09:10 (0:19:33)
   
3. 10:07 (0:29:40)
   
4. 10:11 (0:39:51)
   
5. 11:38 (0:51:29)
   
6. 12:39 (1:04:08)
   
7. 09:20 (1:13:29)

My average pace for the whole run (6.75 miles, including warmup/cooldown) is 10:53; my average pace if I only count the "hard" workout is 10:45 (53:47 for 5 miles).

Ugh.

What went well? Weather was nice and a perfect temperature (now, 45 minutes after getting back, it's still only around 65° F), it was a bit humid out but not overly so. Ate a lot last night - almost 2600 calories, which is "maintenance" level, not "losing weight" level.

What went wrong? I had lots of sleep last night - maybe too much. Woke up with a bit of a stuffed up nose - fall allergies? And maybe a bit of mental fatigue. I have been running hard all week. Next week I will push less and give myself a bit of a break. I really want to be faster, but if I over-train, that's just going to delay my improvement.

Still, if I don't push myself, who will?