7 miles / 8:33 avg. bluff trail / jensen park. sun, cold. day 4 of experiment = massive fail (with a minor win). first the 5 mile "tempo" splits: 8:16 (fail, but I can make it up), 8:40 (holy crap!), 8:54 ( FAIL), 7:58 (ahhhh...) 7:37 (partial redemption). 5 miles / 41:27 / 8:17 avg
okay, so i felt tired starting out, but i've felt that way the last couple of days. today, i took my time on the warmup mile, i was in no hurry to get to the tempo part of my run. the first mile of the tempo i could tell that i was struggling, with an 8:16 i still had a chance to go fast enough the next 4 miles and get under an 8 minute per mile average for the 5 miles. But it wasn't to be. the second tempo mile was an 8:40! it was frustrating, i couldn't seem to get my mind to push my body at all. my form was sloppy, especially my foot strike. it was interesting because i could feel the gears in my head slipping, unable to get traction, and i don't know why. neural fatigue? towards the end of the third tempo mile i was starting to feel a little better and suddenly everything was back to normal? it was like a switch went off and all of a sudden my form was right, my brain felt strong, and i could push at will again. the last two mile were 7:58, 7:37. i'm learning a lot with this experiment this week. for example, i have found that mental focus is where it's at. this is obvious to most, and i've always known it, but i'm getting a nice practical, literal example of how important focus is. i've developed a bad habit of just letting my mind drift while running, which is good for some runs, but not ALL the time. so it's taking some work to stay on task during these tempo sections. and today was definitely about building some strength in that department as i struggled to stay focused in spite of the horrendous fail, and it paid off! also today offered me a great illustration of how different my form is when running poorly as opposed to running well. WT 45.5 miles
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