5 Mile Tempo Fail Of Sorts

Goal:
5 mile tempo at 545-500 pace

Actual:
3.1 mile warmup
4 mile tempo in 24:00 with splits of 600, 557, 600, 603
3.5 mile cool down

Early morning tempo runs in the darkness at McAlpine are one of my all time favorite things to do.  Not.

I typically really enjoy these sorts of runs, but after four hard workouts in six days, my body rejected the idea of doing a tempo.  In fact, my body threw the tempo right back into my face, completely repulsed by the idea of running fast.  The McAlpine trails owned me.  The boys owned me.  Heck, a deer probably owned me.

Not much to report here except that Spada took charge of this workout, which I gratefully accepted because I didn't feel like doing all the work.  I tried to react to his move after the first mile but instead found myself slipping back to Eric and David.  By the turn around, I was certain that it would only be a matter of time until the entire group passed me up.  All the guys finished the entire tempo, but I couldn't muster it within myself to run past the four mile mark.  Instead, I stopped, walked a bit, and then ran to the next 400m mark.  I stopped, walked a bit again, and ran to the next 400m mark. Then I decided it was time to just run slow and let go of my crappy workout.  I should note that all the guys absolutely awesome.  They are my training partners for a reason!

I'm ready to be off to Illinois and to get back to my normal training routine of workouts on Tuesdays and Fridays with a long run on Sunday. Mark and I met today to discuss my training plan and we both agree that consistency is the key, even down to the minute details like which days you work out on and which days you double on. I don't have other real crazy social obligations over the next four months, so I think I'm all set to go!  Head up and feet forward, tomorrow is a new day!