Tuesday morning's run this week was 5 miles. At this point 5 miles should be a breeze, yet for whatever reason I struggled through it. In fact, I ran at a slower pace than I did for my 18 mile run last weekend. That is crazy. If I had to guess, I suspect there were a few things going on here:
- Mental preparation. Before my 18 mile run I got myself psyched up. I knew 18 miles was a long way so made sure that I was anticipating the run and was excited for it. For 5 miles I pretty much rolled out of bed and went for it.
- Recovery time. Yes, my 18 mile run was 3 days ago, but I suspect it took more out of me than I am willing to give it credit for. I am betting that my body is still trying to figure out what I did to it and why.
- Pace. The runs in which I am most successful I start off pretty slow and gradually pick up my pace over the first couple miles. Today I just went for it right off the bat. I definitely started at too fast a pace and paid for it later.
- Route. I overestimated the distance of my planned route. This meant that I spent my last mile running in circles. Boredom is not helpful, especially when you're already struggling.
I guess the important thing is that I finished my 5 miles. And since then I also managed to get in another 5 miles and a 9 miler. Looking forward to 14 miles tomorrow!
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