Blame It On The Rain

Run Day

Time- 55 minutes
Distance- 5.34mi

Not happy with the distance today. I was sure I'd gone farther. This is less than a 10 minute mile pace. But, trying to be fair to myself, I have reasons why this run wasn't as long as I'd like.

1) Rain
It rained, and rained good, for the entire middle section of my run. Soaking wet, running in mud, rain. I'm not used to running in rain and I figure that slowed me down some. I had to pick my steps a little more carefully, avoiding mud and puddles as much as possible. Also, when a Jetta flies by at 45 with spray coming off the sides, that'll push any runner just a little more up the shoulder.

2) Injury Recovery
I'm still keeping half an eye on my foot during my runs. I missed the build-up runs to this one, having to elliptical the 50 minute distance and a few other runs. There was no pain today, it feels fine again, but I spent two weeks babying it, so give me a break. I'm still getting back into the groove.

3) New Time/Distance
&
4)Poor Goal Setting
These two reasons go together. I've never run this far before. My training guide gives times to run, not distances, and 55 minutes is kind of intimidating. I'm not sure how to run this far, as strange as that sounds. I'm sure I took it easier than I should have the whole time simply because I was concerned about running the whole time and finishing hard. My poor goal setting was having it in my head that I want to survive the run. Of course I'll survive the run, and run it strong. But the back of my head would rather set the cruise a little lower than normal to guarantee success without excessive pain. The back of my head is a wuss. That's ok though. I have a longer run under my belt now and I know that next time I can/should push harder, move my feet faster, and get it done better.