Even though my legs have been feeling quite tired lately, I wanted to push them a bit to play with my boundaries. Met up with the speed group tonight, which was lighter than usual. I wonder if people listen to their bodies more than I do & choose to take a day or two off here & there.

Coach had us do a grueling, outside loop tempo run to test our ability. The plan was to start the tempo run at Parkside, run a full loop & turn back around once we hit Parkside again, finishing at 9th Street & PPW.

I started off with R, M & J...in what I thought was an easy pace. Felt comfortable, felt normal, felt do-able. But about 3 miles in, I went from feeling fine to feel a bit out of control. I struggled to hang on but managed to keep my composure until we hit the hill coming back from Parkside. In a matter a seconds, the girls were long gone, leaving me with my heavy breathing, heavy legs & heavier thoughts.

I had a lot of unanswered questions at the end of the tempo, but that is the great thing about running. If you over complicate it, it becomes no fun.

Afterwards, G & I headed to Amorina for a quiet dinner of pasta & beer. A perfect end to hard run.

Distance: 2.75 warmup, 4.7 tempo run at 7:15 pace (I am guessing a bit), 1.5 warmdown totally 9 miles
State of Mind: Endless learning