McAlpine Dropout

AM: 15 mins. core
3 mile w/u + strides
Target: 5 mile predator starting @6:00
Actual: 5:56, 5:48, 5:51, 5:52
2+ mile c/d
Total: 9+ miles

Those of you who are math majors may have noticed that while my "target" for the workout was five miles, the "actual" only came out to four. Um yeah. I'm consoling myself by saying that I haven't had a sucky workout in a while, so I suppose I was due. I further consoled myself after talking to Caitlin and Jay later in the day and discovering that they also cut their scheduled tempo runs short. All of us felt terrible but none of us really knew why, although I have a hunch that the off-the-charts pollen count had something to do with it. I mean seriously, I don't have allergies or anything, but when you walk down to the parking lot and see that every car is literally coated in yellow, you can't really hold out much hope for the air quality.

That said, it's a shame the workout didn't go better considering how well it was set up. I had the day off work and was granted the rare opportunity to run with Tanya, Jenna and Pezz. We even had Jordan along as designated pacemaker. Given that setup, I shouldn't be making excuses for not running stronger. Things started well--the 5:56 first mile felt like a jog--but midway through the second mile I felt my chest tightening up. I simply could not breathe as well as I should. By 2.5 miles, Jordan and Tanya had effectively pulled away from me--Pezz, who was only scheduled for four miles, was also up front; Jenna was in back--and I simply couldn't respond. I reached the four-mile marker feeling as though I was straining way too much to maintain--not even increase--my pace, and made the executive decision that to run another mile going backwards would just be foolish.

Normally I would be pretty discouraged after an effort like this (after all, I ran over 30 seconds slower than in the Shamrock Four Miler with Caitlin several weeks ago). But I know I'm coming off a difficult track workout on Wednesday and a cold that I can't seem to shake, so I'm not stressed about it. Time to shake it off and enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend.