8:40,8:48,8:39,8:11,8:17,8:36,8:37,8:40,8:38,9:13
Monday is always hard to get going. I told myself that if I tried hard for 8 miles, I'd treat myself to an 'ice cream' cool down mile. Meaning, run hard for 8 then go as slow as I want for a whole mile, enjoy the sounds and smells of the trail, and contemplate the morning. I was running headlong into my ice-cream mile at the end of 8, when Sasha and partner came by and invited me to join them---I really wanted to! I need to be more mentally flexible so I can be ready to run fast, even after 8 miles. It could only help me. It would have been great to be paced into a couple more 8:00 minute miles. I should have just turned around and bravely taken up the challenge. But I was heading toward my hard earned reward, and that last mile was delicious. I relished all those cool pockets of air that hover near the river, smelled all the honeysuckle and horseshoe chestnut blossoms in the air, and began greeting every passerby. I don't know why I suffer the disparity between 9:13 and 8:11 so much. I hope to make 8:13 feel like 9:13 eventually. | 