I ran 6.0 miles yesterday. I was accompanying Geoff on his virtual Air Force Marathon. That's right--a full marathon, mostly by himself on the 5-Star Trail. Shannan was running a half-marathon at the same time, but the two didn't do it together, given their different paces. Anyway, Shannan was just finishing her 13.1 miles when Geoff came by the tent we set up at Huff Avenue. The timing was just perfect, since I ran to meet Shannan and place a 13.1 mile medal around her neck, say some words of support, and then join Geoff as he finished up the last 6 miles. He and I conversed easily during most of the run. Our pace hovered around 9:25, which was quite reasonable for both of us. Except, I hadn't run 6 miles since May, so I was out of shape. At my fifth mile (and Geoff's 25th mile), I knew that Geoff had a goal to meet (3:59) and he seemed worried he would miss it by a few seconds so I told him to go ahead. I felt sorry for abandoning him at the end, but I was in my top heart rate (178 bpm) and couldn't go faster. Geoff dropped to a 8:30 pace in the last mine, and as he left me behind, I had little incentive to keep going at our former pace and I inadvertently slowed to a 9:35 pace.
That sort of ending happens in nearly all my races. I don't have the mental drive to push at the end. Somebody, please help me with that!
I guess it's a will-power thing. I'm actually really good at will-power in other aspects of my life. For example, I feel a little pudgy so I'm going to start logging my daily calories starting tomorrow. I'm usually successful at losing a few pounds when I do that. Maybe starting to pay attention to one aspect of health (food) will help me snap back into paying attention to another aspect (training schedule). We'll see.
