Lesson #1: Never feel sorry for yourself, learn from problems/mistakes, and move past them -- don't dwell//wallow in your problems.
Today was supposed to be the Boston Marathon. Then COVID-19 came along and most of the spring marathons were canceled -- Boston has been shifted to September 14. It's unclear if I'll be able to participate with that timing -- for now, I can't dwell on that, just keep my options open.
Given the marathon was canceled, I decided to do a virtual marathon today instead. It wasn't an official organized activity -- just me running on the W&OD Trail. My goal: to break 3:20 (which is the BQ standard for my age group -- not that it would get me anything in a private effort). The weather was PERFECT today (52 - 58F, light wind, dry). But, there were several factors that apparently combined to prevent me from attaining that goal: I went out too fast (10 sec/mile too fast), and I was sweating out more salt than normal. My heart rate starting spiking at Mile 11 -- my signal that if I don't wind up bringing it under control, I'm going to hit the Wall. Sure enough, despite slowing down over the next several miles, it wasn't enough. I wound up coasting into the Wall by Mile 23, and had to walk the rest of the way. 3:50:45 finish.
Sure, it's a nice time, but a far cry from my goal, let alone my PR from October 2019 (3:02:02).
As I was running, though, I recognized what was happening, and made the mental adjustments of my goals. While it's good to examine what happened and try to figure out what went wrong to prevent it in the future, dwelling on it and feeling sorry for myself is NOT constructive.
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