Chasing three distances, with a fourth in the background, has slowed me down. Why three distances? My three are 5k, 10k, 15k and in the future the half marathon. 5k and to a certain extent, 10k are simple. I simply run as fast as I can, without holding anything back, My times were between 8.5 and 9.3, However, when I run a longer distance, I have to start breaking distance barriers, and start thinking of endurance. So the point of the run is not to complete it as quickly as possible, but to think of saving energy and building endurance. It’s no longer speed, its endurance. So I’m no longer concerned about PBs, but about building strength to complete a longer distance. My time has fallen from 8 minutes to 9 minutes and now to 10 minutes per mile.
That’s fine for the long run, but then when it is the same time for the parkrun, I start to get worried and discontented; even though I know I should be happy with my time, because I am currently building endurance, not speed.
Here we go tomorrow for another 11 mile run. I hope that my time will be 9.5 minutes for mile.