Still Learning

Emotionally high. I was heading into the week atop a peak, renewed with vigor, and ready to really start training. I took the first part of the week easy to help recover from Sundays effort and planned to attack the back half with a tempo and a long run. I went out for the tempo on Friday and by the time I was done, I had fallen. I was quickly reminded that everyday would not be perfect, in quite a cruel fashion.
I headed down to "The Point" (hains point) for a nice 5 mile tempo. After feeling tired all week from the race, I felt like I was floating on the warmup; this was going to be a good day. After some stretching and strides, I got started on the tempo feeling just as good as I had on the warmup. After two miles around 5:30, I picked it up and finished the next mile in 5:18. Unfortunately all was not well. I developed a side stitch in the third mile that would get worse with each step. After about a minute into the fourth mile, I had convinced myself that I would not be finishing all 5. After two minutes, the pain of the stitch was forcing me to go all out to keep the pace tempo worthy. With each right step, my body would bend to the side and I would attempt to convince myself of the futility of the effort; with each left step, I would regroup and convince myself to wait for the stitch to disappear. The stitch stayed and I did not complete the 5. I came close, 4.95 before I broke and called it a day. Of course there is the part of me that would have loved to complete the final .05, but then there is the smarter side that realizes that I am not in any worse shape as a result. In the end, I averaged 2 seconds a mile faster than when I did the same workout two weeks ago. Considering the improvement and the stitch, I am pleased.