Damn that Ego...

Argh! Didn't like my run tonight very much.

When I woke up things seemed to be going somewhat well. I admit that after 7 hours, I felt like I hadn't slept more than 2, but it didn't last too long. I took my resting heart rate around then, and got a shock! 69 bpm! Holy cow! I don't think I've ever seen it that low!

On the other hand, I've heard that an abnormally low RHR is not necessarily a good sign, and could just be signaling that I've been over-training. Hope not. So with a good measure of optimism, I decided to go for my scheduled run. I mean if my RHR was 15-20 beats below normal, maybe I'd have a better run. Er...not so much.

I knew something was up after about 5 min. I hadn't reached my normal 5 min point of the course yet. That's odd. My HR was right where it was supposed to be, but I seemed to be a little slower than normal.

Okay, no problem, I'm training my heart and not my legs anyway, right?

I started my run about 7:30 in, right where I normally do, and at the normal HR, so I was beginning to think it was all just a fluke when I look down at the monitor and see it well above where I should be. Not cool.

I started to adjust, and managed to keep in just in check (after a slight malfunction with the HR monitor) with a relatively slow pace. Good enough. Then I get on the trail and some guy there effectively laps me. Well, that did it for me. Enough of this slower pace stuff, I want to run, so I pushed myself a little harder than I should have and paid the price. About 2.5 - 3 miles in I was ready to stop and walk. In fact I did end up walking at one point when my HR neared my upper limit despite my efforts to slow down before then.

All in all, I didn't finish much faster, didn't have a better time, and could've hurt myself by not following my schedule, all because my ego wouldn't allow some college kid 15 years my junior to show me up on an otherwise empty trail. And I'm supposed to be the passive one!