Quality Miles Monday: Running with coach

Plan: Warm up.  3x 1 mile at race pace; 5:00 easy.  Cool down

Actual Mileage:  5.90 miles

Route: Out and back through Loring Park and on the Cedar Lake Trail

Weather: Super hot.  It was about 85* with humidity but there was also wind.  We are having what Minnesota calls "second summer".  It's the season right after "false fall".

High Points of the workout: The first mile went well and was smoother than I expected.  Coach was telling me to slow down so that was nice.

Struggles of the workout: The second mile felt hard.  The third mile felt slightly better until I felt like I was going to poop my pants.  So I had to decide how exactly I was going to embarrass myself with Coach.  Either stop the third set early or have a different issue.

From the high points, I learned: The beginning of the race may feel okay.  I need to watch my pacing.  It was much easier to not go out like a nut with someone else there.

From the struggles, I learned: The rest of the race is going to be hard. I will need to keep working so it doesn't hit me like a truck.

Next steps: I think I could've prepared for this run more mentally.  In my head I was all "Oh, I'm going to have someone to run with so it won't be so bad."  No.  WTF.  It's still crazy hard work.  So I will still need to do all the normal 'mental' work ahead of the race.  Picturing things going well, and thinking how I want to react if something doesn't go as expected.

Bonus: I kept thinking of all these things I wanted to tell my coach  except I was super out of breath and couldn't talk.  I was saying "me being quiet doesn't mean I'm grumpy" At least we know I was working because that was not my conversation pace!