There is a reason training should be a regular thing

Today I finished 6 miles. It was my first attempt at 6 and all in all it was acceptable. However, it could have (should have?) been better. I failed February. I should have run two 5 milers and one 6 miler in February. I barely managed one 5. I skipped a lot of weekday runs. The weather and a general feeling of meh prevailed. The 'schedule' called for 6 today. I debated backtracking to 5 but in the end decided it was better to try the 6 and accept 5 if I had to. So the good news is I finished 6.

Since I ran on the streets of Media - no mile markers - I set up a timing scheme for one minute walks and 25 minute runs. Do the math and 13 minute miles would mean 3 cycles of this. In the end I finished in 3 cycles plus 1.5 minutes. Sounds good, right?

On paper, maybe.  Reality is that I went out too fast to start which provided the cushion for extra walk breaks in the last 2 miles. I need to work on that. This race is NOT about any time goals. It is about finishing but I also want to finish comfortably both physically and mentally. Today was barely either.

On the one hand I can argue (with myself) that I'm 2 miles ahead of where I thought I'd be when I first thought about a schedule for the race. However, on the other hand the reason why I'm 2 miles ahead is because for the first 4 months I was much more consistent with my training. So I need to get back to that and catch up.

First, I must get new shoes. I have my monthly coupon from the Running Place so this week I will go get new running shoes.