This spring season, my only goal running race is a 10K. Since I am still working out some issues with my left ankle, I am not going to do any longer distances races any time soon. The 10K is actually the most intimidating distance for me, since I would rather go long, slow(ish), and steady, versus pushing beyond my lactate threshold for the entire race. I am not a fast runner, and since the 10K is the scariest distance for me, I am facing it head on this spring.
So here I am, after a few winter months off of running consistently, trying to develop my speed. I'm not gonna lie, it's feels a lot tougher both physically and mentally on my runs lately. Like yesterday, which was a struggle.
This is what my run looked like yesterday. 
Okay, so I started way too fast, pushing a 7:30 pace for about 2.25 miles. I was fatiguing, but my mind gave up before my body did, and I took a walking break for a few minutes. I would start running again, then hit an snowy/icy patch, and walk. On and off for 5.5 miles (I paused my watch whenever I walked). Not running continuously actually makes the run feel harder for me, and I was getting frustrated for feeling fatigued during the majority of the run.
Today's run was a lot better. It wasn't easy, but I was able to run a continuous 5 miles at tempo pace by avoiding the sidewalks that I ran on yesterday. I was pleased to run some negative splits and average a 7:45 pace. I finished with a 1.2 mile cool down for a total of 6.2 miles.
See? Improvement. I need to remind myself that even though some days aren't as great, a "bad" run is better than no run, and they are necessary to flex that mental muscle. It's easy when everything is rainbows and butterflies, but in order to become stronger physically and mentally, I need to tough it out and put in the work. If I had a shitty run today, I'll try again tomorrow.
