Ok, let's assess

At one point during the New Bedford 1/2 marathon I thought, "This might be the worst I've ever felt in a race." (Then I remembered the Montreal Marathon, and thought, "This might be the second worst I've ever felt in a race....")

In retrospect, I doomed myself with too high expectations, unnecessary pressure and too much distraction. I held to pace that was at the limit of what I could do through mile 8. Around mile 10 I stopped at the seawall to pop a massive blister on the ball of my left foot (this time I used a safety pin from my race bib instead of other methods), and that's when I let the race slip away. I limped, walked and jogged and whimpered the last three miles.

I took the next week off to allow sore muscles and bruised ego to recover. The next weekend I went skiing instead of running, and while that wasn't a great training decision, it did lead to this great moment: looking out at from the top of the Madonna life at Smuggler's Notch, I remembered with joy and relief that I run because I want to. My family, my friends, my salary, my health aren't affected one way or another if I go run fast or slow, many miles or just a few. I need to find a better balance between commitment to training, and unhelpful self-imposed pressure.