Father's Day Mile Disappointing

Fathers Day...........since it has been 2 weeks since my last race, and 3 weeks since my last mile time trial, I felt like Father's Day was the appropriate time for a fresh mile time trial.  Although I had played tennis the day before, which typically slows down the next day's run, I decided to give it a try.  The result was a disappointing 5:30.8, 3 seconds faster than my last attempt, but much slower than I had anticipated.  Based on workouts, I feel like low 5:20s should not be difficult.  In addition to the tennis, perhaps the lack of competition (ran alone) played a factor.  In fact, my best solo mile in recent years is only 5:28, whereas I ran 5:20 in 2009 with one other person, and 5:17 last December in a USATF sanctioned race (see plot below for updated trends).

Time Trends for Mile

Thoughts of retiring from competitive running swirled in my mind throughout today's time trial, but they quickly dissipated after the event.  Now, back to training!

Mark