Saturday Long Run and Staying with the Plan

Saturday's long run went well - 10.60 miles, a little over the 10 miles called for in my training plan.  I was 3 or 4 miles short on my mileage this week because of not completing Thursday's run, and I was feeling pretty good.  It was cool, there was a light rain, and it was one of those days when the more I run the better I feel.  But I did not succumb to the temptation to run 12 or 13 miles.  The advice was given to me by my friend Morris Williams a long time ago, and it is good advice.  If you are running 400-meter intervals and your goal is 1:45 per item, then running 1:40 is just as much a failure as running 1:50.  In the same way, running 12 miles today would have been as much a failure as running eight miles, or six.  "Plan the run; run the plan."  And stay within your limits.  This early in the program it probably would not have been as critical a mistake, but as the mileage and the workouts increase in intensity it is even more important to stay with the Plan.