A miss is as good as 3.6 miles

I came within 1% of my goal of running over 3.1 miles at 9:00/mile this morning, completing a 3.57 mile run with an average pace of 9:03. The chart above from Garmin Connect illustrates the technique I used throughout the run where I alternated between my normal pace (~9:20) and a speedier pace. I was pleased to see that the slowest pace that I ran today was 9:28 and the fastest was 8:24. Overall I'm 99% satisfied with the run. The temperature was around 40 degrees when I started but it rose quickly and, coupled with direct sun, I became very hot. I made the mistake of wearing too many layers. This worked great for the first eight minutes but I found it to be a burden over the next 24. At around 2.75 miles I really started feeling taxed which surprised me since I didn't run on Friday and I'd had more than my usual overnight rest. I'll blame the hot weather and the faster pacing. After hitting a wall so soon into the run I am slightly concerned that my conditioning isn't where it should be. But I did recover pretty well and my new focus on speed should help that going forward.

I was also glad to see that my large toe, although still tender, did not cause me any problems during the run. I'm trying to decide on tomorrow's run strategy: 1. Try again to make the "3+ mile, sub 9:00" goal, 2. Aim for a shorter run but make the target pace even faster or 3. Accept today's 99% success and just go for distance on Sunday.

All suggestions welcomed.