I am my own worst enemy

I was driving to the workout today, listening to NPR. They had a piece on some baseball athletes including A-Rod and talked about how some of these athletes got in their own way by putting so much pressure on themselves. As I am listening to this, I am thinking..."that is me - always has been". I quit mountain biking 13 years ago cold turkey because it was becoming a full time job training so that I could perform at a level I thought was acceptable. I hated it and started DNF'ing when things weren't going right in the races. Classic case of overtraining and if I had backed off for a year or so and then ramped back up carefully I probably would still be racing my bike. I need to avoid that happening again.
Talked to coach Karen about it tonight and she agreed with my plan to back off a little on the long runs - start slower and run faster at the end. Would I like to be running with the faster people in our group - absolutely. I have been in this boat before and I think did better in the long run when I backed off and ran slower.
Mid week runs are going great - I feel like I am on target with them. Felt strong and smooth on the steady state run tonight - much hillier than last week.
Best of luck to Mike on his ambitious plan for Austin Marathon...we need to have a video camera follow you for the race so we can all see how it goes. Looks interesting to say the least!!
I'm still planning an easy run with a pick up for the last few miles - something to give me a mental boost.