I solved the mystery why I can't run fast tempos. It's because my VO2 max sucks. Surprisingly it seems like I detrained my VO2 max during the weeks following the HM in November. I already may have had some decline before the race, because I barely ever did any VO2 max work.

Today I went to the track and I ran 800's. It's been raining and freezing on and off (and today it was the rain's turn), so I was sure the trail would be like a mud pit. It was a good choice, because it got revealed that I can't do those 800s very fast. I ran 2:56, 2:57, 2:57, 2:59, 2:59. The last two were quite hard, and I know I was at or over my VO2 max. This is still faster than I used to run like a year ago, but it only corresponds to 1:27-1:28 HM time, not 1:25. Well, you just do what you can do. The circumstances were close to ideal (except for some wind), so those are not to blame.

At least I lost two ponds, as of this morning. Down to 151 again. I hope to be 148 or less by May.