I hate chiming in on posts like this one but I can't resist only because I've been there. DON'T DO THIS, DeacHoops. You had a bad night. Your next workout might suck too. Heck, you might have three bad workouts in a row. Oh well.
One of the worst things a runner can do is to over analyze a series of bad workouts and conclude that everything is going wrong and "you suck" and "you'll never get better" blah blah blah. No. Don't do this. Fact -- if you are doing workouts and are anything less than a 5:30 - 6 min per mile sort of runner, you are going to get better. You are baking the cake, so to speak. You may not be spreading the icing but you're baking the cake, the foundation, and that's good stuff. Fact -- EVERYONE HAS BAD WORKOUTS. EVERYONE. The best runners in the world string 5-10 bad workouts in a row. Seriously.
So don't panic. You're out there, trying. You're running race pace or sub-race pace effort on the track. You're doing the long runs. You're getting some strides in. You're trying to eat and drink right but you like food/drink so it's tough. It's hard. But you're trying. The key is to not over analyze the bad days. Funny -- running and golf are so different and yet runners can learn so much from golfers. You're going to shoot a bad round. You're going to have a bad run. Good golfers are going to hack it around for consecutive rounds. Runners are going to have a series of bad runs. But don't rewrite the training manual quite yet. More often than not, you'll pop out of it and all will be well.
I've been running for over 20 years and it's only been during the last 2-3 when I've FINALLY been willing to write off a bad day. The comments in my log reflect this -- "Terrible run, d*mn. Oh well, not going to over-analyze it . . . wasn't my day." "WTF happened this week? Why was everything so f'n hard?" "Why am I so tired? This makes no sense?" I've got 4 x 1600 workouts in my log that morphed into 1 x 1600, 1 x 1200, 1 x 400 and then jog in -- it sucks. But even the best fall apart. More often than not, I popped out of it, resumed regular training goals down the line and all was well. The small number of times in my running career when I didn't I adjusted, but this wasn't until I had struggled a number of weeks.
Heat/work/whatever -- don't overanalyze it. You had a bad day. It happens. You're still a good runner, getting better, getting the job done. DON'T PANIC. Seriously -- don't pass judgment on what you can do and what you are about for months. If your race results over a long period of time reflect struggle, well, THEN adjust. But not after a few horrible workouts in a row. It happens to everyone.
i had a rough track workout tonight. we set out to do 3xmile with 800 recovery. completely scratched that plan after the first mile. i wound up doing 1 mile with 800 recovery, then 8x400 with 1:30 standing recovery. the heat practically killed me, and i just needed the standing recovery time to get water and stop the urge to throw up. and it was only 80 something. this is going to get baaaaaaaad when it really gets into the summer and it's 90+ during our workouts.