A guitar buddy of mine brought up a neat concept in practicing. First of all, he teaches guitar lessons to kids on the side. One day, one of his students showed my buddy how hard he was practicing. He had learned a really fast song and played it at the set tempo. My buddy then asked him to play the song at half-speed. His student could not do it; he kept fudging through the song. Anyway, practicing slowly gives you a chance to focus on your intonation, tone and, most importantly, accuracy. By slowing him down , my buddy was essentially trying to get his student to think about what his hands were doing rather than let his fingers run through the tune with just muscle memory. They could essentially digest the essence of the musical piece with regards to phrasing, intonation and emotion. At a slower speed, it was easier for the student to analyze the piece and absorb everything.
The moral of this story, slow down, take your time and enjoy every meal.
