Notes
I felt great warming up. My plan was to run an even strong effort up the hills, byt holding back a bit and at the top before going downhill, to push hard as I knew I really can't hammer downhills because of the knee, so steep downhills are more like recovery time for me now.
I passed 7 runners on the 2 mile uphill. At 5 miles just after finishing the downhill, my legs started to feel a bit rubbery. I think this is from not doing any hard downhills in months because of the knee.
I started slowing down a little on the 6th mile, but regrouped and ran 6:17 pace for the last .8 mile. Seeing Eleni just after mile 6, gave me an emotional boost to finish strong!
I am very happy with my time. I would have been pleased to run 6:40 pace, but doing this in 6:32, only 1 second per mile slower than the 5 miler (and easier course) 2 weeks ago means I am getting faster.
I went through 5 miles in 32:38, just 3 seconds off the 32:35 Holywood 5 miler. 10K split was 40:35, so I am on track to break 40 minutes at th Doomhamer 10K in August.
Eleni and I had a nice lunch by the Kirkcudbright waterfront/pier. All in all.. an awesome day. :-)