Notes
I felt great for this. Weather was near perfect - mid 20s with little to no wind. I wore windproof underwear, short shorts, compression socks, UA mock turtleneck, UW gloves, and my Mad City 100k hat and was warm enough but not overly so. I took a half caffeine pill and a caffeinated gel before starting my 6 mile warmup. At mile 5 on the warmup I took another caffeinated gel and I took a Maurten gel during mile 4 of the tempo. I also took endurolyte pills around miles 3 and 6 of the tempo.
I tried to focus on form - midfoot landing, large reversal of swing, spring off the plant leg. I averaged 184 steps/minute which is good but the first 3-5 miles was better (high 180s) than the last 5 miles (high 170s). My running form certainly felt different and faster than previous tempos. Cardiovascularly this was pretty easy. My calves, achilles, felt fine but I could tell I was working them more than usual.
One other focus was on keeping good form on the downhills and not breaking. This led to miles 5 and 6 being fairly fast. Mile 4 was a bit slower since it ended just past the peak of the Manitou Way hill.