Notes
Today's run went very well. The pace during the first mile felt comfortable & relaxed. It was a very easy effort so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the 9:41. Because the first mile went so well and I felt so strong, I picked it up slightly in the 2nd mile and brought it down to "race pace". I had no trouble maintaining the 2nd mile pace through miles 3 & 4 as I wasn't pushing it very hard at all and I felt very relaxed at that pace. At the start of mile 5, I hydrated and took a gel so that mile was a little slower. But by the end of mile 5, I was back in great running rhythm & I still felt strong so I increased the effort slightly in mile 6 & pushed it back to race pace for one more mile. I then eased off slightly in the final two miles although I still had enough left to pick it up just a little during the last half mile and finish strong. Among the positives from this run: I had a lot of control over the pace, there were no problems with the hamstring at all during the faster miles, and I was still was able to run hard at the end of the run (I did the last half mile in about 4:50).