Notes
Quite a different run from the workout 3 weeks ago. Had a few drinks last night and didn't get to bed until late. Woke up not feeling the greatest but legs seemed to feel pretty good. Took the warmup slower than last MPace run and stopped to pee before starting the pace work. Wanted to do some kms in Trillium Park to start but that didn't work out as the trail was blocked off in multiple parts. This really messed with my pace. Just couldn't get into a rhythm as witnessed by the 4:23 km. Finally started feeling more at ease when I started heading west. By 8K my breathing was still pretty good, felt like a light tempo. Conditions seemed pretty good, there was some wind in my face going west to the Humber bridge. Crossed the b ridge and continued on the trail with plans to take a gel at 10K. I couldn't get the Muerton open though and spent like 400m trying to wrestle with it. Pace really slowed (4:17 km) and eventually I decided to just try to complete the run without the gel.
Turned around just after 11K and started heading back. Was hitting good splits and still feeling comfortable but I was definitely worried about not having any fuel. This forced me to hold back some. Crossed the Humber bridge and then got some tailwind for the rest of the way back. I was feeling relaxed despite being in tempo mode and definitely just trying my best to run consistently and not risk blowing up. This was quite different from last MPace run where I pushed a lot harder in the back half. The kms seemed to tick by pretty quickly. I did give a bit of an effort in the last 2 kms as I was tiring but still left some in reserve. Finished pretty evenly and went into a jog for a bit before taking a break and finally getting the gel open.
Not sure how much faster I could have run if I had had the gel at the halfway way. Probably best I didn't take it as this forced me to hit pretty even splits and not destroy myself in the back half. Cadence lower than last run too with stride length longer, definitiely felt easier and the last 16K were pretty close to the pace of the 16K from last run.
Overall pace: 4:12.0
First 10K: 4:13.4
Last 16K: 4:10.8
Last 10K: 4:10.6
Last 5K: 4:10.7