Notes
Planned: marathon pace minus 10%
Actual: ran the first mile in 8:15, then the next two in 15:45 for 24:00 exactly through the first three miles -- all on streets and sidewalks.
The next 12 miles were six two-mile Herrick trail loops. My two-mile splits here came in consistently under 7:50, and my last loop actually came in around 7:30. Final 1.1 miles, on sidewalks back to Five Points, came in around 9 minutes.
This was an exceptional workout. First, my back gave me less trouble as I went, and it was a non-issue by the last few miles. I also managed to run more or less negative splits, most of them 10-20 seconds per mile faster than planned. This was unusual because I didn't notice any increase in my aerobic effort through the workout; while I definitely felt my legs at the end, I wasn't breathing any harder than I had been at the start.
Finally, that last mile was interesting. My last mile on any long run is usually mentally tough, and this one was mostly uphill. In spite of that, I actually managed to hold the same pace all the way through with very little added effort, except for a somewhat harder workout up the steepest part of the hill.
Maybe I could have cooled it a bit on the pace and just run the workout as planned. But the pace I ended up running didn't strike me as too ambitious. The weather helped, but on the other hand I was feeling shot the night before, so this was really a surprise. Gonna take my Monday easy run REALLY easy, maybe 10 minute pace. I certainly earned that today.