Notes
Very solid workout, felt very comfortable the whole way. In a group with Brian and Dan, and they're great partners. We alternated leads throughout and everyone seemed to be exerting the right effort for the workout. Rob found us about 20 in and kept us honest, which was good since we might have been slacking a little, but I expected to be picking up anyway around that point.
Goal pace of 5:35-5:40. Started off with a 5:45 on the track and I was perfectly alright with that. Maintained effort for a few minutes and then started to up the pace a bit, though I'm sure it was fluctuating with the hills. The last 3 laps were around 5:30 pace, only a slight pickup from what we had been running. Felt great, very within myself, not digging at all.
I think my attitude on tempos has changed a lot over the summer and I've got a much better idea of what constitutes a tempo these days. No more pace fixation to the point of overexertion. But it helps to have the fitness too... today's tempo was one of my best while being one of the least, if not THE least, taxing.
BTW, 28:12 pace for 8K. My (soft) PR is 28:05. Looking for big things soon.