Notes
1 more big workout before taper. Eventually I settled on this as a workout: 6mile progression w/ 2miles segments of tempo, 10mile, and 10k pace.
I warmed-up on trails, taking it easy but accidentally going for nearly 4 miles.
My first mile started with a downhill, so it wasn't very difficult to get to <6 pace. I tried to stay relaxed and hit just under 6 for mile 1 and a little faster for mile 2. I wish it would have been faster or felt easier though.
For mile 3, I increased to 5:30 pace fairly easily but it was hard to stay there, if I lost focus for a bit, I would creep up to 5:40's. I hit both mile 3 and 4 in 5:35 but knew this was not going as well as I envisioned. I also started running back into the wind which would continue for another mile (it wasn't much of a wind, but not encouraging).
I was not looking forward to it, but at least I went after the 10k pace. The hope was under 5:20 but I couldn't seem to stay there. I pushed hard and finished in 5:23, without much hope for the last mile.
The last mile ended up being most variable, as my motivation waxed and waned, and finished barely faster than my 10mile paces.
This would have been nice to faster, but you can't always get what you want. In any case, it's probably one of the fastest 6milers I've ever done by myself.