I went out for a noon run today instead of running in the morning. It was still plenty cold, and pretty windy. I figured I only had time for 5 miles, and that would have to be at closer to an 8:00 minute pace than 9:00. I averaged around 8:15 the first two miles, into the wind and with a little uphill. The third mile was 8:49, with some pretty good uphill. Mile 4 was along the canal road (mostly level) at 8:02. The last mile included the 1600 N downhill. Even though it was into the wind I still managed to drop down to 7:03 for the last mile, for an overall average of 8:04/mi. This was not race pace, or even a fast tempo run, but it felt good to push the pace a bit. I'm feeling strong, and my Achilles is behaving, but it keeps reminding me to be prudent and not push too much too soon.
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