I love running in the afternoon - first, I get to spend the day dreaming up a workout but mostly I'm just plain faster later in the day. My knees were feeling great - not saying I could go do wall sits but I knew my easy-run-plan for this week was out the window. I have no self-control. The workout I decided on was a pyramid - 1 mile each @ HMGP, 10KGP, 5KGP, 10KGP and HMGP. So after a 1-mile warmup it should look something like 8, 7:30, 7, 7:30, 8 for the pace.
Splits: 8:14 warmup, then 7:54, 7:29, 6:44, 7:09, 7:43. Average was 7:33 for the entire 6.
I was nervous about even being able to hit the planned splits so it was a nice surprise. The final 10k mile was a bit of a breakthrough because I should have been wiped out after the sub-7 mile and the last 10k mile was uphill but my breathing was actually recovering. The last mile felt easy. I should do more of these target-pace runs because they really keep me interested and engaged - and I go faster. But only in the afternoon! | 
