?????

Ran 5.7 miles @ 7:21/mile pace. Paved and dirt roads. Very hilly.

I had some GPS tracking issues during my run today so I wasn't able to monitor my splits that well. However, I know the distance of this route and calculated my pace based on my time afterwards and was surprised. I sincerely thought I was going at my "easy" pace, which is around 7:50-ish a mile for this course. My breathing was relaxed, I even told myself to slow down a few times. I felt like I was just taking it easy, and I was.

But "easy" at 7:21/mile? So, is this my new "easy" pace? Am I really seeing a significant improvement in my running? Given last Sunday's performance on my 10.2 route and today, I'd like to think my running is being taking to the next level, but such thinking is dangerous. This has only been a few runs, and I need to be consistent. Tomorrow will be a further test with the 5K. I think breaking my PR of 19:33 set last May is virtually a certainty, and a sub-19 race is very possible.

Worth noting: While the majority of my line of thinking is that running the race tomorrow will be fun and worth while, a significant part of me wishes that I wasn't. I felt compelled to alter my running schedule to taper down for the race, rather than getting in more miles which I feel is important for my next marathon in February, which I really want to BQ with. Still, I'm looking at tomorrow as a good speed workout. Should be fun.