What a surprise the other morning. My training plan called for a 5 mile tempo run, at at 9:35 per mile pace. However, I’ve been running at a quicker pace than what’s been laid out in my plan. Because of that, I had mentally set a per mile pace of 9:15 as I started the run.

Yet every time I looked down at my Garmin and saw 8-something in the Pace field, I was surprised. My rate of perceived exertion did not indicate a sub 9:00 per mile pace. And so I just kept running. I slowed down when it got hard and then sped up when it got easy.

All in all, I covered the 5 miles in 43:15, which averages to an 8:39 minute per mile pace. One of the benefits of using a Garmin for the past 6 years is having historical data to compare where I am now to where I used to be. And just looking back to the past few years, this most recent effort really is the quickest 5 miler I’ve put out.

All those track workouts and tempo runs have been paying off.

Who doesn’t love seeing progress? Between pregnancy, injury shortly after having Miles, more injury and then just committing to the work – I feel like I’ve got it. I am in a really good spot concerning my running. I feel strong. I feel fast. And I don’t hurt (much).