Thursday - 60 minute tempo

Anither hot and humid morning, although not as bad as yesterday. Increased the length of my warm-up under strict instructions from Gary to 20 minutes (I was going too shirt prior to this). Met Tom & Justin (surprise guest) under the stone arch for a 6:15am kick-off. Justin had planned two laps of the North Head loop, so set off solo a minute or two before Tom & myself. We then set off for the predominantly uphill first kilometer. Got through the first marker quite quick, then it was simply just a matter of holding on. To be honest, this is the first time I think that I have ever run a tempo/threshold session at the ideal pace. In that it felt hard, but never out of control. And each kilometer was consistent, give or take the undulations. The goal was to go out at 3:35's, and finish at 3:32's. We pretty much held under this for the entire hour. In the end, we got out 17.26km, averaging 3:29's. We were both pretty knackered at the end, but I am sure that we could still have gone further and/or harder if our lives depended on it. An average heart rate of 175 seems spot on as well. A very slow and steady cooldown back home (Gary's strict instructions to keep it at no more than 5km); holding sub-5's downhill actually felt harder than holding 3:29's!!! Huge session, just under 27km all up! Needless to say, no need for another run this afternoon. Rest day tomorrow, bring it on!