It was pacer week at Town Moor today and I hadn’t paced all year, I don’t think. I paced 27 minutes last time I did it (about a year ago?) and I’m currently a teensy bit slower because an injury threw a spanner in the works at the start of the year. Nevertheless I’m currently running Town Moor in 25:xx whenever I properly go for it so I thought 27 would be just about doable.
(And also it was the only slot left in the high 20s.)
(And also 27 used to be Ed’s pacer slot, and he always used to tell me I shouldn’t be pacing 30-odd like I was doing back then because I could do a lot better than that.)
So I signed up for 27 and hoped that the forecast would be right about it cooling down after a hot few days. Thankfully, it was. 8:40 min miles felt genuinely comfortable (why is that only ever the case at parkrun?) and I had to stay focused in order to keep it slow enough in the last half mile or so to hit the time goal. 26:59 and in total control the whole way. Delighted with that.
No idea about next week yet but it’ll be local.