Right on Tempo

This morning, BF and I did a tempo run together. We slowly jogged to the park for a warm-up, then sped up for a 4-mile loop through the park. I found it harder to judge the pace the first mile than normal, because it's still taking longer than normal to find my stride. I took a minute to count my strides, and I was at almost exactly 180/minute, so I knew we were doing ok. The first mile was in 7:50, and neither of us were suffering, so it was comforting to know we were at a good pace. Mile 2 was more of the same, comfortable but hard. Mile 3 is always the toughest on this loop, because it is one rolling hill after another (next time, I think we should do the loop backwards to get these hills over with). All I can do during this mile is concentrate on my form and keep my effort and pace constant. The last mile started off fine, but with about 1/2 mile to go, I felt my stride get uneven, almost like I was favoring my leg, and I was tensing up because of it. I slowed down a bit, while BF finished fast, and we joined back up for a slow cool-down back home. Even with that decrease in pace, I still managed to finish the 4 mile loop in 32:00, which is a perfect tempo run pace. 6.3 miles in 53:00 (8:19 mpm) including 4 miles in 32:00 (8:00 mpm)