Nailed it!

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On occasion there is a run that goes entirely as planned and even better than you could have anticipated; these are often the runs you do not think too much about and just do. Last night I completed one of those. It might have been the novelty of doing an entirely new workout that motivated me. It was forty minutes at an easy recovery pace, forty minutes at marathon pace plus thirty seconds per mile and forty minutes at marathon pace. The first forty minutes passed uneventfully, the second forty minutes was where I began to really enjoy the session and was especially pleased by how easy it felt, which a low HR evidenced. By now the heavy showers of earlier had dispersed and it was a beautiful evening, which the surrounds of the Phoenix park will always enhance. The third forty minutes at marathon pace felt great and I struggled to hold myself from running it too fast and the pace during this final third was somewhere between marathon and half marathon pace.
The total run distance was 16.34 miles. If the training effect that some claim is a consequence of this workout has any veracity, and it remains as enjoyable but challenging an experience as last night's session, I shall make it a consistent part of future schedules.
The splits are as follows 07:55, 08:23, 8:24, 8:44, 8:21, 7:16, 7:15, 7:13, 7:18, 7:18, 6:49, 6:37, 6:38, 6:42, 6:36, 6:22, 2:20.