6.8 miles hard

Being resigned to missing tomorrow's 10K on account of other commitments (as well as some lower back pain) I went out for a run along the canal while it was still light enough to see properly where I was going. The first mile, which included the climb from Garscube Road up to the canal via Baird's Brae, came in at about 6:45, and I felt sufficiently OK to speed up a bit. Approaching the aqueduct over Lochburn Road, I thought of heading straight back home via Maryhill Road to see if I could beat 25 minutes for once on a route from years gone by, but I wanted to get more miles in so continued to Lock 27, down Crow Road and back along Great Western Road. I whittled my average pace down to 6:15 and had enough seconds in hand as I passed Achilles Heel that there was no real danger of missing the target. Finished the 6.78 mile route in 42:02, 6:12/mile.