The shape I'm in

Today was my usual Tuesday 6 a.m. run with the folks from Luke's Locker off of University Drive. We usually do 6 or 7 miles at a pretty quick pace. And for me the pace is faster than half-marathon pace but slower than 10k pace. I use the run as an indicator of the kind of shape I'm in. So I was pretty happy when I hit the stop button on my Garmin 305 and it read;
Miles: 6.12
Time: 48:27.
Pace: 7:54
Woooo-hoooo. Thats a workout PR.
Now, there are a couple of things worth mentioning. At mile 3 or so, we usually stop at a water fountain. It's about a 30 second break or so. During this break, I hit the stop button on my Garmin. So the total time does not include that break. Last week, I didn't stop for the water break, and my pace was 8:03.
Still, I'm not going to apologize for being smart to take a quick respite. Afterall, it was 70 degrees with the humidity at 68 percent. Sticky.
For much of the last three miles, we did this crazy speed drill where it was 35 seconds fast, 60 seconds recovery. Good thing Monday night that I only drank one glass of Vina Robles Cabernet Sauvignon or it would have wound up all over my running shorts this morning.
The cool thing about using the Garmin is it tells you how long your heart rate was at a certain level. Things start to get pretty hard when my heart rate hovers over 88 percent maximum. Today, I spent 39:47 in that "red-line" area.
Just to show you how much a difference the temperature makes, I did this same run on Feb. 19. It was 38 degrees outside. My heart rate never got above 84 percent. This morning, my average heart rate was 88 percent.
Cheers