I just got done with a LR and was talking about my run with a friend who also ran. We both had average mile paces within a few seconds of each other as we are pretty identical in training. However, he began his run already at this goal average pace, and continued to stay at or within a few seconds the entire time. While I started about 30 seconds above the goal average pace, and cut down literally every mile to a final mile 30 seconds below the goal pace. We compared our HR as well, and they were mostly the same. This led us to wonder if there is a better option to choose and if one would provide more benefit out of the same run.