Training day 25: 12K - Almost

I had gone to bed yesterday still debating within myself whether to run today or take a break and run on Thursday. My right knee had some pain and my left leg had some other pains. Would I convert the pains to injuries by running today? I asked myself.
Anyway, I decided since I am only doing 12K and since I am actually tapering this week, there should be no injury. Plus, my objective is to put my cerelac legs under pressure so that they can become hard and chew sugarcane.
So at 4.30 I was up and by 4:40am I was out. This time, I made sure to bandage my right leg properly and my left shin too. I felt pretty good. I only met three runners. I realized my familiarity with the road and my comfort with the distance had increased my confidence. So I decided to be faster than yesterday and I was! I cleared the first 6k in 29:42 and I felt energized. I hoped to do a negative split but it didnt happen and I cleared the 12K in 1:00:10. This is good. I am pretty confident that by the end of next week I should be able to do 12K in 58 mins. Its important to note that I am doing it comfortably fast, not at an all-out effort or speed. I have to bear in mind that for me to have done the halfm in 102mins last year, I did 11K in about 50mins. So I have to reach that 50mins for 12K by end of August. By slashing 2 mins per week. Yes, pretty ambitious. Hopefully, no injuries will stand in my way. I rest tomorrow then another 12K on Friday.
Cheers.
A

PS: By the way, I am kinda glad that my quads are painful today. Its about time they started doing some work. So far only my lower legs have registered pain of straining. I hope this is a good sign. Good in the sense that injury-prone muscles and joints are off the hook and now the big muscles are saying "Thanks, we will take it from here on." That would be excellent.