it's not a sprint: some speedwork and a long afternoon in the woods

Saturday morning I headed back to Cass Park for some fast miles. It was a beautiful day and I got to the park early, before it was too busy or was too hot. I ended up doing 6.5 miles.

2 mi at 7:30 pace
.25 mi at 9:30 pace
1.75 mi at 7:20 pace
.25 mi at 9:00 pace
1.75 mi at 7:30 pace
.5 mi at 9:30 pace.

It was hard. I have spent a lot of time just logging a lot of miles and doing slower long runs, and I have not spent much time thinking about speed work. I have been working toward the 50k and I'm just hoping to finish, so speed hasn't been on my mind.

Today I planned on a 4 hour trail run. I was going to get up at 6 and be at the trail by 7. Except I didn't wake up until 8. Apparently I've become pretty good at turning my alarm off without realizing it. By that time Logan was up and was in a totally mama's boy mood. I couldn't pass up the opportunity for some fun time with my boy when he was being all nice and lovey. Later, after lunch and after Logan went down for a nap, I left to run. I got running by 2:30. I wore my Camelbak which held 2 liters of Gatorade, some sport beans and honey stinger waffles, and an extra pair of socks. I followed the Finger Lakes Trail, which spans most of the state, and ran for 2 hours, before turning around. The trail was pretty technical and there were quite a few sections that I had to walk. I didn't want to risk twisting an ankle or falling and breaking the rest of my fingers, so I was pretty cautious. I nearly got hurt when I was on a foot bridge going over a stream and I got stung by a yellow jacket (i think). I jumped and nearly fell off the foot bridge. The damn thing stung me in the back of my left knee, right in the soft part. It hurt so much and every step was painful for about 20 to 30 minutes. I've been stung in the arm before, which also hurt a lot, but this one was worse. I made pretty good time on the way back, since I knew where all of the tricky spots were.

I love the woods!