stinger fast

Fastest pace on this trail ever! Progress.. sweet progress.. I purposely ran this one fast. I didn't push too hard, but my goal was to beat my previous fastest pace on this trail route. I left my phone in the car on purpose and only carried my key in shorts pocket and Garmin 310XT in my hand (since my dog at the wrist band). I was stung by some flying insect on my lower right calf during the first mile but kept going. I kept my eye on the trail and the "virtual partner" rather than the pace and kept seeing the "time ahead" increasing until that last steep uphill. I walked up it and noted that I lost 40 seconds, but gained 20 of it back before the cut-off to return to car. I ran two loops and was amazed at overall pace (75 seconds/mile faster than my previous best), especially since I didn't think I was pushing too hard. Woohoo!