24 at Pineland

I'm afraid I fall into the camp of not particularly enjoying racing at Pineland, despite the fact that it is such a fun event in May. But, I do like to run at Pineland on occasion, as long as I don't have to run the dreaded extra fields ;) Which led to this morning's meet-up with Amy. I came armed with a box of donuts and we set off for Oak Hill at 6:00 am. The loose plan was to run loops of Oak Hill, with the option to head over across campus down along the river if we started to lose our minds doing 4 mile laps ;) I do like Oak Hill though, and we had a lot to catch up on as we ran along, so I didn't mind the loops. We did two forward laps then a third lap in reverse before heading back to the car to refill our bladders, etc. We were taking the pace nice and easy, walking the big hills and chatting away. It was a lovely morning, and nice and cool in the shade of the canopy above the trails. No bugs either - hurray!

But by the middle of the fourth lap, I said I thought we should branch out a bit for the final 8 miles. 16 miles over there must be my limit ;) We headed down through the campus loop where they were working hard clearing brush in amongst the pine trees and across the fields to the yurt. It was warm out in the open, but there was a breeze and the air smelled sweet of summer wildflowers and grass. Plus the clouds were nice and fluffy. It really is beautiful out there.

We meandered around the trails by the yurt and came back through the campus itself, adding on a bit at the end across the street to even the mileage out to 24 miles. Amy's watch was showing less than mine, so of course she had to do a little bit extra ;) Gotta get that mileage! I was happy to feel solid throughout, despite leaving my salt tabs at home (oops!). My back was a non-issue and while I did feel a bit of tightness in my right hip in the last mile, otherwise my legs felt good.

A great way to spend a morning! Thanks for the run, Amy!