5:30 PM. Clear, light breeze, 93 degrees. Mystery field. Over the last year I've noticed this field, with an asphalt track around it, from the Legacy Parkway Trail, but I never knew how to access it until last week when I stumbled upon it during a road run. It has a huge parking lot, but no signs indicating I should stay out. Easy access, no locked gates, and I've never seen anyone there. So today after work the dogs and I went over to the "Mystery Field". Thusly named because I have no idea who owns it, what it's used for, or how it got there. Maybe it only exists in my head! Anyway, it turns out the track (about 5 ft wide) is a half mile long. Sprinklers were going on the east side of the field, and they bled over onto the track, so every half mile I got sprayed by a couple of different sprinklers. That, and the breeze kept me cool during the run. After 5 miles, I ran a 1/4 mile barefoot on the asphalt. Quite a bit slower as this was my first barefoot experience off grass. Very different foot strike of course, and much slower. The only discomfort was the bottom of both my big toes got very hot. I can still feel it, like a blister, but not. 5 miles/42:44/8:33 avg. .25 mile barefoot/10:12 pace.
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