The thing nobody talks about with edge-first is how it messes with your timing once the sun hits. Had a pour where we started on edges at 6am and by the time we got to the middle the cream was already setting up, so we ended up with this weird hard ring around a soft middle. Working middle-out means the part that sits longest is the thickest section, which holds moisture longer anyway. Plus the screed guys behind you aren't waiting on you to finish a perimeter, they can start pulling as soon as you move off center. Cost me two power trowel passes on that last job to learn it.

Honestly pushing to Pecks Corner on day one is brutal but you are NOT doing it backwards. The shelter spacing on that stretch is weird anyway, Icewater to Pecks is a long haul and most people underestimate it. My knees thank me when I skip the short days too, it is the stopping and starting that kills them more than the miles. Plus dodging the shelter crowd is worth its own weight in gold, those places get LOUD. You saved a whole day of packing up wet gear so I call that a win. Just watch your water on that push because the sources between there are spotty.