Distance: 2 miles
Time: 18:05
Location: Rincon to home via Yucca Loma
Tonight's run was a whole lot of things. First, it was a run I went on reluctantly after a tough couple of off days. Second, it was an unusual run in that I was dropped off at a point and had to run home from there. And third, it was a run that ended up being surprisingly good. I'll tackle these three things in order.
On Wednesday I went on a 25 minute run. It didn't go over very well. Like all my runs recently, I've been plagued with achy legs. The bones in my feet and shins have been hurting and thus not allowing me to build any sort of fluid rhythm on my runs. I constantly feel stiff and tight. It was becoming a real problem. So Thursday I decided to forgo a run and let my legs rest. Then Friday I unexpectedly did the same. I felt real guilty about not running Friday, but my legs still weren't feeling great and also my wife was bringing home pizza from my favorite pizza place and she didn't get home until around 8pm, so by then I had lost all motivation to run. But I consoled myself by thinking the more rest the better my legs would feel. So today I knew I had to run, but after two days off I wasn't feeling very excited about it. Whenever I would run in place in my house I would feel that same achy feeling in my legs. I was starting to get very discouraged, thinking my legs would never heal, that I'd never be able to be a serious runner again. I didn't know how I was going to get myself out the door for a run. Then an idea came to me. My wife announced we needed to make a trip to Target to return some items and I thought, what if on the way home my wife drop me off at a spot 2 miles from our house and I would have to run the rest of the way back?! There would be no backing out of that one! So I mapped it out and found the spot on Rincon Rd.about half a mile north of Yucca Loma. The other non-motivating factor tonight was the weather. It suddenly got cold and windy up here in the desert after weeks of intense heat. So as we were driving home from Target, it read 54 degrees on the car's temperature gauge, and the wind was sure to make it feel colder. Needless to say I wasn't anxious to get out of that car and begin my run. We drove down Rincon, though, and as soon as we reached the designated point, I opened the door and my wife drove off and I had nothing to do but run home.
The route was basic but I liked it. After a half mile on Rincon I turned right onto Yucca Loma and headed west. Normally when I run this way I have to run uphill to the top of Yucca Loma near Rincon before turning and heading back. But this time I got to skip the uphill and just run down Yucca Loma all the way home. The run ended up being great. I was worried about my achy legs, and while I was still on Rincon, they did feel pretty stiff. But surprisingly they loosened up on Yucca Loma. In fact, as I cruised downhill, they started feeling pretty good! By the time I crossed Apple Valley I was actually able to pick up my pace and as I ran down our street to our house I was at full gait, arms pumping, stride open and wide. I guess two days off actually paid off after all. I ended up with an 18:05 two mile time, which compared to my recent runs is really good. I went back and looked at my past 2 mile times and tonight's run actually ranks pretty high. To compare, my first two mile time in 2010 was 19:18 and I wasn't able to run faster than tonight's 18:05 until August 3, 2010 when I ran an 18:02! However, last year I was running 2 miles consistently in the 16s and 17s, so I still have a ways to go. But tonight was progress indeed! My legs felt better, my times were better, and it was an all-around fun and exciting run! I hit a little slump this week, but I hope that is now in the past.
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