The Neighborhood

Time:  20 minutes
Distance:  1.85 miles
Location:  Yucca Loma-Mojave River-Ottawa Loop

One day off didn't do too much.  Sunday and Monday were my first two runs in many months, and they left me as sore as I've ever been!  Yesterday I could hardly walk!  I was hoping today I would be feeling great and ready for run #3 this week, but, though I felt better than yesterday, the soreness was still there (especially around my ankles) and I was still feeling stiff.  However, with the Mojave Narrows 5K just over 50 days away, I didn't want to miss a single run.  And so I forced myself out the door on a warm May night.  It turned out to be an okay run.  I ran for 20 minutes, just like on Sunday, but I came up with a slightly shorter distance, 1.85 miles opposed to Sunday's 1.89.  I credit this to the soreness.  My breathing and stamina felt slightly better than earlier in the week.  As far as the route, since this was a 20-minute run, I simply meandered and made up a route on the way.  I made my way up to Yucca Loma Rd., followed that west towards the river, turned left down Kasanka Trail, followed that all the way down to Havasu, turned right, ran along Havasu to Ivanpah, turned right again, then left on Ottawa and back up to our house.  The best part of this run was along Kasanka Trail.  This north-south street parallels the Mojave River.  It is lined with houses on the east side and nothing on the west side, so all you see is the river and the city beyond, which tonight was brightly lit in the clear night air.  It was a peaceful stretch.  But the whole run was really enjoyable.  My wife and I have lived in this neighborhood now for over 10 months and sometimes I feel like I still haven't explored it enough.  Running it tonight I really got a sense of its calm, clean, peaceful vibe.  I think we ended up in a great place and I'm definitely thankful to have a neighborhood I can run around, even late at night.  Those warm, tranquil nights are some of the best times for running.  Tonight was one of them.