Warm Winter Night

Distance:  2.61
Time:  30:01
Location:  Yucca Loma to Rincon and back

I've been getting my second run each week in on Wednesday, but this week that didn't work.  We had to drive my mother-in-law, who had been staying with us, back home, and we got back too late for a run.  So instead I ran Thursday night (1/30).  And it ended up being perfect.  When I got home from work I got busy making dinner, a shrimp etouffee.  I didn't get done until 8pm, so I ended up running first then eating after.  The unseasonably warm weather we've been having started to come to an end, as the wind picked up and the clouds gathered.  But the temperature, which is supposed to drop a lot in the next few days, stayed more or less the same.  It was about 50° when I headed out.  Though it was a bit chilly, it quickly became pleasant as I warmed up from my run.  I decided to head up towards Yucca Loma to get a good hill run in.  The run up the hill was tough, but not nearly as tough as it was last week.  I went out at a slow but steady pace.  I was pretty beat by the time I reached Rincon, but when I turned around and began descending Yucca Loma everything came together.  I got a second wind, my pace remained pretty slow but steady as ever, I wasn't huffing and puffing at all (my breathing has improved a lot this week), and best of all the light breeze in the air filled me with nostalgic thoughts of my days of running in high school.  That's because the breeze had the distinct aroma of a field of chaparral.  The same aroma I smelled on almost all my runs in high school near and around the San Gabriel foothills.  My friend Matt and I even named this lovely aroma, simply, "field."  The field smell is all over the Rancho Cucamonga area, especially up closer to the mountains where vast stretches used to be left undeveloped and covered in scrub brush.  When it would be windy or rainy this smell would overwhelm, and every time I catch a whiff of it, I'm immediately transported to those youthful days of running.  However, the "field" smell is not too common up in the desert.  So to smell it this night was a rare treat, and it invigorated me and fueled me for the rest of my run.  I descended the rest of Yucca Loma, looking out over the sea of lights that cover the Victor Valley, and ran all the way to our street.  It was a perfect run (albeit a slow one).  It felt great from beginning to end, and the distinct feeling of improvement I felt Monday night has definitely continued.  If things keep going like this, I'll feel great on this 5K.  I can't talk too soon, though, as I still have two weeks left of training and things could always turn for the worse.  I just have to train smart.