back to running

gave my cycling muscles a rest and went on my first run of the year. usually i don't enjoy running in suburbs as much since i don't find the scenery as interesting - i prefer to run by bodies of water. but today as soon as i came outside, i noticed that the mountains were hazier than usual. or i have a feeling that's how it usually is and my absence from saratoga's turned its beauty into novelty for me.

passing charters while running on glen brae. i used to take this back entrance to walk home from argonaut elementary way back in the day. i don't think i ever appreciated how beautiful my immediate hometown surroundings are until i made this trip back home. no wonder our parents made the investment to live here. meanwhile, growing up, i was staring at the computer or tv screen too much to notice.

i probably should have run more this break to train for the myrtle beach half marathon i have coming up in february. i at least have the endurance for it from cycling. however yesterday i realized that myrtle beach conflicts with chinese new year. depending on how i feel and travel logistics, i might cancel running that race so that i can celeberate with darren/family friends in nyc.

anyway i have pictures of what i saw when i ran because after i finished, i rode out on my mountain bike again to capture the mountain haze. i can literally see all that from almost every street in the triangle, including the one i live on. i really can't believe i grew up here.

it was so beautiful that i rode over to parker ranch, a vista point where a bunch of us used to go to see city nightlights (except saratoga, which was always pitch black).

the climb up is a bit hefty but super short. i'm pretty proud of how strong my legs are now, even after yesterday's romp on montebello.

there're paths up here that people hike on. not sure if they allow mountain biking... i'll look it up for the next time i come back.

i didn't get to watch the sunset transition to citylights since i made sure to get down before the sun completely set. while looking out, i fell off my bike while attached to my pedals cuz i kept staring at the view and wasn't paying attention to how i was leaning against my handlebars. at least i'm more careful when i'm actually riding. i tend to trip over only when my bike's stopped.

on the way back i passed through argonaut. the school's so small to me now. i still remember struggling in PE whenever we had to run laps around the back field. haha.

running total: 4 mi
recovery ride total: ~9 mi