Distance today = 52.86 km; Total distance = 2851.18 km; Location = Calimesa – 34 00.969′ N, 117 05.917′ W; Start time = 0843, Finish time = 1618

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/154270429

Today was a day of highly variable winds. I headed off in very still conditions. At the 5 km mark, all of a sudden there was a massive gale-force headwind which hammered me for the next hour or so. It gradually swung around to be a cross-wind from the north, and by lunch-time had eased off to a moderate tailwind. If the intense headwind had continued all day, it would certainly have been the hardest day of running I'd ever encountered.

The skies were extremely clear and I was watched over by Mount Baldy all morning, replete with a very light cover of snow. It made the peak look like a pointy muffin top dusted with a sprinkle of icing sugar.

I am now about 120 km east of the centre of Los Angeles, and yet I still haven't reached true rural landscape. I think it might come tomorrow, however, as I head toward Palm Springs. I pushed a little further today than I had planned, so that I finished within striking distance of Palm Springs – that is, within a single day of running. It's like being within a 9-iron of the green.