Great post. You are making me yearn for spring...I run but not nearly as much as I used to. I ran and completed a marathon (yes, they are all 26.2 miles haha...I love when people ask that question) a few years back and I was training outdoors during the winter. It was pretty hard-core and left me with a few aches and pains that get aggravated during the winter so these days I am a fair-weather runner and I still love it. Running early in the day, like you said, is the best time for me. It gets my yah-yah's out and then puts me in a nice, calm state to sit and smoke and enjoy relaxing and smoking at an even deeper level. I love the zone of running and how I feel afterwards. I really can't wait to lace up the shoes and put a few miles on.
Hope you are getting some good miles in out there desert.