Sunday at Currahee

After a week of pavement and "city" (Toccoa, GA) exploration, the weekend of trails was a welcome relief.
Saturday morning: 8+ miles in the Lake Russell area. Legs felt a little sore but I did not have the zombie-esque reaction of last weekend.
Sunday morning (albeit - 10:00am) run was a novel experience - a gentle jog?
Brief history of my relationship with Currahee: running this mountain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currahee_Mountain)since the bar torture ended (7/31). Since August, Currahee has been a weekly destination. It has provided many benefits: relief from the heat (always 5+ degrees cooler there); training ground for the Curahee challenge and other hilly runs. Before the time change, every Wed or Thurs, I would leave work in Toccoa and drive over to Curahee. Often, the last .25 miles would involve a prayer for relief; my throat would burn; my legs would request to stop. And, I would give in and start walking. Then, one afternoon in September, the voices of disdain were less vocal, and my ears heard the sounds of the birds and the leaves fluttering in the wind. And, I did not stop; I ran to the top of the mountain. Since that summit, my experience at Curahee has changed; it has become one of my favorite mountains to climb - a strenuous 1+ mile to the summit - so extreme that you must plan how the earlier 2+ will be run.
My enjoyment of Currahee has (summitted?) progressed to my earlier reference - to a gentle jog. What provided for such an enjoyable morning on such an arduous climb? Maybe it was last weekend's exhausted plodding of 15 miles, which left the door open for enjoyment of previously difficult runs? Or, just the accumulation of many different types of runs? Or, the open winter view of Stephens County?

This morning's run will be on the list for a Top Ten.