Hills, I used to hate them with a passion. But people say they are speed work in disguise, they build strength, they build character, and they make you a better runner. So I am trying, I still think running hills on roads is a soul sucking experience but trail hills are so much better and so different. I find myself doing hill repeats so I can better conquer the hills on trails. There is a small greenway nearby that Jesse and I can run to that has a good long hill to train on. The other day I wanted to do Gaviota Peak since we were both off but it was a rainy windy day so Jesse did not want to exercise outside. Since I bought myself a new running rain coat when I bought my hydration pack I figured what the hell. I put on my new coat to test it in the rain and off I went to go run that hill. I had only made it up one time before but I was determined to do it again. As I got to the base of it and started slowly running up the wind picked up and the rain pelted me in the face. I chose to consider it character building and I went up that hill once and then did it a second time. Very proud of myself I headed home; I must have been out a while longer than expected since Jesse started sending me worried texts asking if I was OK.
Finally another day came around that Jesse and I were off and it was a nice day so we were finally going to do Gaviota Peak. Jesse is surprised by my new desire to climb up hills but living in CA I find myself seeking hills out since the views from the top are worth every single lung searing heart pounding breath. This particular peak is quite a challenge. We walked up part of it one other day when we checked out the hot springs but Jesse had to go to work so we did not have time for the full trip up to the peak. It is a six mile round trip with about 2100 of elevation gain. I would have better statistics but my Garmin Forerunner 10 has given up keeping track of that information for me so I bought myself a new Forerunner 225 that will be here in Jan. I am so excited. We will have to go up the peak again so I can try it out.
Anyway, I loaded up my pack and off we set for the 30 minute or so drive to the trailhead. We started hiking up and up and up we went. There are some steep parts and lots of switchbacks as you climb up higher and higher. You go through a metal cow gate and keep following the fire road up to the top. There are little glimpses of the ocean as you go and when Jesse and I made it to the almost top (not sure how else to describe it) we were rewarded with a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean and the Channel Islands. There is a little bit more of a climb to the official top and you can see all the way to Santa Barbara from up there. The trail also seems to go several miles in each direction across the top of the Santa Ynez Mountains. It was stunning up there and worth the long hard climb. We had some snacks and wandered a bit around the top of the peak to see all we could see. It was cooler up there and a bit breezy so we headed back down. Part of the reason I wanted to go up was so that I could run down. It was a little scary running down since parts of it were steep with a large drop off the side of the trail and some of it was rocky. I managed to make it down without falling down or off any cliffs or breaking an ankle so I was very excited.
We made it back to the car with exhausted legs but big smiles. It was a great hike/run and I hope we do it again before we go. There is another trail that you can take to the top that is more single track with views of the ocean so we will have to try that out, although it is not any less steep.
Jesse and I had worked up a good appetite with that adventure so we went home and got cleaned up so we could go for some dinner. For those of you that know us, we don’t do Christmas really; we don’t buy each other presents or anything we instead go out for a really nice dinner with wine and appetizers and dessert, the whole shebang. This time we went to D’Vine, really cool wine bar and bistro in downtown Lompoc. It is cute and the food and wine are very good. We had a great time. It was a perfect ending to a really wonderful day.
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