Santa Barbara Sun
After a long few months of traveling and long training sessions, the time in
With the Vision Quest race behind me, it also marks the end of the "building" or the endurance phase for my training this season. I made it through an ultramarathon and the Vision Quest and now it is time to build speed for the Xterra races ahead. Hopefully, I will have my IT bands loose and trouble free by then.
Yesterday, Monique and I took a run out on the tunnel trail. It is only one of the stunning trials that are part of the Santa Barbara Nine Trails ultra we plan to run this November. I have heard people say that this 35 miler feels more like a 50 and now I can see why. The tunnel trail climbs just a little over a thousand feet but it is a rugged and torn trail that is exposed for most of the accent.
The harsh terrain is only surpassed by the beauty of the town and ocean views that only get better as you make your way to the peak. Then as you reach the peak the trial begins to run smooth and become enclosed by lush grass and ferns.
(Santa Barbara below and the Channel Islands back in the left)
(the trial turns nice as we reach the cool air near the peak)
Our run ended early when the pain of my IT Bands just would not go away. This was not a day to push through the pain. This was a weekend of relaxation and recovery. As we headed back down my thoughts turned to how blessed I was to run these beautiful trails. Even if I had some pain in the knee that was turning into a pain in the… well, you know. I was out on the trail with my wife and best friend. I had made it through some long training weeks and even longer stressful weeks at work. We were heading down to spend the weekend with family in celebration. We were soaking up the sky and the breath of the trail. We were on our way down to eat! I was so stoked.
On the way home tonight we watched the sunset and it put the perfect ending to the weekend. The pictures really are worth a thousand words.
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