3 Mile Training

Tuesday was my last 3 mile training walk for a while.  After this it gets a little, um, intense.  Especially for someone who loves her couch as much as I do.

So to celebrate I brought my camera with me to show you a little bit of my neighborhood.

Here's a blurry glimpse of the view from about 500 feet away from my front door.  I used to think that this was looking out toward the Central Valley but as it turns out we're looking straight down toward the southern end of the Sierra Nevada foothills.

Heading up toward and around the top of the street we get a view of the canyon.  When it snows you can sometimes catch a glimpse of the tops of mountains in the high country.

See that road snaking up through the middle of the picture?  I walk up that road.  It's steep.  Did I mention how much I love my couch?

Of course, before you walk up a steep road you need to go down one first.

Back over to the canyon...wouldn't you just love to have that view right off your deck?  Or, heck, why not have a second deck as well.  It's good to have choices.

It was about 80 degrees already by the time I started my walk (8:30 AM).  Depending on my mood on a given walk day this sign is either cruel irony, or a delicious reminder that cooler days lay ahead.

I think this is my favorite part of the walk.  By this point I've been walking downhill for about a mile, much of it in the shade.  Here there's a short bridge and a water trap.  Yes I live in a golf resort community.  Shush.  It's still half as expensive as Santa Cruz.

And here's the final leg of my journey: 0.6 miles uphill.  Look, do you see all that shade?  Me neither.

Joking aside, I love walking through this little neighborhood.  As long as I can start my walk early enough the weather is pleasant, the views great, the houses beautiful, and the people friendly.  When I started walking in May it was a bit of a pain to do even twenty minutes.  Now I'm up to five mile jaunts and am able to look at the 3 milers as my "easy" days.  It's amazing what 4 walks per week can do in such a short amount of time.