My afternoon spot: Arroyo Verde Park

On occasion, when I am unable to work out on my lunch break, I'll make a pit stop at one of my favorite little places for a quick hike: Arroyo Verde Park. It's a quick 2 mile dirt trail loop around a beautiful park. You get a few ocean views and a good sweat going - especially if you run it.

I started out walking it, walking it twice, then running one loop. I'm still working on the bigger hills, which I still have to break down and walk a little bit, but I'm running almost 80% of the loop in 28 minutes, with a 410 ft incline. Not too shabby.

Afterwards I usually do a few burpees, squats, mountain climbers and pushups on the grass just before the entrance. It's a perfect little workout for those days where you need a little break from the gym life.

Personal goal: To be able to run TWO loops with minimal walking!

The hike....

a few weeks ago, a typical saturday for me would have been going out to breakfast (after a long night of drinking) maybe doing a bit of shopping, and then A LOT of lounging around the house in sweats. then having lunch. lounging some more, then dinner.

lazy and full of calories.

saturday is my cheat day, but i don't want it to completely ruin my progress for the week, so on friday i invited all my friends to go on a hike in santa barbara, followed by a delicious lunch/dinner at Eureka burger - {which by the way is the most amazing restaurant to have a cheat day at.... EVER}

not a bad idea, huh? burn a boat-load of calories THEN have your cheat food.... i like it.

and, it was so much fun!!! {can you see the excitement on our faces?}

i think we have decided to make this a weekend tradition.

sunday hike...

last sunday i went for a hike with a few friends, and let me just say it was a GREAT workout. it was a little less hiking, a little more rock hopping/climbing. it was great because my arms got a workout too... as well as my abs because when you hike with friends, you're bound to laugh a bit. we climbed to a spot that had these beautiful punch bowls and a small waterfall which people would slide down. i unfortunately opted out of the slide, but next time i'm definitely doing it!!

Joe was the fearless one in our group that tried it...

now that i'm signed up for the North Face 10K in december, i definitely want to do this hike at least once a week!! i'll take incline training anywhere i can get it!!