and so we return

Met up with Neveia this morning for our first trail run in more than month. Our route? Foothill Regional Park -- a small park with wide, not-too-technical paths and several short trails that loop around a series of three ponds. We thought it would be a good place to ease back onto uneven terrain, start banking some miles and work on hill stamina.

We ran two full loops around the perimeter of the park. This included climbing a steady but moderate hill twice (which was not that bad -- it was a good spot for hill repeats) and then a ridiculously steep, somewhat rocky incline twice (this was so tough that we had to take walk breaks, and on our first pass, Neveia actually felt nauseous).

Perhaps we should have paid more attention to this sign.


This is how I felt at the summit:


Thankfully, there was a good view up there. Look, the town of Windsor in all its glory!


On the way down, we spotted a glimpse of snow-covered mountains in the distance -- a rare sight in Sonoma County.


We finished our run with a single-track loop around Pond B (I assume this is what they call it, since the trail was called Pond B Trail. Clearly, very creative.)


And we saw some ducks.


Peaceful, right? For about two seconds. Shortly after I snapped this picture, total duck porn ensued. It looked like the male was trying to drown the female. And when they were done, there was a lot of butt-shaking and feather ruffling. Neveia and I couldn't stop laughing.

To reward ourselves for a good seven miles done, we went to Cafe Gratitude for brunch. Neveia ordered the Indian biriyani bowl. I got the enchiladas.


And we both shared some coconut pudding for dessert.


Satisfaction!