Tucson - Day Two

I'll post some more pictures and maybe some more video later today. We're in full training camp mode now and free time is scarce. We're having a blast here, even though it's been cold, but today it's going to be sunny and 70, and tomorrow through Friday it's going to be 80.

I'm still on eastern time and was up at 3:45am on Day two. We did a deja vu, heading over to Starbucks and then back to Sabino Canyon to run the telephone line trail. Jeff Molson didn't get here until Sunday, and I wanted him to start out the camp like the rest of us. Besides, I don't think I could ever get bored with this run. There's a road that winds through the bottom of Sabino Canyon which is beautiful and where you see most runners. Two days running the telephone line trail and we saw a few hikers, but no other runners. Maybe the mountain lion scare is the real deal? I'll take my chances - the trails are far more appealing to me then the roads. The run was just as exhilarating as the day before, and 1 hr 37 min later, we were done.

After some breakfast, we headed over to Trisports to do some shopping, then we got some more food and headed out for a ride. I want to keep things on the easier side since we will be riding Kitts Peak on Wed and Lemmon on Thu. We did find a nice steep climb though - probably an 18% grade. It was a short one though and the rest of the ride was rolling hills. Everyone is doing great at staying controlled and not cooking themselves for the next day thus far.

We changed quick and headed over to the pool for an easy swim. The pool is big and outdoors which is the best! They have a high dive board there and I gave the guys an option; they could do a double flip off the high dive and get out of swimming, since they weren't overenthusiastic about getting in the water. The air temp was cold, in the 50's, so I think they seriously considered the option, but no one bit.

I gave Jeff M. the mvp award. Besides the fact that he brown nosed all day, he really deserved it. He had a major low back operation in November. They surgically cleaned up a lot of fragmentation of his discs. His comeback is extremely impressive, even though he can get frustrated thinking back on what he was doing a year ago. I reminded him at dinner that he needs to focus on what he's doing and not what he isn't.

We found a great gelato place after dinner which I think we'll be frequenting each day for the remainder of this camp.

There is a lot of laughing going on at this camp, and even though we are training quite a bit, everyone seems relaxed. Bizarre how strenuous physical activity can be relaxing to some?! This makes it obvious that we are here doing something we love.

Cheers,

EH