Tucson- Day 3 (Saguaro Park)

I promise this one will be shorter. I’m tired. This morning we got up to head to the pool again. It felt early but it was the most sleep we’ve gotten so far. Angie made a great workout for me and Joel in the injury lane again. It included lots of drill, as well as various speeds. Lots of rotating 25, 50, 75, and 100m. The main set was 1000m and Angie was hoping we could do it twice but I only got through it the first time. I was still happy with that though, because the 2000m total I did was a new recovery record for me!

After a quick turnaround at the house and an early lunch, we packed up the bikes and drove off to Saguaro Park. We started out with an hour run for most of us. It was hilly and hot. Good thing I like both of those things, cause it was a hard run and I could tell not everyone was having fun. I actually felt alright and kept a steady pace. We went out and back a few times so that we could get water during the run. I think last year we did it all at once and since I was the only girl and couldn’t keep up with the guys I had been by myself in the desert during the long run. I realize today’s run was a better plan. After grabbing some more water us girls regrouped and started the bike ride. Originally Gary told us we’d be biking 6 laps of the park. It’s a 7 mile loop and for part of it it’s a lot of ups and downs, which are pretty fun.  For the first steep downhill there is a very sharp right turn at the bottom. We had to really warn Alberta about this, because it can be pretty dangerous. People have definitely crashed on that corner before. We all survived that piece so we split up to keep cycling. There is also one brutal hill in the ride. It is long and slow, and not very fun for the most part. 6 laps turned into 4-6, which turned into 3-4, which turned into 3 for the girls. After fading a bit on the second lap I came back strong on the third, but was glad to be finished. We waited for everyone else to finish their laps then drove off.

 Some ice cream on the way home was a relief for all of us tired athletes in the van. Once back at the house there were complications with dinner. As in the BBQ didn’t work. We’ll add that to the list of problems with this place. With some switch-ups that the chaperones quickly came up with we were all fed and happy. And tired. Just relaxing right now. It feels like we really haven’t had much downtime on this trip so far. Tomorrow will be Kitt’s Peak.