Friday, March 12, 2010

AZ Training Day 2

In the first half of this morning's ride I couldn't get over the beauty of the desert. Just miles and miles of open roads and cacti.

In the background you can see a fun little road we got to descend. We also got to climb back up it on the way back. Somewhere in the second half of the ride I started to bonk and all of a sudden the cacti were not as beautiful. Funny how that happens.
My favorite shot of the day.

After some food and recovering from my bonk it was time to swim. We set off for the community pool. Finally found it and it was closed. Found another and it was closed. (Apparently Tucson has some furlough Fridays to save tax $). We finally ended up at a YMCA where we learned the pool heater was broken, but the water "isn't too terribly cold."


I thought it was awesome because it felt like we were swimming in a parking garage. And the water was not too cold unless we quit working hard. And then it was freezing.

Post swim was a track workout where my lungs, legs, etc. were burning. Bonus was that we got to see a pretty awesome sun sink behind a cactus filled hillside. This training trip has been all about intensity. Not a ton of miles, but high-high-high intensity. After most of the workouts I want to collapse in a heap on the ground, lay in the sunshine and not get up. For a long time. Somehow after a few minutes that feeling dissipates and we go at it again.