TUCSON!

 I spent this past weekend in Tucson.  It was so much fun!  A weekend away training, no kids, no dinners to prepare, and lots of fun new friends!  I was glad to finally meet Jen and some of her other athletes.  We trained hard and had a great time.  I was able to connect with Caroline, who is hard core and grew up a few towns from me in NH, Julie, who was my roommate and super athlete mom, and Julia who was just so much fun to be around!

Friday morning we climbed Mt. Lemmon.  The views were breathtaking.  I thought the first few miles were the hardest.  It was a 25 mile climb but the descent was worth it.  I LOVE descending fast.  We went for a short run when we got back and it was HOT!  Lindsey and I ran together and managed to get it in before hitting the pool at the house.

Saturday was the hardest day....I have only been training for triathlon for a little over a year and never have I ridden my bike 80 miles...and it was a hot 80 miles.  Jen might have downplayed LIED about the climb at the end describing it as a little climb, when in fact it was in my opinion much harder than Mt. Lemmon.  I rode back to TriSports with Jen, Mia and Stacie and that was nice.  The conversation back determined that next year we would have a spa trip that might include small amounts of riding and running but mostly the spa!

When we returned to Trisports Sarah, Bethany, Mia, Stacie and I went on a short, short run before heading in for lunch.

The POOL is my favorite and swimming outside makes it better.  It was fun to swim with everyone in the sunshine!  Kate designed some AWESOME suits for us!

Sunday we hit Sabino Canyon....I have never been trail running, so this was a first.  It was about 6 miles up and then we ran down the paved road to finish.  Lindsey and I ran together and took lots of pictures.

Sabino Canyon pics

We did have a little visit from a rattlesnake which made our night interesting.  Glen took some awesome pictures and we manged to convince him that it was probably not all that smart to play with a rattler.  

After Sabino, Jen was so kind as to allow us to to TT repeats back up Mt. Lemmon.  I was not sure if I would make them but in fact I felt okay!  We did miles 1-5 twice before we called it a day.  

Monday we did trail running again which was not as technical as Sabino but fun.  I was glad to run back with Jen Maher and Mia.  We hit the pool for the final time and then I caught a LONG flight back to PA.  I spent more time on the runway in Dallas and Philly than in the air total.  I rolled in at 3 am and mommy duties began at 7!  

Thanks Jen and Jerome for a great weekend.