Tuscon.....and a new Age Group

My birthday falls in that transitional time between being completely done with winter, (yet it still keeps creeping around)  and dying for spring and warm sunny weather. It also falls in that time where training really starts to ramp up, needs to start counting and yet wondering where your fitness really is.    I have spent just about the last 5 birthdays in Tuscon (maybe 1 more ???)  For me, I can think of no better way to spend the day than swim bike and running in the sun, followed by some great Mexican food and maybe a margarita to top off the day.

This year's Tuscon birthday trip fell during TBC's training camp lead by Ryan Bolton and a very fun group of athletes. I knew I was heading into the camp short on bike volume, so  my main mission was to get in some good bike miles each day. We were up early to load up our gear and head out to the meet the group for some Gates Pass, Saguaro, Sandaro, or Kitts Peak riding, swimming at outside  U of A, or yea.... a track workout one of my favorite tracks to run on. Just about every moment of each day was  spent transitioning from one workout to the next with some stops for food a long the way. I laughed at my co -workers when I returned to work and they  asked how my vacation was because it wasn't relaxing, but it WAS just what I needed to kick myself in the pants to get some early season fitness. Ryan did a great job setting up some sweet training days.  Camps like this are great to boost the fitness. I sometime wonder if the hard work stays with you once you come back home and return to a busy work schedule and squeezing in workouts around life. I've done it enough times that I can say it is totally worth it and it does help bring fitness to a higher level that you can keep tweaking once  back home. Now days are lighter, (hopefully warmer soon) and I can keep things rolling.

Thanks to Pappa Joel and our friend Ned who drove us all around Tuscon, helped keep us warm and took great pictures!

my coach before he crashed

My top 5's

Camp highlights:

1. riding outside!

still warmer than home, and a better view :)

2. swimming outside!

warming up after a swim

3. hilly tempo run, outside!.with Adam and Scott on the first day in 80 degrees and feeling sweat drip off my face

4. Watching Ryan's fast kenyan runner Caroline Rotich chase Ben Kanute around the track=effortless and Ben looks like a totallly different runner from seeing him run there 1 year ago. Watch out!

some fast...trying to beat the storm

5. Dinner and drinks for my birthday after a big day of training even though we could all barely stay awake


My camp lowlights:

1. losing my contact lense descending Gates Pass and only having 1 for the rest of the camp, at least I still navigated the potholes

2. not being able to climb Mt. Lemmon because the roads were closed, for SNOW!

3. the weather was a bit on the chilly side compared to how it usually is, but  was still better than home

4. having to pack the bike to come back to reality, could have used 2 more days!

5. pulling jumping choya out of my thigh after a pit stop


So now I am in a new Age group. I've raced in a lot of them and am happy to still be motivated enough to race. I have accomplished all I have ever wanted to do in triathlon, so these last few years of racing have been icing on the cake. Often people come up with crazy goals when they go into a new age group, like doing an Ironman. Ha. I must admit the thought did cross my mind last fall as I momentarily thought about doing IM AZ, but it filled so fast I couldn't give it a second thought, which is a good thing. Why do it just because it seemed like a cool thing. I don't really enjoy Ironman training, nor have time for it so what was I smoking.?

My new AG goals are to just race as fast as I can.