Tucson - Day 1

About fifty miles beyond Bend the roads began to clear. I don’t remember much

of the road trip. I remember Jaime showing me how he works out and keeps

track of all the various training programs for all of his athletes. There were stops

in places like Weed, the Grapevine, and a memorable one at a truck stop in

Blythe. This placed looked like a setting from The Walking Dead and featured a

“Tokyo Massage”. We did not partake nor was there a ‘happy ending’, but it did

provide conversational amusement for the rest of the trip. After 23 hours we

rolled into Tucson, picked up the rental car, and headed to the hotel.

We stayed at The Lodge at Ventana Canyon. The great part about staying here

was that you had cooking facilities, a great location, and a wonderful pool. There

was just enough time to get checked in, grab the swag bag full of nice goodies,

throw on the swimsuit, and hit the pool.

Introductions were made as we staked out lanes and started our swim workout.

The time in the car and the lack of consistent sleep left me tired and a bit

sluggish. Our swim coach for camp was Janna Alexander. She was wonderful,

thorough, and knowledgeable. I really felt that I received a lot of good instruction

from her. Surprisingly one of the most effective words of wisdom she gave me

was to simply relax, particularly in regards to my breathing. It is something I’ve

held onto and it has helped me in both my training and racing.

After our swim it was time to change and head out for dinner. Even though we

had cooking facilities we had dinner out each night as a group. These dinners

provided opportunities to mingle and meet other athletes. It was interesting

because a vast majority of the athletes were unknown to me and were from

Albuquerque, where I had lived for almost 25 years. It was nice getting the

chance to make new acquaintance or two and have the opportunity to share with

and learn from others. I particularly enjoyed talking with Randy Arriola and Matt

Gonzales – two athletes that are of SWTri Project 3, a group of elite athletes that

Jaime is coaching.

The evening ended in perfect fashion. Jaime had arranged for each of us to

receive a massage session (not the Tokyo kind mind you). After being kinked

and cooped up in a Subaru for a day it was a godsend. Sleep came quickly and

deeply that night.