Tucson Running

Mountain shot from a car in Tucson


So, while not doing the ultra-marathon last week, I did have a couple of good runs in Tucson. On Sunday afternoon, I did a slow 7 miler in the heat along a dried-up river bed. It was really a beautiful place to run, with a shrub and sand-filled depression 100-150 feet wide on one side, and parks and trails lining the other. I had a small bottle of Fiji water with me. Once I depleted its contents after the first mile, I popped into a park every couple of miles to refill it from fountains. The temp was pretty good, 80F+ or so, but the absolute lack of humidity parched me and dried out my lips almost immediately. I had on SPF 70, and I'm glad I did. I was still a bit red (but not burned) when the run ended.

The next morning I got up early and ran in much cooler temps for 4 miles. Even though my hosts at Maya Tea and I had splashed a bit too much tequila (fine tequila it was, too) down our throats the night before, I was still able to do a nice run at an 8:15-ish pace. There were a lot more runners out in the morning. The cyclists seem to favor the afternoons.

Since my return I have just done a couple of 3 mile runs. I'll probably do that again tomorrow and knock out a long run on Saturday. I'm trying to give my knees a bit of a reprieve. I went to my orthopedic doctor as soon as I got into town to have him take a look at my left knee. The bad news is that it also has a bit of osteo-arthritis settling in. The good news is that it is not at all in the same scope or scale as the OA in my right knee. So, if it hurts, I'll be able to get hyaluronic acid injections and not worry about it (possibly ever again).

I'll post more on Sunday.

Below is a picture of a pretty farmer's market in Tucson.