Training Log Archive: Sandy

And so began what became an easy routine. We would get up with the sun and have breakfast (All the meals on the trip were fantastic - lots of fresh vegetables and fruit, chicken, steak, shrimp, fish and lots of other stuff; always more than enough. The boats were packed with food lockers that had ice or dry ice. We even had frozen milky ways one night for dessert and they were perfectly frozen. It was amazing how they managed it all.) Then we would pack our camping gear (tent, sleeping bag, etc. all provided by OARS - the rafting company) and our personal gear into dry bags and the guides would lash them onto the boats. We would go down the river for a while. Each day we would stop for a hike somewhere and for lunch. Then we would pull into a camp around 3 and relax before dinner. And then pretty much when the sun went down we would call it a night. Hiking the first day up a side canyon:

There was always something special at the end of the hike:

Early Tuesday we headed to the river at Lees Ferry, met the rest of the guides, got our life jackets and learned some rules of the river. And then we were off. There were 4 passenger rafts and 2 baggage boats. An easy day of just getting to know people. We pulled into a sandy beach around 3pm and were shown how camp would be set up each evening.

Flew to Flagstaff a day early so I wouldn't stress about missed connections or lost luggage. When I landed on Sunday late afternoon, my first reaction was "I could live here." Got a great view of the red rocks of Sedona on the flight in and the airport is a nice tiny friendly place and the weather was great. So super first impression. On Monday, I walked from my hotel over to Thorpe Park, at the base of Lowell Observatory - from Google Maps it looked like a large enough area that I could walk around for a while and then sit and read and eat lunch. When I got there I wandered for a while and found myself on Mars Hill Trail.

I recognized the name from AliC's log and decided to hike up the hill for a while. I eventually got to a display with a trail map and was able to figure out that I could hike around the Observatory and take Tunnel Spring Trail back down on the other side which came out pretty close to my hotel. A lovely hike and I stopped and read and ate my lunch part way through.


In the evening there was a meeting of the people on the trip (an MIT alumni trip) and one of the river guides. We got our dry bags and instructions for the morning.

One of the participants was someone I had done the Kilimanjaro trip with and one was someone I knew slightly from my time at MIT. There were 15 of us total (there were 16 spots but some last minute cancellations and wait list shuffling ended with 15). We met the head guide Heather and were told there would be 6 more to help with the trip. So 22 total people.

Grand Canyon River Rafting Trip (Aug. 28 - Sept. 11)

C • Have 2

Could only manage 1/2 mile on the drive instead of the mile I had hoped for.

The pain in my left hip/thigh has started up again when I climb stairs but it didn't affect running. Will be more diligent with those PT exercises.

Core DVD. Did a bunch of yard work - mostly hedge trimming - so on my feet and doing this seemed easy. Except the side planks. Those continue to challenge me.

C • Interesting route 1

I couldn't get back to sleep after an early morning ferrying of friends to the airport so decided to go for a hike. Did the meadow loop and threw in a trip down and back up A-hill.

Extended Indian loop with Sandy. Really hot and muggy - thought the rain last night would cool things off but no dice.

Laps at SJU.

PT plus. I've actually been doing various PT exercises most days but one set of something one day, a different set for a different body part the next, but today I strung them all together and threw in some stretching and core as well.

Seemed a little cooler and a little less humid this evening so I did jog 100/walk 100 around the meadow loop.

Saw Lo and Behold this evening. It was interesting and raised some good questions but I was a little restless by the end. I got a free ticket through the MIT alum club in Philly so definitely worth the price of admission.

Core DVD while watching synchronized swimming. I'm sure it gets its share of ridicule as a "sport" but I enjoy watching it and appreciate the athleticism in the same way I love ballet.

I had thought about running for the OUSA board but I am much happier supporting the efforts of the Barb/Boris/Ian/Alex/etc. coalition.

C • vote 7

Wore my watch to count laps to make sure I wasn't miscounting. Interestingly, the splits were all pretty consistent, right around 1:25 for 50 meters.

Slow hill repeats but I did all 10 that I planned.

C • Wow 2

With Sandy in the humid Wiss. Once again I hit stop instead of lap...

And another trek along the beach.

C • Climb 3

The first 20 minutes or so of a Power Yoga DVD and then my shoulder gave out and I did some stretching.

Definitely feeling the effects of the core dvd!!

C • DVD 3

Walk on the beach with Dennis. Walking fast not strolling, but just walking.

Dennis wanted more of a workout, so we did the Core DVD after lunch. It's been a while so I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow.

PT & core

Forgot to turn the watch off...

I inadvertently hit stop at the turn around point but started it again part way back and so the total time and distance look about right. Walking in the sand is hard work!

Sandy and I were the only ones there tonight for yoga class so we did a few things that we wanted to do instead of just what he had ready. Tonight's class was more about stretching which was a nice complement to last week's class which really worked arm and leg strength. Can still do crow!

Had the whole pool to myself.

PT plus core

Hill repeats. Did 5 at a pokey pace, somewhat on purpose. Each repeat was over 6 minutes while last week they were each under 5 but I wanted to make sure I could do 5. I was listening to an audiobook and I generally go slower when doing that.