Endurance Corner is back in the desert Southwest helping another group of athletes "live the dream." Its the morning of Day Four of the EC Tucson Camp and everyone has excelled when given their challenges on Days 1-3. Once again, we have the privilege to work with competent, driven athletes that understand the 'work' component of success. No one here wants a shortcut.

Day One was the same as the last round for those following along. The route headed South to Madera Canyon and back. It essentially breaks down into 60K of flat(ter) riding, 7 miles of gradual climbing, and 3 miles of rock star, rough road, steep grade climbing to 5400 feet. Then you turn around and do everything in reverse order. In our case, the final 60K also included a tailwind so everyone rocked it back home (Ryan more than anyone). After riding most athletes headed to the pool for shake out swim before hitting dinner at the Endurance Corner Headquarter (ECHQ).

Day Two started early with a swim at Archer Pool at 6:00 a.m. (Jonas would not have approved of such an early time). The main set of the day was:

500, 5 x 100
400, 4 x 100
300, 3 x 100
200, 2 x 100
100, 1 x 100

Gordo saw my swim time at Playtri and said "enough of that young man" and slapped a 1:15 base on the distance intervals and 1:20 on the 100s and told me to get to work. I made it.

After swimming the group had breakfast and headed (in a car) across town to Udall Park to get ready for a ride up Mt Lemmon. We all rolled out together and had a mandatory regroup at the Mile 0 Marker of Mt Lemmon Hwy. Everyone proceeded to get their mojo together and then attacked the 21 mile climb summiting at 8000 feet. All the campers summited with style and returned down to Udall park for a quick transition run (in this case, quick also means "fast" as some folks were definitely getting after it). After regrouping we headed back to the mainland of Tucson for another stellar dinner at the ECHQ.

Day three served as a regroup day for some; a shorter day for others. The crew headed to the pool for another early swim and then it was back to the hotel for a 9:00 a.m. rollout. About half the folks headed out on a 40 mile route which included several handicapped 'races' along the way. Our group took a mellow venture up and over Gates Pass, returning via Ajo and Mission road. The afternoon was a bit of a lounge fest at the ECHQ, but everyone still got out for a pre-dinner run.

Today we are headed to Oro Valley for a BIG swim (the 'biggest' in the case of some). It looks like its going to be another stellar day here with plenty of sunshine for everybody (KP would approve).

Until then,