NEW PLACE

Check it out here.

Yeah, looks like any other RV park with palm trees. Which is about what it is.

But it has trees. And some grass. And, some people who apparently live here year-round have citrus trees. It's not so much like living in a parking lot.

And there are 2 pools. Not Olympic size, or anything, but a 16-yd lap pool that's off limits for anything but lap-swimming; I did 30 laps today, in half an hour, that's out-and-back laps, 32 yds each, which amounted to 960 yards. Our other park's pool.... well, maybe 10 yards, an odd curved kidney-shape that precluded end-to-end swimming; old ladies did their "aquacize" in it, and people floated with noodles while they talked about their fiber intake. Actually they do that here, too, in the "other" pool, which is L-shaped, 17 yards by 18 yards, but it's too crowded to do laps. Considering that I did my swimming at the other park tied to the ladder pole with a rope to keep me from going anywhere, this is a major upgrade.

There are fenced-in areas where dogs can play together off-leash. However, dogs are restricted to designated "pet neighborhoods" which means I can't take Journey running along every park street, which could easily mount up to 6 miles. There are signs, "No Pets Beyond This Point."

I can't just run or bike out the park entrance and be on open country roads anymore. We're in the city. I haven't explored all the possibilities yet, but it looks like my best bet for running or biking will be to drive to a starting place. However, yesterday I braved the traffic for a couple blocks till I found an east-west road with a bike lane. This will be a viable choice for shorter rides. For long ones, I'll drive back to our "old" place and meet Pat to go on our habitual stomping grounds.

I found out, by the way, Pat with all her accomplishments and humongous biking mileage isn't 65 after all, she's 68. When she updated me on this, she had just found out I'm 54 and said, "No wonder you ride me into the ground!!" Of course, I've been saying to everyone, "She's 65 and she rides me into the ground...."

We are way closer to our family here. Steve's parents (snowbirds) are about 7 miles away (as compared to 25 from the old place) and his sister and her family are also about 25 miles (as compared to 50.)

It was so amazing today to get into a pool with marked lanes and swim laps.

Oh, and a real gym. With state-0f-the-art equipment. Weight machines of all kinds, treadmills, bikes, mats, balls, dumbbells, benches, fans, TV's, aerobics steps, everything. And two trainers from AZ State U. here every day from 8-9a.m. for strength training. And a yoga instructor.

And a photography club. And PhotoShop classes.

Damn, and we spent 3 months at the other place. But had we not, I wouldn't have met Pat.

OH! Forgot a huge significant item.... I'm just down the street from Commodore. How cool is that?

We'll be here till March 26. A month to take advantage of all this stuff. And still follow my tri-coach's plan for base-building here in the land of no rain.

Yeah, I engaged a coach. Not to urge me on, but to hold me back. I overdo and then crash with overtraining syndrome that puts me out of commission for a week. If I'm paying a coach, I'll be much more likely to follow a sensible train/rest schedule. I am surprised at the number of easy and rest days she prescribes for me, but OTOH I just ran a half-marathon at a pace about 30 seconds per mile faster than I've run any distance in 5 years. With a finishing kick and without screeching to a halt at the finish and doubling over immobile with hands on knees gasping for breath.

That's the end of my update. Today was supposed to be a rest day on my training schedule but I had free time while waiting for the laundry in the machines; did some weights during the wash, and my swimming while the dryers were running. Maybe anything that's not biking or running is a rest day....