For the past two months, my mind and body have belonged to MDA Summer Camp. I spent most of my evenings and weekends at the office, except, of course, for the two weeks I spent at camp - one in the White Mountains of Arizona and one in Salt Lake City.

During the short periods that my body was not at the office, my mind was still on camp. This includes the dreaded camp-related dreams. With 25 activities throughout the week, 83 campers with neuromuscular diseases and 120 volunteers, there was a lot to think - and worry - about. Long story short...camp went well and it feels amazing to be home enjoying my first work-free weekend - for both mind and body - in a very long time.



Summer camp is not conducive to maintaining my daily exercise, my healthy diet and my 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. sleeping schedule. Despite squeezing in a few short runs during each of my camps, I returned home feeling out of sorts, but also very motivated to get back on track. The fact that the Firecracker Tri is just two weeks from today also inspires me to get my butt in gear.

I eased back into the routine with a 800 meter swim on Friday morning, followed by a brick workout on Saturday (12 mile bike, 2 mile run). The rest of Saturday involved swinging by Howard's Orchard in Catalina for fresh veggies, clothes shopping, laundry and cooking. It did not, in any way, involve MDA.

This morning, after giving Paul his Father's Day card from the dogs, I hit the neighborhood streets for a 5-mile run. After 3.5 miles, I made a quick pit stop at the house to run cold water over my head and drink some juice. My legs were heavy, my face was red and I was sweating profusely. It was only 80 degrees, but I apparently need a few more days to acclimate to the desert heat after my two weeks at higher elevations.

I was hoping the few weeks of low mileage would cure my IT band issues, but I can still feel the tightness. Luckily, I discovered that a small strip of Kinesio Tape works just as well in preventing knee pain while running as the big, ugly, uncomfortable knee brace does. I start it in the middle of my hamstring and pull gently as I wrap the tape forward to the middle of my quad.



Tomorrow's plan: morning swim and evening 5K with the Meet Me at Maynard's group.