I finally got to run with the Tucson Team on Saturday! I had done another short run (3 miles) on Friday morning, which went OK although my right knee was giving me some grief. I had to get up earrrrrrly on Saturday morning, since we were meeting at 5am and it's a good 20-minute drive from my house. Oof. [I did take a 4-hour nap soon after I got back, though, to make up for any lost sleep.]

Everyone was very friendly and welcoming, as I had a feeling they would be! I think the course only ended up being about 8 miles, but that was plenty because it was extremely humid and quite warm (i.e., more humid than any day while I was in Michigan, and already in the 80s by 5am) and everyone was feeling pretty icky. The Tucson Team seems to be bigger than the Ann Arbor Team, with many more staff. I ran with a coach and two of the mentors, which definitely pushed my pace a little bit! We were using an interval strategy where we would run for a mile and then walk for a minute (at least I think those were the proportions); this was a nice way to avoid getting too tired, plus it gave something to look forward to during the run intervals.

My knee was not happy during this run -- fairly localized pain and more intense than my previous experiences with running-related knee pain. I've been icing it, and if it's still acting up tomorrow, I'll seek advice from a coach. It would be a bummer to be injured at this point in the game.

Random: we saw tons of bunnies on the run, which were cute, and also many enormous clouds of swarming bugs, which thankfully left us alone. Ew.

Finally: I ordered a hydration belt! I had considered getting one that was more like a CamelBak, but all the TNT runners here like the FuelBelt ones so I'm trusting their expertise. I got a 2-bottle one because when I tried them on at the Running Store, the 4-bottle ones were too bulky to be comfortable. I hope it gets here before next Saturday's run!