So, it seems I underestimated the extent to which the Michigan-Tucson transition would disrupt my running schedule. I knew this would happen to some extent, but hadn't realized just how little I would be able to run during the transition time. What with wrapping things up there, the traveling itself, having my oral comps as soon as I got back here, and trying to accomplish basic tasks of living such as restocking my fridge -- all while adjusting to the time change, the heat, and my seeming inability to actually sleep since I got back -- I haven't been getting my miles in over the last couple of weeks. Not the end of the world, as there is plenty of time to work back up in the next couple of months, but something to be aware of. Running in the desert takes more planning than running in the midwest, because you absolutely have to go really early if you'd like to avoid heatstroke and death. Which really, I would.

So my first run back in the desert was this morning. I went around 6:30am, which was already too late -- it was in the upper 80s by the time I got out. It was also about as humid as it's been on the more humid days in Michigan. WTF, weather? I thought the one redeeming characteristic of the desert was supposed to be the dryness of its heat... So anyway, it was hot and gross. I was at Reid Park, which has a 3-mile jogging path, and I told myself I could stop after one lap if I really needed to. Indeed, I was pretty dehydrated after one lap in spite of having gulped some water midway through, but I really wanted to do more than 3 miles. I grabbed my water bottle from my car and started walking a second lap; I walked for a mile, ran the second mile, and walked the last. So overall, ran 4 and walked 2. Not great, but not terrible for my first run back.

My first run with the Tucson team this Saturday will be 10 miles, which feels like it will be tough but doable. I might do another short run tomorrow morning since I have to be up early for other things anyway, and because I would feel better about doing 10 if I'd gotten in two shorter runs first. In the meantime, this afternoon I'm going to shop for some kind of water-carrying system since I'm clearly going to need it here.