Gouldhome, Canyon Ranch, April 9

April 9

I wanted to wake up at 6am this morning, as I was going on a 7am hike. But this never works, when I know I need to be up at a certain time, I always wake up early. At least I stayed in bead until almost 6. Karen and Donna were up by then too. I quickly got ready and dressed in my desert gear. I like to wear long pants that are very light to keep off the sun. I also had a long sleeved white waffle shirt which is very cool.

I went to breakfast by myself. The gates to the restaurant weren't quite open yet, but that didn't take long. At 6am they don't have the kitchen open. There is the cereal and salad bar and the omelet bar, which is plenty but I wish I could have gotten a bagel like yesterday. I asked for salt. I always need to have salt when I hike and they don't put salt on the table. No salt, no alcohol, but they do have Splenda now. I never use it. I don't trust altered food. Our bodies have evolved for more natural food. At one time they thought hydrogenated oils were a good alternative for you but now they know better.

Anyway, breakfast didn't take long so I had to hang around waiting for the hike. There were only three of us on the hike - and two leaders so that makes 5. Everyone else was scared off because it has a reputation for being a killer hike for a level 3 hike. They rank the hikes from 1-6, where 6 is the hardest, though I'm told they don't usually have 6s. They only put them in when someone asks for them in advance or they know a guest that is coming that likes them. 5s are hard enough, often around 10 miles with lots of elevation gain. Our hike would be 4.2 miles starting at 3100 ft and ending at 4400 feet.

The hike itself was quite fun. We pushed up the mountain, only taking breaks for water, and got to the top quite quickly. Our guides were quite surprised. Usually there is someone in the group that goes slow, and it takes a long time. At the top we had a snack and more water. It was getting quite warm, but at least most of the hike up was in shade.

On our hike down we took it easier, and we noticed all the beautiful flowers. There is a volunteer ranger that we met on the way up and on the way down he joined us to the end. He talked to us about what he did and the flora and fauna. It was quite a nice talk. At the end he pointed out the one hedgehog cactus that was in bloom and the group of saguaro cacti that bloom out of season - i.e. now. I've never seen a saguaro in bloom before. Though the greatest treat of the hike was seeing a Gila monster. It was an adult, but a small one. He scampered away as the ranger tried to get a better look at him.

We got back about 45 minutes early. Our guides where surprised by how fast we went. But it was nice since I could take the 11am stretch class. I had quite a bit of time before it started, so got off my sweaty clothes and put them back in the room and brought my dinner clothes to the spa. I much prefer spending my time in the spa than in the room.

I arrived at stretch class about 10 minutes early and gabbed with some of the people there. One had never taken a stretch class before and wondered what the straps were for. So we told her - stretching out your hamstrings. I liked this stretch class better than the women's stretch the day before. Though both of them taught me a good exercise to stretch the ITB, which I have lots of trouble with. In fact I was quite worried about taking the hike today since we had a lot of elevation change and that make my knee bend a lot and aggravates the ITB. When we stretched it out, I could feel my knee. In fact some of the other stretches I didn't even do since they made my knee twist a little and they hurt. I didn't really injure my knee to the level of pain. I just pressed it to the limit, which is very good for me because if i can get just the right push, it gets better. A little too much and I end up in recovery for a while, but I won't take any more classes today that work my knee at all.

At noon we all met for Abs Express. I forget who taught this class, but I found it quite hard and couldn't do all the exercises. I really need to work on my abs. I overcompensate sometimes by ignoring the rest of my body because I work so hard on getting my knee working better. I've really noticed this in my abs and other strength classes. Interestingly enough parts of my arms were very strong. Probably from all the martial arts and sword classes I take, but only parts of them. My biceps for instance really felt it the next day, but my deltoids and my shoulders were fine, because they do get used a lot.

For lunch I decided to try the sandwich bar. The tuna salad was quite good. In addition Donna and I split an order of bruchetta which was excellent and she had pizza with chicken sausage which I really loved, but Karen thought it just ok. Dessert was wonderful. They had a great brownie. It might have been low fat, but it was as good as a fat laden one. I also got the orange sorbet which I loved, though I don't think Karen and Donna liked it quite as much. Oh yeah I almost forgot I tried the cherry-blackberry smoothie and it was awful. I didn't like the taste that much, but really hated the texture. It wasn't smooth at all, sort of gritty. I guess not everything turns out great.

After lunch I went back to the spa to soak in the hot tub and I used the cold dip. Burrrrr. You are supposed to stay in for 15 seconds and do it three times. The first time was the worst. It was hard to stay in that long, but by the third time it wasn't so bad. In fact I was talking to one of the other guests and she distracted me so well that I was in there for about 35 seconds and hadn't realized I was in for so long. It does seem to help though, at least temporarily to make the aches go away. I also only went down past my hips since I only cared about my ITB.

Then it was off to journal until my 3pm stone massage.

For the stone massage I had Grace. A stone massage is very relaxing. The stones are heated very hot, not enough to burn you, but they are almost uncomfortably hot at the beginning and cool down as they are used. Then before they really get cool, the masseuse gets a new set of rocks to rub you down with. During the middle of the massage, they put cold rocks between your toes to cool you off. They are very shocking, and woke me up a bit. They always end with cold stones on your face. I figure they have to do this or you wouldn't be able to stand up at the end.

After my massage I took a shower to get rid of all the oil, and then wandered around a little before heading over to dinner. I started with a bloody mary - well they call it that, but of course it is really a virgin mary since it has no alcohol. Donna and Karen showed up not long after I got there.

We sat once again at the same table we have had on and off the whole time. Tomorrow we have to sit somewhere else.

I ordered chicken (I forget what kind though) for dinner and Donna and Karen the lamb. None of the dishes really stood out as being spectacular. They were all just good. We've been spoiled by so much wonderful food.

At 7 Donna and I wandered over to a lecture - Defy Those Aches and Pains. My massage therapist at home had already shown me the techniques that were shown here, so we didn't stay very long. I stopped at the spa on the way back to the room and picked up all my stuff so I could pack.