SWIM BIKE RUN

What have I been up to lately? 

SWIM

The Bozeman Swim Center closed at the beginning of May for another renovation which is scheduled to last until mid-November. The City opened the outdoor pool earlier than usual this year and I have been swimming outside since mid-May.... can you say BRRRRRRRR!  They actually keep the water temperature pretty toasty so I'm not usually too cold when I am swimming. But when I am done with my workout, making myself get out of the water to walk back to the locker room takes a lot of effort.  You can usually find me crouched down at the end of the pool (with my whole body submerged) trying to get the courage to get out and face the cold! :)  I am not the only one who behaves like this... pretty much everyone is doing the same thing when they are done.  I have also been known to scooch under each lane rope and "crouch-walk" to the edge of the pool in order to stay in the water a little bit longer before having to get out into the cold air (again - I am not the only one doing this). 😀

BIKE

I have been on my bike A LOT the past couple weeks - more days on the bike, than off the bike lately! I have had some really great workouts and can tell I am getting stronger (and maybe a teeny bit faster) on the bike!  YAY! 

I need new tires - I was hoping these would last a little later into the summer so that when I got new tires it would be closer to my race but, they aren't going to make it. I have been checking them pretty frequently this past month, and yesterday when I checked the rear tire, the tread looks too worn to continue to ride safely so I will be ordering new tires today! 

Fun workout story (at least it has been fun for me - so sharing with all of you)...

A couple weeks ago, I did a 35 mile ride north of town in the Glen Lake and Springhill areas.  It took me 2 hours 14 minutes (2:14) to complete it. I rode at an even pace and effort during this ride - it was comfortable - not too extreme, and not too easy.  Then when Matt created my plan for the next week - he said ride the same course and do it 10-15 minutes faster.  ARGH!!!  WHAT???  HOW WILL I DO THAT? So, I did some math, tried to figure out where my time should be at specific points on the course, and what my average MPH needed to be.  I knew 15 minutes would be impossible for me to hit, and getting the 10 minutes would be extremely challenging.  I rode as hard as I could for this ride (I should mention this is NOT a flat coutse, lots of hills).  When I got to 25 miles and checked my time, I had exactly 30 minutes to complete this ride in order to meed the 10 minute time goal... I KNEW this would be really hard but, I rode even harder - when I checked again and had 3 miles left, I knew I would miss the time goal - but, then my personal goal became "how close can I get".... and again if possible I rode even harder!!!  I finished in 2 hours 7 minutes (2:07) - 3 minutes off. Sweating, breathing hard, heart pounding and SMILING!  That was SO MUCH FUN! Not disappointed that I didn't meet the goal - satisfied knowing I tried as hard as I could to meet that goal! 😀

Now - the story continues... The workout showed up again this past week... OK - I asked myself what do I need to do differently this time in order to hit 2:04?  I rode so hard last time, what can I do better/differently....  I figured I could start out faster - maybe I didn't give it my "all" at the beginning of the ride last time.  So, I did the same course... I started out way faster than last time, and kept that pace and effort going. This whole ride, I was watching my time and I knew it was going to be so close... GO C, GO C, GO C...I kept repeating to myself.  With 1 mile left to finish, my time showed that I had 2 minutes to get there... ARGH!! GO C, GO C, GO C, GO C, GO C...... I finished in 2:05!  WOW! Again, sweating, breathless, and heart pounding!  Again not disappointed that I didn't make the time goal!  Actually humming the ROCKY tune in my head. 

So, I don't know if that workout challenge will show up again in my plan but, you can be assured if it does, I will work just as hard to get it!

RUN
 

I don't have much to report on the run front - just continuing to safely build my running base.
So I will brag on this guy...

 

He did Governor's Cup 10K last week and got 1st place in the Senior Division and a nice gift card - real money!! He already used it to buy some new running shoes. :)  Nice work P - Love you!! 💕