Monday
Swam a 1500. Felt really good. Kind of missing the pool. Ran at lunch. It was so nice outside!
Tuesday
Went to the GAS skills practice. We ended up playing capture the flag until it was very dark. It was a fun little game. I really think these practices have helped improve my bike handling. Was freezing cold out and our toes and fingers were numb, but rallied and put on my running shoes and got in 20 minutes.
Wed.
Crazy day at work! Gave 90 mice bone marrow transplants. Got out on a ride ~530. Got in a good warm up then went over to the GAS practice. They were doing their thing so I did mine. It started getting dark on the last few 10 on 20 off. I couldn't see very well. Hard to do hard efforts when it is dark.
Thursday
Ran at lunch. It was nice out and fun to be on the trails for a little bit. Did the ride on the trainer. Didn't want to, but with MuleCross organization didn't have time to get out before it got dark. Rode for an hour.
Friday
Got out of work a little early and went down to the MuleCross course. Rode a few laps and called it good. Had lots of work to do for the race.
Sat.
Got up early and got down to the venue. Got the kids race lined out and went home to put on my costume. Did the kids race. Barely had time to eat a little and get warmed up for our race. Nobody else did either, so okay. Didn't have the heart to not race hard. Felt really good and was right on Lisas tail for 3 or so laps. Anna was on my tail, but I was able to ride the big hill and she wasn't. Kept gapping her there. With 1/2 lap to go I came up to Mariah Morgan, a junior. I sort of stalled on a corner to let Mariah get around and Anna cut me off on the inside. I thought it was a little dirty (she did recognize that and apologized, but still). I kind of lost heart after that or thought, well I will just save my energy for tomorrow. Ended up in 3rd. Felt really good for this race.
Sun.
Was ready to race. Like you said. Last Chance to Dance. It was hard to warm up and ride the course. Only got 1 pieced together lap of the course before race start. The course had a big burm in it that we rode/ran over 3 times. One of the ride overs was a slight drop off but had a nice landing. Took a few tries and some guts to get over it the first time. Did it and was fine. There was also a B line, but didn't even ride it once. Got a good start and was riding the first lap with Lisa and Lindsy. On lap 2 passed Lindsy, but was then pulling her, Anna, and Ingrid around. On lap 3 we were still all together. On a little barrier section somebody hit their bike on mine and my chain dropped below the chain guard. It is hard to get back on and it took me a few seconds. Those 3 girls were gone. The course was really long and we only had two laps left. I tried to ride as hard as I could to finish up the race, but it was challenging. With nobody around I had nothing to really ride for.
Kind of a disappointing end to the season. Really felt like I had peaked for this weekend. Was riding within my limit and staying pretty close to Lisa. I would have liked to see how Sundays race would have played out. I think I could have given Anna a run for her money. It's okay though, thats cross. Had a great season doing it. Now, I want that SSCXW tattoo. Just kidding.
10/31/2011
10/24/2011
Week of Thunder!!
Tuesday
Went to the GAS skills practice. We did some fun games. You go on a mini course and try to pass people or not get passed. It was good. Worked on cornering and blocking (sounds dirty). Didn't put to much of an effort in.
Wed.
Got a nice warmup in then went to the park and tried to do the workout with everybody. It didn't work so well. They had a different agenda. I just stayed at the park and finished my stuff then went home. They went to the BMX track and then the Fairgrounds. MuleCross meeting at our house this night.
Thursday
Did a 20 minute noon run. It was sunny and warm. Felt nice to get out at lunch and see the fall colors in town.
Rode the CX bike at the MuleCross course for a couple of hours, with lots of stopping. Kept it easy, but practiced the pump track part and corners.
Friday
Rode around with the Curry's and Erik. Did some starts and a 5 minute blowout. Kept it easy other than that.
Sat.
Race Day
Prepped well. Didn't bring enough food and then got trapped at the course. Thanks to Brooke Smuts for the bagel and Matthew for the banana.
Feel good about the race. Lindsy cut my off at the start and I totally brake checked everybody else. Good for Lindsy, bad for me. Those girls were gone without me even seeing them. The tight corners and weird trails were difficult for me to navigate. Felt like my bike handling was off. Had to take advantage of my sprinting power and accelerate hard out of all the corners. Was a difficult race mentally because Lizzy English was on my tail the whole entire time. At one point the MC said I was the prey and she the predator. Ugh. I partly wanted to just let her go by. I didn't though and think I am developing some mental toughness this year. The last lap on the run-up there was this cluster fuck of 3 Cat4's and Lizzie and me. She got around me there and then the Cat 4's were getting in my way. I rode like mad to get back on her tail and almost took Jen out on the last little downhill to the trail. Got around the corner and I knew I could sprint. That line came fast though. It was tough.
Feel good about how I rode and glad I stayed on the podium with a sprint finish. Lizzie won the most aggressive prize which was a lot more money though. Makes me think..... Nevermind.
Sunday
Everybody was racing. I didn't. Feel like I got a lot of shit for it. Oh well. Did a nice ride. Found Blue Mountain and did a little loop. Rode back by the river. The colors were soooo nice. I really like Missoula. It has a lot more pockets of coolness than Bozeman.
Monday
Swam at lunch.
Am going to do a little run after work.
Had to change up the order- had something to do from 5-6.
Went to the GAS skills practice. We did some fun games. You go on a mini course and try to pass people or not get passed. It was good. Worked on cornering and blocking (sounds dirty). Didn't put to much of an effort in.
Wed.
Got a nice warmup in then went to the park and tried to do the workout with everybody. It didn't work so well. They had a different agenda. I just stayed at the park and finished my stuff then went home. They went to the BMX track and then the Fairgrounds. MuleCross meeting at our house this night.
Thursday
Did a 20 minute noon run. It was sunny and warm. Felt nice to get out at lunch and see the fall colors in town.
Rode the CX bike at the MuleCross course for a couple of hours, with lots of stopping. Kept it easy, but practiced the pump track part and corners.
Friday
Rode around with the Curry's and Erik. Did some starts and a 5 minute blowout. Kept it easy other than that.
Sat.
Race Day
Prepped well. Didn't bring enough food and then got trapped at the course. Thanks to Brooke Smuts for the bagel and Matthew for the banana.
Feel good about the race. Lindsy cut my off at the start and I totally brake checked everybody else. Good for Lindsy, bad for me. Those girls were gone without me even seeing them. The tight corners and weird trails were difficult for me to navigate. Felt like my bike handling was off. Had to take advantage of my sprinting power and accelerate hard out of all the corners. Was a difficult race mentally because Lizzy English was on my tail the whole entire time. At one point the MC said I was the prey and she the predator. Ugh. I partly wanted to just let her go by. I didn't though and think I am developing some mental toughness this year. The last lap on the run-up there was this cluster fuck of 3 Cat4's and Lizzie and me. She got around me there and then the Cat 4's were getting in my way. I rode like mad to get back on her tail and almost took Jen out on the last little downhill to the trail. Got around the corner and I knew I could sprint. That line came fast though. It was tough.
Feel good about how I rode and glad I stayed on the podium with a sprint finish. Lizzie won the most aggressive prize which was a lot more money though. Makes me think..... Nevermind.
Sunday
Everybody was racing. I didn't. Feel like I got a lot of shit for it. Oh well. Did a nice ride. Found Blue Mountain and did a little loop. Rode back by the river. The colors were soooo nice. I really like Missoula. It has a lot more pockets of coolness than Bozeman.
Monday
Swam at lunch.
Am going to do a little run after work.
Had to change up the order- had something to do from 5-6.
10/10/2011
10-6-11 thru 10-12-11
Wed.- Did the prescribed workout with the rest of the GAS team. We did 2 efforts up Story Hill. One took about 15 minutes. The other took about 10 minutes. I kept it at the prescribed pace. There isn't much around here that is a 20 minute hill/effort. Then went to the venue where the State Championship race will be. John had mapped out a route where there were lots of corners. The effort was probably more like 5 minutes. Did this 3 times. Having a hard time getting in the entire workout before it gets dark. Rode home in the dark.
Thursday
Did the run in the am. Felt good.
Was raining in the pm. Rode the TT bike on the trainer. Made plans for a beer with Jamie so that got cut a little short. Rode only about an hour. Did core for 30 minutes.
Friday
Was tired this am. Didn't make it out on the run. Weather was pretty crappy and raining all day. Erik, John, and Lisa motivated for a ride after work. Felt fine riding in the rain once I got warmed up. Have a little issue with the mt bike. Don't have a cassette for it. So haven't been able to ride it. Should I buy one, or can I get by on the cross bike?
Sat.
Felt really good in warm up. Raced hard! Worked harder than in any other race this year. Lindsy was working me. Gained on her but never caught her. 16 or so women in the cat 1,2,3 field and came in 5th. Fun race, good course, and good people. Spun around for at least 30 minutes.
Sun.
Felt like my skills were pretty bad warming up. There were tight corners all over the course. Once grassy section with little turns. Exactly what we practiced on Wed. Didn't feel especially spunky though. Got a good start and it took a while for Kris Walker to pass. I thought she was Lindsy and would accelerate to not let her pass. About half a lap in she was gone. Then Lindsy passed. Put in a lot of effort to stay on her tail, then spent a lap regrouping and catching my breath. Keep going out too hard to sustain. Maybe lap 5 on a straight away I had caught up to Lindsy. I went for it and blew by her. Had to work to get rid of her but did. Good mental battle won today. Also finished 4th. Amanda Riley-Carey=1, Lisa=2, and Kris Walker=3. Tough field. Course today was fun. Worked really hard to accelerate hard out of all the corners. Wed. practice really payed off.
Note: My lower back has been hurting, usually the last two laps of a race, and at practice the other day doing the cornering and accelerating. Thoughts?
Still not sure what race I want to do better at. Both? I am pretty sure I will be disappointed if I don't give it a go at the State Championship. Have hometown advantage.
Mon.
Swim!
Thursday
Did the run in the am. Felt good.
Was raining in the pm. Rode the TT bike on the trainer. Made plans for a beer with Jamie so that got cut a little short. Rode only about an hour. Did core for 30 minutes.
Friday
Was tired this am. Didn't make it out on the run. Weather was pretty crappy and raining all day. Erik, John, and Lisa motivated for a ride after work. Felt fine riding in the rain once I got warmed up. Have a little issue with the mt bike. Don't have a cassette for it. So haven't been able to ride it. Should I buy one, or can I get by on the cross bike?
Sat.
Felt really good in warm up. Raced hard! Worked harder than in any other race this year. Lindsy was working me. Gained on her but never caught her. 16 or so women in the cat 1,2,3 field and came in 5th. Fun race, good course, and good people. Spun around for at least 30 minutes.
Sun.
Felt like my skills were pretty bad warming up. There were tight corners all over the course. Once grassy section with little turns. Exactly what we practiced on Wed. Didn't feel especially spunky though. Got a good start and it took a while for Kris Walker to pass. I thought she was Lindsy and would accelerate to not let her pass. About half a lap in she was gone. Then Lindsy passed. Put in a lot of effort to stay on her tail, then spent a lap regrouping and catching my breath. Keep going out too hard to sustain. Maybe lap 5 on a straight away I had caught up to Lindsy. I went for it and blew by her. Had to work to get rid of her but did. Good mental battle won today. Also finished 4th. Amanda Riley-Carey=1, Lisa=2, and Kris Walker=3. Tough field. Course today was fun. Worked really hard to accelerate hard out of all the corners. Wed. practice really payed off.
Note: My lower back has been hurting, usually the last two laps of a race, and at practice the other day doing the cornering and accelerating. Thoughts?
Still not sure what race I want to do better at. Both? I am pretty sure I will be disappointed if I don't give it a go at the State Championship. Have hometown advantage.
Mon.
Swim!
10/04/2011
9/29/11 thru 10/5/11
Thursday
Got out on the road, but rode the cross bike. Rode 1:30 but kept it very easy. Saw a orange tabby kitten. Bricked to a 30 minute run and did core. No comments here. My Achilles pain seems to be going away.
Friday
Got up in the morning and did a short run and the stretched. Felt really good. I am really tight in the hip area. Met up with Lisa after work and rode over to the course. Rode some of what they had already set up then rode up to Alex's for his birthday party. Up there, they set up a surprise cyclocross course in his back yard. Rode that lap a couple of times. Kept it easy.
Sat.
Not feeling too spunky to race today, but got over there pretty early and got in a good warm up. Practiced riding different lines of the course and dialed most of it in. The grassy corners where the barriers were I didn't ride enough though. Race-had a good start and lead up on top of the hill. Then got passed by everybody. Ugh. After resetting and and a little moral discussion in my head got back in the groove again. Passed Megan pretty fast and saw Lindsy speed up when she got close to Amy. Then passed Amy. Takes an untrained Amy for me to beat her. Had Lindsy in my sites the whole race but never caught her. I really think I need to work on mentally wanting to win, or at least pass her. Part of me doesn't want t deal with the suffering that will follow a Lindsy pass. My weakness on the course was probably the grassy turns. Didn't have much speed getting around the corners.
Sunday
Felt really good this morning. Again, got a good warm up. Practiced the grassy corners and found some good lines. Again, got a good start. Let Lisa get in front of me. Maybe I shouldn't do that. She said we had a gap on everybody else. Should have tried harder to stay on her wheel. She was so fast though, just gone. Then everybody passed me again. Had to re-group on lap 2 because I was a little demoralized. Stayed so close to Lindsy until lap 6. Got demoralized again. Then had a good lap 7. Not sure what part of the course I lost time on for this race, the trail around the lake was tougher today and was always dying by the last corner. Could not stay on Lindsy's wheel on that trail, I stood up to keep on her wheel and my legs just died. It seems like short bursty efforts are too much for me. Can't keep going.
(a little wordy here. Trying to figure out what I think are my weaknesses)
Monday
Swam- 1500. Felt good to be in the water. Felt pretty good all day. Legs weren't especially tired. After swim though, I was done for. Slept good.
Tuesday
9/26/2011
9/22/11 thru 9/27/11
Wednesday
Went on the GAS training ride. We 1) rode around the trees for a while 2) went to Pete's hill and rode down the trail and rode up the hill for two laps and ran up the hill for two laps. Then we rode this single track on Pete's that I have never known about and progressed over to Sourdough Ridge road. The ride over was pretty hard. I got a flat so the others rode and ran laps while I fixed it. At Sourdough Ridge we did 5-1 minute+ as hard as you can up the steep hill. Raced John on the last one and got a good climb in. I had a huge headstart. Felt like we dinked around for a while, but was pretty tired the next day. Riding in a group can make the suffering more enjoyable.
Thursday
Had a nice run and then did some core/weights in the yard. Mostly squats, lunges, pushups, and core. Am going to try and do weights at the gym. Want some more arm stuff than just pushups.
Friday
Good ride. Went with John, Lisa, and Erik over to the fairgrounds and rode around while John plotted the course for the GAS race. Good place to go. Good easy skills practice. Finished off on the BMX track trying to pump around the track. Couldn't pump that far, but got fairly high on the burm.
Sat.
Worked on cross bike so wanted to ride it to make sure it was functioning. Got a stomach ache/cramp/heartburn on the way home. Miserable. Had to stop and lay down in the shade a couple of times. I don't think Gatorade sits well with me. The sugar is to much.
Sunday
Super excited to race. Decided I need to have the same attitude for cross that I had for the triathlon season. Very positive and fun. Some of those other girls can be the biggest head cases and I honestly don't really understand why. I am going to go out and race my hardest at every race and enjoy it!
Race was fine. I rode as hard as I could except when I let Lindsy go. For some reason I felt bad sitting on her wheel. Like it was not the right thing to do. Feel I am in the right place though. Anna, Lisa, and Lindsy are all really cyclocross focused. Felt good keeping at least Lindsy in my sites. I wouldn't mind winning a race though, or at least being on the podium. This racing scene is hard!
Monday
Run on the new trail at Pete's and go to the gym for weights! Focused week this week!
Went on the GAS training ride. We 1) rode around the trees for a while 2) went to Pete's hill and rode down the trail and rode up the hill for two laps and ran up the hill for two laps. Then we rode this single track on Pete's that I have never known about and progressed over to Sourdough Ridge road. The ride over was pretty hard. I got a flat so the others rode and ran laps while I fixed it. At Sourdough Ridge we did 5-1 minute+ as hard as you can up the steep hill. Raced John on the last one and got a good climb in. I had a huge headstart. Felt like we dinked around for a while, but was pretty tired the next day. Riding in a group can make the suffering more enjoyable.
Thursday
Had a nice run and then did some core/weights in the yard. Mostly squats, lunges, pushups, and core. Am going to try and do weights at the gym. Want some more arm stuff than just pushups.
Friday
Good ride. Went with John, Lisa, and Erik over to the fairgrounds and rode around while John plotted the course for the GAS race. Good place to go. Good easy skills practice. Finished off on the BMX track trying to pump around the track. Couldn't pump that far, but got fairly high on the burm.
Sat.
Worked on cross bike so wanted to ride it to make sure it was functioning. Got a stomach ache/cramp/heartburn on the way home. Miserable. Had to stop and lay down in the shade a couple of times. I don't think Gatorade sits well with me. The sugar is to much.
Sunday
Super excited to race. Decided I need to have the same attitude for cross that I had for the triathlon season. Very positive and fun. Some of those other girls can be the biggest head cases and I honestly don't really understand why. I am going to go out and race my hardest at every race and enjoy it!
Race was fine. I rode as hard as I could except when I let Lindsy go. For some reason I felt bad sitting on her wheel. Like it was not the right thing to do. Feel I am in the right place though. Anna, Lisa, and Lindsy are all really cyclocross focused. Felt good keeping at least Lindsy in my sites. I wouldn't mind winning a race though, or at least being on the podium. This racing scene is hard!
Monday
Run on the new trail at Pete's and go to the gym for weights! Focused week this week!
9/19/2011
9/13/11 thru 9/21/11
Tuesday
Found a good place for doing these. I tried on the grass a couple of times, but it wasn't very smooth. The road is a slight uphill into Lindley park. It ends in the cemetery which made me chuckle since John used to ride there last year and asked us if we thought it was morally okay to ride in a cemetery. These were tough. At about 50 seconds my legs would just die. I did all 8. The long recovery helped.
Wed.
Rode around town for an hour and went home to get measured. Of course Paul didn't show up. Went down to the 100 acre park for some more practice. Took Erik and Ben with me. The wind was blowing and the sun going down. We ended up not riding for soo long. Did ride around and practice some skills though.
Thursday
Ran after work. Nice solid run on the trails in town. Did some good post run strength and core.
Friday
Tired all day, and it was raining, but stopped by 4:30 or so. Did the intervals. Have done these before on Story Hill. Makes for a good hard climb. Pushed all of these pretty dang hard. was thinking a lot about my form and really focused on getting forward momentum. Felt like it made me faster. Tried pushing even harder in a few places, felt like a surge. Would usually have to back off a little. On the 3rd one I pushed really hard on part of the hill this is flatter and I usually use to recover a bit. It didn't work. Burnt out my legs and was dead for the next few minutes. Didn't get as far as the 2nd interval. Had some good practice at what is too much and at staying within my limits so I don't blow up.
Sat.
Run in the am. Nice and easy.
Oops. Mountain bike has no rear cassette. Found this out after I got all the way out to Leverich. Put it back in the car and went and got my cross bike. Did two laps at Leverich on the cross bike instead. One switchback is pretty steep and long. It kind of undulates. Don't have a lot of gears on the cross bike. Just one front chainring. So had to stand up on all the little rollers. It was hard. The first lap I was definitely not looking forward to the second lap. Coming down was fun. I find it sort of funny that all these pushers ride that downhill. Obviously you don't need that big of a bike for that trail. Anyway, the second lap was sooo much easier than the first. Each lap took about an hour.
Sun.
Went out on a ride with Ben. Rode from the house over and up some of Triple Tree. Then up Bozeman Creek. Ben showed me a nice single track I didn't know about before. Finished off with a ride down Leverich and back home. Total time was about 4 hours. Lots of climbing and quick descents.
Feel like this was a very training focused weekend. Was actually pretty pooped every evening. I tried to put a lot into each day.
Mon.
Feeling pretty tired and sore today. The ride was also kind of a flop. I planned to meet a friend for dinner. Perfect timing. Got home got on the bike and it started raining. Went home. Switched the cassette from one wheel to another to at least warm up on the trainer. Took me a while. Got on the trainer. Rode for 15 to 20 minutes. Then it stopped raining. Went outside and did the 4 intervals. Got home to leave for dinner. Total time was probably more like :45 minutes. My lower back was really tired and sore on the bike today. Probably from cranking up Leverich on the cross bike.
Skipped the core workout. OOps.
9/13/2011
9/7/11 thru 9/14/11
Wed.
Did the GAS training ride. It was really pretty tough. We rode up to the top of Story Hill which took about 15 minutes of hard effort, then we rode down the trail. The rocks were big and the trail not very smooth. Could feel my wheels whacking the rocks. We re-grouped at the bottom and rode over and up the dump road. The road is a series of steep uphills followed by some small down hills. Went all out on the uphills. Then we did 4 laps at the hour of power hell hill. It really is a cool loop. As you go round and round you can watch the sun set. I always expect a bear to walk out of the trees there too. On the way home I got a flat. Huge nail wedged in my wheel. Matthew stayed with me and helped fix it. Finished ride at the Holiday Inn lounge to attend a Mule Cross planning meeting. Pretty tired from ride.
Feel a little bit out of shape. All the long distance stuff hasn't been helping me with the short punchy stuff.
Thursday
Went home after work and ran. Then did yoga with a focus on core for 30 minutes. Went to meeting. At meeting brought up pool issues. Had a good talk with the aquatics director and got an email from Bob Wade the next day wanting to add the pool problems to the agenda next month. Glad to get the ball rolling.
Friday
Rode after work. Spent a little time fixing my back tire. Finally got the tire on myself. Makes me feel better. Need to get a new hand pump. Rode around town on the trails. Practiced mounting and dismounting and doing it with some speed. Feel like I jump on my bike too hard. Need to be smoother. Tuesday night is skills night, can maybe get some more tips.
Sat.
Drove to Plentywood. Mom and Grandma dropped me off at the farm about 25 miles outside of Plentywood. I had brought a Montana atlas so I had a great map of all the roads. That area is filled with dirt farmroads. Pretty cool. Found an unimproved road that I was riding almost waste deep in grass with pheasants flying up all around me. Did the intervals and it was a good thing because if I had ridden any slower the sun would have been down. Rode 2.5 hours total. Really love the riding up there. Rolling hills not up or down like it is here. Watched the almost full moon come up as the sun set. Decided it would be cool to ride from there to Bozeman with a Montana atlas going one page at a time.
Also had some discussion in my head about my cyclocross focus. Got a better and more positive vision than I have had. Can just see those girls falling behind. Its all about having a vision and a goal right?
Sun.
Ran around town in the morning. Found their swimming pool. Nice little town. Lots of campgrounds.
Got dropped off the the farm again. This time I had a different route that didn't involve the highway. It was also a little later, so I knew I would be riding in the dark. Spent probably a good :45 to an hour in the dark under the full moon. Saw a porcupine. Rode pretty hard just to get to town faster. Also, in Plentywood when somebody says thats just 3/4 mile extra they really mean 3-6 miles extra. Good ride. Probably more like 3 hours this day.
Monday
Did not get the big ride in. Left later and got home around 8:30. Did go for a 30 minute run and did some lifting and core for about 30 minutes. Can we plan on the hard ride tonight? Maybe not do the GAS ride tomorrow, or have low expectations? I see the hard/easy plan and I kind of messed it up.
Also, Paul Taylor wants to measure me for a bike. Might be his sponsored ride. We'll see though. Want to go and get measured tonight. Excited!
Side note: Not going anywhere this weekend. Need a break. The month of October is packed with travel.
Lots of good things this week. Got my motivation back to get out there and train and race. Excited to focus on cross for a little while.
Did the GAS training ride. It was really pretty tough. We rode up to the top of Story Hill which took about 15 minutes of hard effort, then we rode down the trail. The rocks were big and the trail not very smooth. Could feel my wheels whacking the rocks. We re-grouped at the bottom and rode over and up the dump road. The road is a series of steep uphills followed by some small down hills. Went all out on the uphills. Then we did 4 laps at the hour of power hell hill. It really is a cool loop. As you go round and round you can watch the sun set. I always expect a bear to walk out of the trees there too. On the way home I got a flat. Huge nail wedged in my wheel. Matthew stayed with me and helped fix it. Finished ride at the Holiday Inn lounge to attend a Mule Cross planning meeting. Pretty tired from ride.
Feel a little bit out of shape. All the long distance stuff hasn't been helping me with the short punchy stuff.
Thursday
Went home after work and ran. Then did yoga with a focus on core for 30 minutes. Went to meeting. At meeting brought up pool issues. Had a good talk with the aquatics director and got an email from Bob Wade the next day wanting to add the pool problems to the agenda next month. Glad to get the ball rolling.
Friday
Rode after work. Spent a little time fixing my back tire. Finally got the tire on myself. Makes me feel better. Need to get a new hand pump. Rode around town on the trails. Practiced mounting and dismounting and doing it with some speed. Feel like I jump on my bike too hard. Need to be smoother. Tuesday night is skills night, can maybe get some more tips.
Sat.
Drove to Plentywood. Mom and Grandma dropped me off at the farm about 25 miles outside of Plentywood. I had brought a Montana atlas so I had a great map of all the roads. That area is filled with dirt farmroads. Pretty cool. Found an unimproved road that I was riding almost waste deep in grass with pheasants flying up all around me. Did the intervals and it was a good thing because if I had ridden any slower the sun would have been down. Rode 2.5 hours total. Really love the riding up there. Rolling hills not up or down like it is here. Watched the almost full moon come up as the sun set. Decided it would be cool to ride from there to Bozeman with a Montana atlas going one page at a time.
Also had some discussion in my head about my cyclocross focus. Got a better and more positive vision than I have had. Can just see those girls falling behind. Its all about having a vision and a goal right?
Sun.
Ran around town in the morning. Found their swimming pool. Nice little town. Lots of campgrounds.
Got dropped off the the farm again. This time I had a different route that didn't involve the highway. It was also a little later, so I knew I would be riding in the dark. Spent probably a good :45 to an hour in the dark under the full moon. Saw a porcupine. Rode pretty hard just to get to town faster. Also, in Plentywood when somebody says thats just 3/4 mile extra they really mean 3-6 miles extra. Good ride. Probably more like 3 hours this day.
Monday
Did not get the big ride in. Left later and got home around 8:30. Did go for a 30 minute run and did some lifting and core for about 30 minutes. Can we plan on the hard ride tonight? Maybe not do the GAS ride tomorrow, or have low expectations? I see the hard/easy plan and I kind of messed it up.
Also, Paul Taylor wants to measure me for a bike. Might be his sponsored ride. We'll see though. Want to go and get measured tonight. Excited!
Side note: Not going anywhere this weekend. Need a break. The month of October is packed with travel.
Lots of good things this week. Got my motivation back to get out there and train and race. Excited to focus on cross for a little while.
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