K Gets Her Groove Back?

Two days of solid workouts, two days of getting the groove back...

Yesterday we swam. A solid 26 min swim which left us with leadlike arms and blissfully tired. It was that 'warm fuzzy tired' you get from a good solid exercise. The hot tub sucked us in and was heaven. I know Kate came home and hit the hay early, and I myself showered, had a burrito and beer (thanks to my boyfriend) and hit the hay early myself...

Today was a bike. Picked up my bike at the shop (Fox Firestone Bike Shop in NSB, they're great!) with its new SECURE seat, new pedal cages, and a fresh tune up. Felt great. The guy at the shop pointed out to me that my bike handles are actually crooked, a sign that the bike had been in a previous wipeout. He then paused and eyed me suspiciously. "What?! It wasn't me. Honest!" I said. I chuckled as he instructed me to push the right handlebar down in the event of a future accident in hopes of correcting the current imbalance. Nice.

Anyway, so Kate & I went out for a ride, a "short" one that would only take about 30 mins. The ride out was great. I felt like I was keeping a good pace with Kate and the bike felt smooth. Found the right gear, found the right rhythm, and we were off!

Then we turned to come home. OOOOOOOOO, wind! Strong strong gusts of wind, but mostly wind blowing right at us. I watched as Kate plowed ahead of me yet again and I felt my muscles ache as I pedaled and pedaled. It felt like a giant invisible hand was pushing back at me, telling me I couldn't move forward. It wasn't easy. But what could I do? Give up? Walk? Of course not. So I plugged on. Finally met up with Kate for a much easier ride home since we were on a side street away from the stronger wind.

Learned a couple of things today...
1) Riding low is DEFINITELY the best move to avoid the stronger winds.
2) Pedal cages RULE! I don't know how I would've gotten through that strong wind today without those damn things which helped me pull and push.
(Please note, if you are reading this and plan on competing against me in the race, I was just joking. Pedal cages are a complete waste of money and really challenging to use and will barely help you at all!)

I have to say too, the race is SOON! Less than 2 months away now and I think of it EVERY SINGLE TIME I go out to exercise. It's amazing how long ago we started this training. When all is said and done we would've spent SIX MONTHS training for this race! Back when we started it seemed like a lifetime away until the race but now it just feels so close and like every workout counts. I know many people don't start to train for an event like this until there is only 2 months until the event, and knowing this makes me want to step up the pace more. I'm hoping for a solid weekend of yoga followed by a solid weekend of exercise. Hopefully next week we'll hit a nice solid groove and become, well, totally groovy? (I know, I'm corny!)