More Montana and some changes

Our trip Montana was awhile ago, but it was much more than just the race so I wanted to write a little more.  

We got a new truck the week before and it was packed full for the trip.  We thought with more space we would have more room, but we just packed more.  It was a really long drive to Bozeman, longer than I realized.  The plan was to drive there and look for a campsite in the Gallatin national forest near the reservoir where the race would be.

Cooper threw up in the brand new car. We think Mickey was comforting him here.  Or just using him as a pillow.

Frito had his paws on the Jumbo marshmallows

Perhaps so he could reserve them for later use as a pillow?

Frito and Mickey have grown quite close

We got there around 5 pm and it seemed like everything was full.  And a lot more RV's than were were expecting. When we camp we don't want to be next to big RV's or even near people.  We want a little space.  That was not going to happen.  We explored all around the park, looking for an empty good spot.  We found one that was great...but there were people there.  A couple more that weren't great but as I got hungry and tired were looking ok.  But Adam didn't want to settle on a spot. We searched and searched and finally drove past a sign that said leaving designated camping area.   We drove past a spot that looked ok, just kind of close to some others.  We drove really far out and found a great spot but then thought it was maybe too remote so we went back to check out another that was covered with red ants.  We got back in the car and a few seconds later, a grizzly bear ran in front of our path.  That combined with fatigue and hunger sent us back to Bozeman and to a hotel.  A hotel was hard to come by to.  Apparently everyone was in Bozeman that Thursday night.

Friday and Saturday we got out and prerode the course.  It was such a beautiful place and very challenging mountain biking for me.  If I hadn't been so beaten up from my crashes in the race and first preride I would have loved to explore more of the park on foot and bike.

A nice part of the course...I think my camelback was driving me crazy and I was taking it off and making Adam ride with it.

Adam and I before we started the decent, and I sort of fell off the side of the mountain.

 Friday after biking Adam let Cooper and Mickey swim while Frito previewed some of the run course with me.

Adam threw Coopers soccer ball for him to fetch from the water.  He kept tapping it with his nose but couldn't quite get it.  He swam all the way out to the middle of the reservoir trying to get his ball until he finally got it.  Quite a long swim for Mr. C!

Coopy coming back from his marathon swim

The water was pretty cold, even for the dogs.

We were close to a 15 acre dog park that the dogs had fun exploring both days.

Mickey playing in the grass at the dog park

 Saturday we rode the course again, even better than the first time.

Yes I am wearing the same jersey...I was trying minimize what I packed

And then both swam in the lake.  I put my wetsuit on and was initially shocked by how cold it was.  Then Adam went in wearing only the swim skin.  I don't know how he didn't freeze.  That's when we found out it was wetsuits required and had to go rent him a wetsuit.

We had really good food when we were there.  Lots of good local restaurants. I guess being a college town helps.  Probably the best gluten free pizza I've had so far too.

Adam rented a mountain bike for the race and it was understandably muddy after mountain biking.  When he went to return it they charged him $10 because it was muddy. Really?  It's a mountain bike!  Is he just supposed to ride it around the street?  I thought that was ridiculous.

Over all it was a fun trip--it didn't turn out all all like we expected and we learned we really need to plan a lot better for our trips.

After this race and Beaver Creek I realized I need to make some changes in my training.  I need to do more biking and specifically mountain biking.  Mostly longer rides.  I seem to fatigue and then get more sloppy.  And when I am fatigued from the bike I don't run up to my potential.  I also need to work on my upper body and core strength since I seem to use it a lot more mountain biking.  I haven't been swimming much lately and getting back to what I was doing back in the spring will give me more of an advantage going into the bike.  I never thought I would say this but I need to get as much advantage as I can on the swim, so it takes longer for me to get passed (if at all) on the bike.

I have Xterra Indian Peaks coming up this weekend.  Mostly just a race to get a good workout in and more experience racing off road.