July's 'Fession Festival

Well, here we are, already, returning to the monthly stop at the Runfessional.

Seriously, it's a good thing we have this little 'fessional fix each month. There's been a lot of #ish going down, and it's beneficial to have a place to rant and rave about it. Besides, it's good for the souls AND soles of us runners.

Shall we get this 'fession festival underway? 

I'll start off with a big 'fession, one I certainly didn't see coming. Most of you all know I got a new Garmin recently, and I'm still caught in the middle of a (somewhat) challenging learning curve. That said, I wore it for my hilly bike path ride this week, and WOWZA! There were all kinds of stats at my fingertips to peruse. I Garmin-fess that I can certainly see the allure of wearing my new wrist candy all the time, just so there's "record" of my every fitness-related move I do. Maybe I'd be a little more adept at mastering all the bells and whistles if I did so, LOL.

Speaking of the Garmin, it sort of failed me (in all honesty, it was user error). On Wednesday, a small group of us rallied and did our first century ride! I brought the Garmin along, you know, so I could have all kinds of exciting stats to "ooh and ahh" over afterwards. I couldn't remember how to find the bike setting. After a good 10 minutes of button-pushing, I surrendered, saddled-up, and started pedaling without it. I gotta stress-fess, NOT having the Garmin was one less thing to worry about because I would have been constantly comparing its mileage to my bike computer, and what if I paused it and then forgot to hit the resume button? Could you imagine the turmoil??? Stashing it in my backpack was quite liberating (and it was one less awkward tan line to deal with, LOL). Crisis averted.

with Barb, Mike and Amy...almost 78 miles done!

Speaking of bikes and Garmins, it's only fitting I bikefess that I'm doing another RAGBRAI-for-a-day on Saturday! RAGBRAI 2022 (acronym for Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) started this past Sunday and ends on Saturday. Last year was my first-ever RAGBRAI experience (I rode on Day-1...recap HERE). The 2022 route is pretty far north this year, so the logistics of getting there (and back) for just one day wasn't too appealing (and I had no interest in riding the entire week with the hubs). But...I decided I could swing driving up Friday after work, staying with the hubs and our friend (who has an RV) and riding Saturday morning! Saturday's route is 65ish miles...it ought to feel easy-peasy after Wednesday's 100, right? The hubs got me a 2022 jersey (the purple one, on the left), and I plan to wear that on Saturday (because, unlike runners, cyclists don't have any qualms about wearing the event gear for the actual event itself). 

2022 RAGBRAI jersey (on left) and my 2021 jersey (on the right)

I have been taking part in some speed-training in recent weeks. Somehow, the fitness gods (and any other forces that be) all aligned, and this week was a recovery week. In other words, easy-paced runs and no track running! Even though the track workouts haven't been terrible, I trackfess that I did NOT miss all that "running-in-circles" one bit. Besides, with all the biking miles on deck this week, my legs certainly didn't need any excess wear and tear.

no big loss, LOL

Finally, it's hard for me to face the fact that we are now an entire month past the summer solstice. After all, summer is MY season to shine (and not just in terms of all the glistening and glowing "residue" from running in the heat and humidity). I'm still getting out, every morning, in one capacity or another, to pay homage to the sunrise. Maybe I'm hopelessly in denial, but I summerfess that I haven't really noticed the daylight decreasing. I'll probably have a different story to tell this time next month. For now, though, I refuse to surrender to the doom of shorter days, and I plan to enjoy every minute of daylight as much as possible. 

So, there you go. Another 'fession session done, and I feel all better. Onward!

Your thoughts? Any 'fessions that need disclosed? Are you enjoying summer, or are you ready for the temps to cool off? Have you noticed an obvious change in the daylight?  

I'm  linking this with Marcia for the monthly Runfessions link-up

I'm also linking this with Michelle, Renee, Darlene, Jenn and Zenaida for the Fit Five Friday Link-up.

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