First, congratulations to my swim coach Julie Dunkle.  This past weekend she competed in Ironman Boulder in the 50 to 54 age group.  Coming out of the water she was third among all women including the pros!  In the end, she placed second in her age group.  Very impressive.

My own accomplishment this week came at the hands of her instruction.  Back on April 10th when I had my first lesson with Julie, my basic 1,000 yard swim time was 30 minutes.  Today, I set my new personal record of 23:19.  This is a 6.5-minute improvement!

I think the 70.3 Ironman cut-off time of 1:10:00 has become a non-factor in my psyche.  Now it is simply a question of how much faster can I go?  I like that question a lot better than the former.