Bike Shopping...Winning!

Is Charlie Sheen old news by now?  My apologies...

But I did it!  I bought a bike!!!  And she's a beauty...if I do say so myself.

A Diamondback Vital 2 Hybrid.  She rides like a dream!!  Here's my new baby:

I seriously love it!  I got it for sale at Dick's Sporting Goods.  I paid $278 plus tax.  And I feel really good about it!  I've ridden it 3 times (then left for two weeks on travel and had to leave her behind...frown) and it was so smooth and fast and a great workout and I just really love it!!!

And I can't believe I'm sharing this goofy picture with you all, but safety first :)  I even got a matching helmet:

And now I still have time for a run this fine evening.  Wonder if I'll find my motivation?

Bike Shopping FAIL...The Saga Continues

I tried to buy a bike last night.  I wanted to.  I had my purse at the ready and I think I might have paid any price if I had found a bike that screamed This Is The One. 

But none of them really did.  I went to several stores.  I rode at least a dozen different bikes.  Around the store.  And I felt like a gigantic goob as people watched me pedal through the aisles.  But I was on a mission.

There were things I liked about each of the bikes.  Some of them even made me feel fast...  But I never got that special feeling.  None of the bikes gave me that comforting "oh, this is what the right bike feels like" vibe.  I'm still just as confused as ever.  Scratch that.  Now I'm more confused.

So, that does it.  I'm going to a specialty bike shop.  I know I can't possibly afford their bikes.  But I definitely need their help.

When I first went to a specialty running store I was intimidated.  I feel like that again now.  What if I don't speak the language right?  What if they laugh at me when I leave?  What if I can't afford anything in the store and they get mad and throw me out for wasting their time?

But really, what's the worst that can happen?  In the end, the specialty running store helped me immensely.  I found my first really great fitting pair of shoes.  And I was even able to afford them. 

Here's hoping my specialty bike shop experience goes the same way.  Wish me luck!

Couch to ???

Introducing...The Accidental Biker...maybe.

I've been toying around with the idea of biking for several weeks now.  I've been perusing Bicycling Magazine (it's no Runner's World, but it's a start), envying the Super Serious Bikers around town (and the neighborhood kids too...who am I kidding?), and trying out/lusting over/trying to understand the bicycles at every store in town.

I know nothing about biking.  Less than nothing.  I've spent very little time on a bike since I was a kid.  I especially don't know anything about bike types besides my purple mountain bike.  I picked it out back in the day because it was pretty.  I've never sported a bike helmet, or bought special shorts, or tracked my mileage or speed or "aero".  What on God's green earth is "aero"???  But I want to learn.

I'm not really sure what I plan to do with biking.  Are there races?  Is there a biking equivalent to the 5K?  Better yet...is there a couch to 5K plan in the biking world?  That's definitely what I need right now.

I think I'm ready to take the plunge and buy a bike.  Heaven help me, because I still don't know what kind to buy.  Mountain?  Cruiser?  Hybrid?  Comfort?  Whoa.  But I've perused and envied and lusted long enough.  Tonight I hope to stay at the store(s) until I make a selection and bring home a bike.  Even if it's just because it's pretty. 

And for now, I'm just going to ride.  At least until I figure out what else I'm supposed to be doing.

Cinnamon Sixes Anyone?

Saturday was supposed to be my long run but alas, it was not to be. We had 6 inches of fresh snow which is akin to running on sand. It was one degree outside which by itself wouldn't be a problem but combined with the snow gave me a perfect excuse to stay indoors.  My best laid plans were to run on the treadmill somewhere between breakfast and lunch.  We made "homemade" mini cinnamon rolls for breakfast, which involves cheating by using refrigerator biscuits.  But the filling and icing were the real deal:

They sort of came out mini cinnamon sixes instead of cinnamon rolls.  But the taste was right, and of course we made sure the girls knew they were the best we'd ever had!

We've been preparing to put our house on the market and planned to have a realtor over during the weekend so we were trying to get the house show ready.  That ended up taking much, much longer than we expected.  Interpret: me and the treadmill missed our date on Saturday.

Sunday was church followed by finishing touches on the house and the actual realtor appointment, and somehow the day disappeared without running again.  I didn't stress about it much because I developed some knee and hip pain after my Thursday night run and subsequent Friday workout session.  Oh yeah, did I mention Friday?

I had the day off work Friday and decided to take advantage of the time off.  I started off with 35 minutes of Spine Awakening Yoga.  Ouch!  Then I popped in our latest Netflix movie (Why Did I Get Married Too?) and put in a lovely 30 minutes on the spin bike.  At this point, the movie was really just getting going and I really didn't want to switch to the family room TV and try to figure out how to scene select to where I left off.  There's no place to sit down in the workout room, except on the spin bike so relaxing in there wasn't an option.  Plus, I figured I might as well get some more activity in, so I hopped on the treadmill just to walk.  I ended up walking for 50 minutes on a hill workout.  I felt pretty good initially, but later my knee and hip started to bug me.

So fast forward back to Sunday night and I figured a couple days rest was in order, since my number one racing goal this year is don't get injured.  Then Monday comes and lo and behold, I wake up with a sore throat, A. wakes up with a fever, and the winter flu season has arrived in our house.  Suffice it to say that the last two days have also not included any running.  They have included copious amounts of liquids, Gilmore Girls, and ice cream (hey...the cold stuff really soothes a sore throat.  Try it.).  I'm looking forward to getting a run in tomorrow.  I'm not so much looking forward to returning to work but it had to happen sometime.

Also, did anyone else feel really angry at the end of Why Did I Get Married Too?  I mean, where's the happy ending?

Stress...Grrrr!

Last night was one of my favorite TV nights…The Biggest Loser.  I love me some BL.  What I don’t love is when they send people home.  I wish they could all live there together for 16 weeks and learn lots of things about getting healthier before they have to go back home to the real world.  Unfortunately, the producers didn’t ask for my opinion.  On last night’s episode, though, nobody got sent home.  I thought it was great!  You could tell that Bob is getting a little honked off about the Unknown Trainer situation.  I can’t wait to see how that one plays out. 

While watching the drama unfold I worked out on the spin bike.  6.3 miles in 30 minutes…I’m getting faster!  Today was a super stressful day at work so I’m really looking forward to my 15 minutes fast (ideally at or below goal race pace) on the treadmill tonight.  My goal race pace is tentatively scheduled for 8:59 per mile, but that is still completely negotiable.  I'm hoping it will negotiate faster, not slower though.  It’s not a bike night, but I may do the bike too because I have some major stress issues to work out and what better way than with exercise?

Life Gets in the Way

I woke up this morning to a sick five year old.  Fever, sore throat, tired, cranky.  My plans for today consisted of work, marathon training, carting a kid to dance class, and a bike ride while watching Biggest Loser.  All that got kicked to the curb, or if I'm lucky just rearranged.  Work was obviously cancelled, and dance class looks to be a no-go too.  I really need to run still...and I really don't want to do it on the treaddy!  Torture!  There's a chance that while my lasagna is baking, I can convince my hubby to let me out the door for a run the very second he walks in.  My 3 year old will be harder to convince.  She's a major momma's girl and will not want to let me out of her sight as soon as she gets home.  The run is still up in the air.  At least I should still manage to get my bike ride in while watching BL as long as the kids' bedtime goes off as it's supposed to.