I LOVE my bike!

Yes, it's official. I am absolutely in love with my bike. Yes, I know I said that before about my old bike... but that was before I knew what an amazing bike ride could be like and I always knew the Trek had faults. But, the Fuji Roubaix Pro is my new main squeeze. I took my first long ride this morning, and it was great! I took it easy on the first 8 miles so I could get to know my bike a little better. But, it's like I already know it. I get on, and it does basically what I think about telling it to do. And it's fast. It was rather windy this morning (and a brisk 42 degrees), so I wanted to be a little cautious... I am, after all, in a completely different position than on my old bike, and balancing on tires that are probably 1/4 of the width of the old bike, and it handles so much better but is also so much more sensitive to my movements than the old bike.

At one point I was biking 15.5 mph! Yes, for an experienced cyclist that would be slow, but for me that was perhaps the fastest I've gone when I wasn't biking downhill. Even with the wind and my going slower for the first 8 miles, I finished my 18 mile bike ride in the time it took me to do 15 miles on my old jalopy. (Poor Trek, see how quickly it's relegated to the back of the bus?)

I will have to get used to a few things with my body position... like remembering to bend my elbows to get into a bigger tuck, the overall tuck position, and the fact that my head isn't up like before and I need to look up with my eyes more than my whole head (crick in the neck). I also either need to have more practice or get my clipless pedals loosened because I fell over 2 out of the 3 times I needed to unclip today because I couldn't get my feet out fast enough and was going too slow. The first time was on grass but the 2nd was on concrete and it hurt. ... thank goodness I was going rather slow and had on long bike pants. And I will have to get a new pair of bike gloves because my old ones don't have the padding in quite the right spots and my thumbs got a little numb by the end of the ride. But even with the things I need to get used to, it was amazing. I have a need, a need for speed!!!

My new love... my Fuji!

My new baby...

I apologize for the hiatus in writing, but rest assured dear friends there has been no hiatus in training... just life getting in the way of my blogging as it is wont to do from time to time. And it is rather ironic that the last post I made was about biking. Even more ironic is the fact that in the last post I found a picture of a bike that I would love to own and posted it. Even more ironic than that is that I now own said bike and didn't even realize that I had a picture of it in my blog until this morning!!!

YES, I have a new baby. A beautiful white and black Fuji Roubaix Pro with Shimano 105 shifters, Shimano 105 front derailleur and a Shimano Ultegra (even better than the 105) back derailleur. And, I got it for $450 less than the MSRP that I saw online, which allowed me to get nicer clipless pedals and still save more than $350 off of that MSRP. And even better than that is the fact that it rides like a dream and is as though I am at one with the bike. It's fast, it's sexy and it's all mine!! WHOO HOO. So here's a picture (in case you didn't see it in the last post)...

Other than that we have been running around with chickens with our heads cut off. Work has been busy, then training of course, birthday parties, head colds, errands, cooking, cleaning, trying to catch up with ourselves, and children. But nothing that I would trade for the world.... although I wouldn't mind an extra hour or two in the day to help get things done and to help have some fun free time with my dear husband. Now if only the weather will warm up a bit by Wednesday morning so I can ride my bike!!

In all my rushing around, my brain has been thinking for me while I sleep, processing things that are said to me. (Thanks Coach!) Here are some thoughts that I've woken up with: 1) I need not to worry so much about my weight. I will just eat healthy, try to eat the right number of calories in the right proportions of fat, carb, and protein, and that will be that. Life is too short to worry about that! 2) I need to get new tubes for my new bike in case of a flat. 3) I want to be able to run a 7:30 mile (if not a 7 minute mile) by the May triathlon. 4) I need a vacation and to use my planner to remind myself of things I have to do!

Angelfish and Ladybug were super potty training champs this weekend. Both wore underpants all weekend long (except night time)! Ladybug only had one accident and it was during a nap (and we forgot to have them go potty before naptime), and Angelfish had 2 accidents - 1 when she was playing and wouldn't stop to go and the other also during a nap. Go wonder twins!

Overheard this morning in the car on the way to daycare:

Angelfish: Hold my hand, Mommy.

Mommy: I can't honey, I need to drive the car. I would love to hold your hand when we get to school though.

Angelfish: Ladybug, hold my hand.

Ladybug: Nooooo!

Angelfish: You hurt my feelings.

Ladybug: I not want to hold hands.

Angelfish: That hurt my feelings!

Ladybug: I sorry. I do not want to hold hands right now, Amanda, but I love you.

Angelfish: But you hurt my feelings.

Ladybug: I not hurt your feelings. I said sorry. (If only it worked that way...)

Angelfis: Still hurt. Hold my hand.

Ladybug: Okay...

Bike Shop Temptation, New Shoes & a Head Cold

Last night our TNT team had a flat tire clinic at a bike shop (wonderful owners and staff - Advanced Cycles down by the airport - they didn't even tease me too much about my kickstand and removed it for free), and the temptation was overwhelming. Gorgeous, fast, aerodynamic bikes calling my name and begging me to buy them. I am now completely in love with a Fuji Aloha 1.0 (although I'd be happy with the 2.0, it's less expensive sister, too). It screams RIDE ME, YOU COULD BE FAST ON ME!

See what I mean? There's just no competition between these and my Trek 7000 Hybrid that I've fixed up with handles so I can curl a little in an attempt to be aerodynamic, and pedals that work with shoe clips, and a different seat that is more comfortable to me, etc.

Don't get me wrong. I still love my bike with all its faults, but I would REALLY love one of those Fuji's. But much like the Pigeon in Angelfish & Ladybug's book Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, I will have to love the bikes from a far. The $2,400 and $1,600 MSRP is a little outside of my price range at the moment. Plus, Mr. Darcy wants to make sure that I'm going to stick with all this triathlon stuff... and I can understand his reservations, but mainly because I can't expect him to feel the same way I do about the training and the way the triathlon seems to stretch the self... how you can power yourself to do things that you don't think you can do or that sound really far until you do it. I love that it rearranges the way I see myself. I used to view myself as a moderately out of shape wife and mother of 2. Now just with one triathlon under my belt, I see myself as a wife and mother of 2 who not only loves the joy she gets out of the triathlon competition and the training, but is a good example for her children and hopes that they will want to do something like this too as they get older (2 1/2 is a little early for hardcore training).

I did get a computer for my bike and some leg warmers (not like the 80s) though. I wanted to get slicks, but they didn't have the size that would work with my rims. I can't wait to use the computer... but I need to read the manual before tomorrow morning's bike ride. We almost bought a $10,000 (yes, 10K) bike too because I brought the girls with me thinking that Mr. Darcy could meet us and it wouldn't take super long and we'd be able to spend some time together. Well, Angelfish obviously has some of her mother's genetics because she went to the sleekest, fastest looking (and also the most expensive) bike in the store and started circling the pedals around and said "what this? make it go fast!" I, of course, told her no, took her away from the bike and swallowed my stomach back down to where it belonged. The girls loved the bike shop but had good time with Daddy at Chipotle next store before it became apparent that the clinic was going to take a good while and they headed home. But, I learned to change a flat tire! Luckily there are 2 more flat tire clinics also, so I can hopefully get that ingrained into my brain before race day and/or before I get my 1st flat tire.

Last night I did not sleep well, and it was not due to the vision of bikes in my head... it was the head cold that was attacking. Nothing like waking up because you can't breathe through your nose and you have to force yucky stuff out so you can try again. Turns out my Mom came down with this same cold the day after my triathlon... so that's probably where I got it! But, undeterred I hit the gym to try out my new kicks! (It was in the low 30s at best so no running in the neighborhood for me, especially with my head as stuff as it is!) Mr. Darcy tried to convince me not to go but I remembered my old personal trainer Dee (who I miss!) telling me that if you don't have a fever it's good to sweat out a cold. So, I put on my new Brooks Glycerin 7's with their superfeet orthotics (in hopes of ending my chronic battle with shin splints) and headed to the gym (after playing with and feeding the girls... Ladybug stole half of my bowl of oatmeal!) for a 45 minute run. 45 minutes seemed daunting, and since this was supposed to be an "easy" run, I alternated 3 minutes running with 2 minutes walking for the entire time to try to take some pity on my body while it's fighting this head cold, in hopes of preventing a new set of shin splints, and to help break in my new orthotics. (I'm still trying to figure out how 45 minutes can be defined as easy... but I'm sure it is something I'll wrap my mind around eventually!) And I sweat like mad! So, let's hope that the combo of the sweating, my multivitamin, and my orange this morning that this head cold will leave as swiftly as it arrived!