Bike Trainer 2, Me 0

Yesterday after work, I went and got the set of Trigger Point leg/body rollers that I've been wanting.  I also bought a pair of new sunglasses (Trifosi - super cool, silver with interchangeable lenses) because I couldn't find my other ones.  Then I went out to the car and something told me to look in the backseat.  There were my old sunglasses sitting between the girls chairs.  Not sure how they got there, but there they were.  So, I was a good girl and returned the super cool sunglasses to the store.  I guess I'm trying to be "good" but I'm kind of sorry I returned the sunglasses.  I really liked them.  The ones I have are just fine.  Mr. Darcy bought them for me for Christmas or my birthday or something like that during my 1st year of triathlon.  They're a creamy white color with brownish lenses and work just fine.  And I already own them, so they don't cost anything.

I think Mr. Darcy put me in a tizzy about money somehow.  He wanted to see about trying to refinance our house because the interest rates were low, despite my telling him that the real estate market would probably be a bit lower than what we paid for the house and it probably wouldn't work out well.  He decided to call the mortgage broker anyway - our house is worth $100k less than we paid for it.  Mr. Darcy was on a rant about how he thought the valuation of the house when we bought it was borderline malpractice because it came out at $25K more than we were paying for the house and now it's not worth nearly as much and that he thinks our real estate agent didn't do as good of a job on getting us the best deal on the house, etc. I think he's just mad because our house isn't worth what we paid for it and it makes him angry.  The thing is that sometimes these things happen in life and there's not much we can do about it.  We wanted to buy a house in a nice neighborhood where our kids could play outside safely, where the schools were very good, the neighborhood was a nice one, and the house was one that we could live in until the girls went to college if we wanted to.  And that's exactly what we got.  Sure it stinks that we couldn't sell it for what we paid for it and it stinks that we're all upside down in the house, but I have a feeling that pretty much anyone who bought a house in the past 5-7 years is upside down in their house too because the market was high and then the economy fell through the floor.  But now I'm tense about money and such. 

And then I hit the pool.  Practice was good.  I was stiff in my upper back from riding in aero on Saturday.  So the swim really worked that out nicely.  200 warm up, 4x400, and a 100 cool down before we had to pull the cover on the pool.  Excitedly, I got home and after helping get the girls in bed, I got my roller set out and Mr. Darcy said, "Why did THAT cost so much?" Sigh.  I guess when you're not the one in muscle stiffness and you're not into triathlon and all of that, you won't understand.

But I used them and while it hurt like mad and the deep breathing they tell you to do is probably so you won't cry, afterwards I felt like a brand new person.  I'm a tiny bit tight in my calves this morning, but it's like a miracle.  I plan to use it again tonight.

Unfortunately, this morning has been pretty much awful.  On schedule was a 45 minute bike trainer session - 10 minutes of warm up, 5x1 min. (on each leg) of single leg peddling, a 5 min. recovery, 10 minute spin at 85-90 cadence, and then a 10 minute cool down.  I do not like the trainer, but I was actually looking forward to getting it done.  I woke up tired, tense and on edge, and sweating though.  I'm pretty sure that my hormones are out of wack, but there's not much I can do about it until I finally get to see the new endocrinologist.  But, I ended up fighting with Mr. Darcy (and it was probably my fault) because I couldn't find the replacement axle to use with the trainer.  I ended up finding it about 15-20 minutes in the garage, behind a bunch of Christmas boxes that have not made their way back up to the attic and are sitting in front of where last year I used to put my bike and gear and such.

I got the tribike and put it on the trainer.  And something was definitely wrong.  The derailleur (the part up near the gear wheels) was on the left of the gear wheels and rubbing the gear wheel.  I tried to fix it and nothing doing.  I could pop it back to where it needed to be, but the second you try to move the wheels, back out.  So, I get upset about it because I know this means money at the bike shop.  And I'm upset because there's something wrong with my bike and I have to ride it on Friday and because now I can't do my trainer workout.

I put the bike in the car and help get the kids in the car at this point.  Then I look at Ruby my old road bike and think, "I can use her on the trainer!"  I get the bike and it has 2 flat tires, as in flat on the floor flat.  I almost give up (and I should have), but decide I have a bike pump, I'll just pump up the tires.  The front tire, no problem.  The back tire decides that the stem is going to recede into the wheel.  After fighting and jiggling, I finally get the stem back to where it should be and pump up the tire.  I decided that I wasn't going to switch out the axle though and just see if I could use it on the trainer without switching it out.  I put it on the trainer but can't get the lever that holds everything securely just in the spot it's supposed to be but it seems fine and secure, so I decide to give it a whirl.

I get through the 1st 10 minute warm up.  I get 4x1 minute 1 leg peddaling done on both the left and the right.  I finish the 5th 1 minute on the left leg and go to switch to the right leg and my bike falls off the trainer and almost crashes.  Luckily, I'm only clipped in with one leg so the other one and some quick reflexes save me from true disaster.  At this point, I really should have just stopped.  But no, I'm determined to get this done and even imagine what glee I will have when I am finished.  So I put the axle that belongs with the trainer on the bike.  Evidently, I did not screw it tight enough though because now I have not one but two bikes in the back of my car to take to the bike shop because the chain is off the gears and the entire gear trainer in the back and the wheel is not attached at all.  And to say the least I did not get anything else done.

At this point, I'm not even contemplating doing the rest at the Y because I think the universe is telling me NOT to do the workout.  I'm going to attempt to work (oh and to eat something and take my morning medicine because I havent' done that either) and if the day doesn't get better by 1 pm, I'm going to take the afternoon off.  What I'd really like to do is to go back to bed and just sleep until it's Wednesday, but we know that can't happen because I have too much going on.  Maybe the moon will move out of this phase because right now, it's like I have a KICK ME sign on my back and the universe is taking the opportunity to do just that as much as it can.