Why did I need a bike you ask? For one, we have lived in DC for over two years now and every day of said two years I have wanted a bike. On our recent California adventure, we did a little huffing up hills cycling of our own and I had such a blast, I knew I wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.
For two, call me crazy, but I would like to enter the world of triathlons (and...complete a century ride). I pretty much think I owe it to myself, no - to the friggin' world - to "tri" (ha, see what I did there). And here is my thought process - I swam year-round competitively for 8 years of my life. If given the opportunity, I would be a mermaid. I know I'm not as fast in the water as I used to be, but I still enjoy it and still have the endurance to bang out a mile or two on my swimming cross-training days. I could be wrong, but I think the aspect of a triathlon that holds most people back is the swim. Now that I feel comfortable with and love running - there was only one next step to tie it all together. Not to mention that swimming and cycling are great low-impact, counter-parts to running and good for your joints. Plus I have the desire... so why not go for it?
I know - I can hear all of the experienced people laughing at me through the computer as you are reading this. Note to all experienced laughing people: I do not take this lightly - I get that you can smell my newbie stank from a mile away. There are oh so many aspects of the road I'm about embark that are terrifying (ie - open water swims, all the crap gear that comes with three sports, don't even get me started on how nervous I get at the mere thought of what the start of cycling road race must be like - it gives me hives). BUT, I'm willing and eager to learn and share it all right here.
However, I needed to get through the marathon before I could even start looking at bikes or turn my attention elsewhere. But I also realized that now is a good time to buy, especially if you are a newbie like myself and you don't need the latest and greatest/top of the line/price tag of a car, model. I was hoping to score a 2011 model for a good price and some bang for the buck.
Many hours of internet research, time polling friends, visits to various local area bike shops, and a few test drives later - she was mine. I heart her.
So what does this all mean? No, I'm not cutting back on running - in fact, quite the opposite. I want to improve; run faster, better, stronger and more efficiently. I want a sub 4:00 marathon time. I want to run the New York Marathon next October. I want to run a few halves and a ten miler or two before then. And in the meantime....I'm going to figure this here cycling thing out, and swim, and work on my core strength, aaand do yoga for stretching with some strength training to boot. Sounds like I'm going to be a busy girl. Where can I get some more time?
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