A Bike? No NYC Half Marathon. 15K

I got an email from the bike shop last Saturday. The 2011’s had arrived and they had my size in stock. I emailed back saying I’d be there late afternoon.

Yep, I’m considering a tri-bike. I have a few reasons for it. One of the key reasons is I figure 2011 may be as good as it gets for me in terms of fitness. (Hopefully I’m wrong about that) Another is the fact so many people tell me there is free speed to be had by getting into a better aero setup. Then of course the “saving of the legs” for the run with the tri position over the road bike setup. The big thing for me is probably the hope of being more comfortable on the bike.

So after my swim workout, I’m off to the bike shop. It was one of the shops I typically get very frustrated with in terms of customer service. There just aren’t enough employees there to handle the volume of customers some days. So I was pleasantly surprised by the fact the person I was supposed to meet left his lunch to help me. I guess having an appointment is the key to this place.

So we spend a bunch of time determining if the frame is the right size for me. This one is a 54, the next size down is a 51 I believe. He decides 51 would be too small and we go about making various adjustments to the 54 as I spin away on the trainer.

Unfortunately, we eventually run out of daylight and the shop is closing up so I never made it out on the road to try out the bike.

So we head home and I was surprised to find myself less enthused about buying a new bike than I was when I got there. It had nothing to do with the service, the guy helping me, he was very good, much better than I was expecting. I would definitely consider him to help with my next bike fit.

Why the loss of interest in the bike? I’m not really sure. Well first on the list is that it’s a bunch of money for a bike! Maybe it’s that I don’t race very flat bike courses. Maybe I don’t believe the time saved is going to be enough to really matter, what’s 120^th vs. 140^th? Nobody is going to remember that or care but me. If I continue to race my old bike I’ll know any improvement in time is a direct result of my efforts, not technology. I don’t know, someone talk me into this one.

In other news, I did not get into the NYC Half Marathon. So no run through Time Square for me.

The training volume has been high for the last two weeks, which is part of the reason I haven’t been writing much. This time of year is busy enough as it is without having 11-12 workouts a week. Fortunately next week the volume goes way down for a recovery week. I’m probably going to take even more off the list than they are suggesting. I don’t want to be overly concerned about fitting my workouts in when I have so little time to visit friends and family.

The pullback in volume will be good. I’ve been getting everything done and I’m definitely feeling the effects. I regret not having my Polar watch software working. (Why can’t they release a Mac version of their software?) I think I’m starting to see some improvement in my HR while running. I also think my resting HR has improved. At least it seems better than it was compared to a year ago. I’ll have to get the PC software onto my Mac and start to check all this out. Maybe the lower resting HR is just that I’m not overtraining?

We scheduled some coaching sessions with Coach Q. Unfortunately he is in demand, so unless something opens up, we won’t see him until February. That should work out well. I’m finally starting to feel like I have a clue in the pool. I definitely lost a ton of swimming fitness and form during that break. Also this will give Genine some time to also build up some swimming fitness before our first lesson.

I’ve met a few other triathletes at the pool recently. Some have expressed interest in training as a group, even without an instructor. The real difficulty I’m seeing here is the speed difference between all these people. Circle swimming through a workout would be difficult with this big of a difference in abilities. It’s just as well. Right now I’m very happy to just be doing my own thing and working out my own issues. I’m not in build yet. That’s when I’ll have to accept the technique I have and work at pushing through the workouts.

I’m going into Central Park on Sunday to run a 15K. I haven’t decided how I’m going to play this yet. I haven’t done any speed work so to run hard would just be asking for an injury, especially after my last 2 weeks of high volume. (Relatively speaking)

Option 1: Jog the first shorter loop (about 4 miles) and quit.

Option 2: Jog the first 3 miles, “Run” the second 3, jog the last 3.

Option 3: Jog the first short loop loop (about 4 miles). “Run” the second loop (about 5 miles)

I have a feeling I’ll be making my decision at mile 3. I wonder if/when they will knock my corral pace down to reflect my "training races"?