I've been doing a lot of research for the past few months about bikes - my grandmother had given me some money for Christmas to buy a bike, and yesterday the planets just kind of aligned -- I needed to be at a family function at 6:30, and it just so happened to be around the corner from a big bike shop that I've been browsing online... I was meeting my mom (and her SUV) at the family function, so it all worked out perfectly: I bought the bike, left it there for them to put a kickstand / water bottle holder on it, went to my family function, swapped cars with my mom for the night, and bought Baby Blue to her new home!
It was dark by the time I got everything unloaded and put away, but I woke up this morning determined to set out on my maiden voyage -- and I gotta say, WOW! I'd been biking on a cheap bike that I bought off of Craigslist 2 years ago -- probably a perfectly fine bike, but I let it sort of fall apart, and I'm pretty sure it was too big for me. The last time I went biking, I remember thinking "This is A LOT harder than I remember." Turns out that having a properly sized bicycle + full tires + gears that are fully functioning makes a big difference!
Who knew?
I woke up to a wet world -- it had rained all night -- so my ride was quick and well timed. From my house, I biked to the nearby Lake Nokomis. I started to go around the lake, but quickly changed my mind when I felt a few raindrops. My ride was only 40 minutes from start to fniish, but torched about 250 calories.
Most importantly? It was fun -- and pain-free.
I have an appointment with a podiatrist on Tuesday to talk about this foot issue I've been having for the past year. I recognize that some of the problem is probably the 30 extra pounds I'm carrying around. It's a difficult Catch 22 -- I get the best calorie burn (thus weight loss) from running, but it hurts to run because of the extra weight.
Doh.
I'm hoping the doc will help me come up with a solution, but in the meantime, I'm hoping that biking, swimming, walking, and hopefully still a SMALL amount of running will keep me fit and pain-free.
And I'm not quite ready to commit to this yet, but I've got my eye on a tri... a mini-tri, of course... probably late summer / early fall...
Anybody have any experiences / tips / training plans to share?
Off and running,
~Jessica
PS: My April exercise goal? Look at my ticker -- I NAILED IT TO THE WALL.
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2 comments:
Jess-
I used to read your blog a few years ago before you went underground. Was happy to see your new home via Foofoo. I just did my first "super-sprint" tri (275 yard swim, 9.1 mile bike and 2.5 mile run)and loved it so much that I signed up for 2 more!! I have been running a lot over the last couple of years (did a half-marathon Spring 2009) but have had increasing problems with a knee. So I started Masters swimming and decided a tri was next. There are a lot of great websites and blogs - begginertriathlete.com is good - and I loved the book "Slow Fat Triathlete." I did not follow a particular training plan, just continued my swimming 3 days a week, started biking for the first time since childhood and added runs here and there (once a week did a "brick" - bike and then run right away). The next 2 are longer distances so I will have to step things up somewhat. Once you try it you will be hooked!
Angie
Yay for getting a new bike, how exciting!!
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