bike shopping

July 19, 2005 at 11:56 pm · Filed under fitness

Hector and I went bike shopping this afternoon. We tested a couple of bikes, and I was blown away by the Cannondale R1000. Those specs are for the men’s/regular version. There’s a women’s version with narrower handlebars and a wider seat, which is the one that I actually rode today. What can I say? I was tempted (albeit slightly) to buy it then and there. Problem: the bike retails at $1999. That’s 100% more than my original budget of 1 grand.

This excursion did make me decide that I most definitely want a Cannondale. Okay, 80% I want a Cannondale. I won’t be close minded, but I’m gonna be biased. Unless I buy used, and then availability dictates the brand. Buying used seems much more manage-able now too. Now that I actually know a thing or two about bikes, that I feel comfortable gauging an used bike’s quality.

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triathlon training update

July 19, 2005 at 2:03 pm · Filed under fitness

Training to date:
1k swims 3 mornings a week
30 mile bike last saturday
1 mile run 2 weeks ago

I have some running to catch up to. In the meantime, I’m looking into some gear investment: a mid-range racing bike. I haven’t decided if I want to buy used or new. I found some nicely priced ones on craigslist, but I don’t know enough to trust myself buying a used bike, especially if I’m spending ~$500 for it. New is definitely ideal, but I don’t know if I can get a mid to high end one for my budget of $1g. It’s also a bit hard to justify spending that much money because I don’t think I’ve ever paid a grand for something. On the other hand, my rent every month is $600 … I just need to think of it as a month and a half’s worth of rent, and I’ll be all set.

So the goal now is to shoot for a sprint sometime in mid-September … We shall see.

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a new height in fitness

July 8, 2005 at 1:56 pm · Filed under fitness

I am a pretty out of shape person. I may not look it; you may not think it, but I am. People don’t believe me when I tell them that I am not a runner, and that in fact, I can’t run a mile without stopping. Sure, running’s not my forte, but at the same time, my endurance is still worth shit. I also do not eat healthily. Just this morning, I ate half of an 11-oz bag of sour cream & onion potato chips for breakfast.

Thus, I’ve decided to train for a triathlon to get into shape, one of the short sprint ones, nothing crazy like the Ironman. I have talked about this for a long time, at least a few months, but I haven’t done anything about it. The most effort I put toward the training was running for five minutes along the Charles River about a month ago. My goal was to run for ten minutes, but I had to stop after five because I got too tired.

So the plan is as follows for this coming week:
Sunday: 6pm - run
Monday: 6pm - run
Tuesdsay: 7pm - weekly volleyball
Wednesday: 7:30am - swim, 6pm - run
Thursday: 6pm - run
Friday: 7:30am - swim, 6pm - run
Saturday: 10am - bike

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