Not a Minute Late, in Week Twenty-Eight

I still don't have a bike. After my visit to the DM bike shop last week, I kinda thought I had my mind made up about what I wanted to do. But then I went back to see Ronn at Skunk River and he's got me convinced to give the Cannondale another try. But, he also said he'd see if he can get a Quintana Roo as well. So, I'm basically back to square one on the bike purchase, but this week I'm going back in to see Ronn and we're gonna have an after-hours bike fitting marathon to see if we can make this Cannondale work for me.

When I rode the QR in DM last week, I thought it felt more compact, which felt good for my body. But when we actually sat down with the numbers and frame geometry, it turns out that the two bikes (the QR and the Cannondale) are nearly exactly the same... So, I'm willing to give the Cannondale another try. And, I know Ronn will treat me right on which ever bike I go with, and it will also relieve some of the guilt of going somewhere else!

Other than the trauma of buying a new bike, everything else is going well. I don't feel like I'm doing that much more training than I have been the last couple of months, but when I sit down with the numbers, I realize that I am. I'm spending more time on the trainer in the basement (btw, "Top Gun" is 109 minutes long... perfect movie when doing a 105 minute ride). My runs feel great. I'm used to doing one "long" (6+ miles) run per week and a bunch of shorter runs (3-4 miles), but now I'm doing longer runs more frequently, and I find I like it! My swims have increased about 50% from a month ago, and although the transition was hard, I think I'm gonna live and be glad I'm adding the extra yardage.

Speaking of swimming, my massage therapist gave me an awesome gift. Since I'm planning on keeping up the massages for the whole training period, she arranged for me to have an hour-long one-on-one "swim lesson" with a former Iowa State swim coach. Roehr will remember him as the coach in the DVD we "watched" after the Logansport Tri last summer (granted, we slept through most of the show, but that was a product of doing a tri and then driving back to Chicago rather than the content of the DVD). So, my lesson with Trip is this afternoon. I'll let you know how it goes. Maybe there is hope for me yet!

Weekly Round-Up (Sunday thru Saturday):
Swim: 4700 yards
Bike: just under 3 hours on trainer
Run: 19.5 miles
Cross-Training: 50 minutes (Core & Strength class), 10 minutes on elliptical trainer, total of about 60 minutes of lunges and core work with various clients throughout the week.

As I look to next week, I notice that it is a step-back week, but this early in the game that only decreases my weekly hours by one, so not much in terms of rest, but I'll take what I can get! I also have my informational meeting for the running group. It's always an interesting time of year for me to see who will show up for that!

Also, I can't let another post go by without showing off a few more pictures of Lauren and Sophie. The girls will already be 8 weeks old tomorrow! Grandma and Grandpa Hall just returned from another visit:

Lauren (above) and Sophie (below), 7 weeks old