So, what has been going on with me lately? Oh, let me tell you. I
have had it with structured training. HAD IT. Timberman is in 6 days,
which I am "racing," and then I am done. I am so tired of forcing
workouts that I don't want to do. The only thing I like doing these days
is riding my bike, so I guess I should just do more of that and less of
the swimming and running. Or maybe I will move my running to the
trails.. that sounds way more fun! Or maybe some hiking/picture taking. I
am already registered for Finger Lakes Tri which is sometime in
September, but I don't even care. I'm not sure if I'm going to do it or
not.. normally I would just race it anyways, but my 10 year high school
reunion is the day before, so that pretty much screws with the race
because I haven't figured out how it will be possible to do them both.
I have been saving money all year for a large purchase in the
fall. At first it was going to be a nice road bike, then that changed to
a cyclocross bike, then to a Quarq powermeter, which is what I had
settled on for several months. After this shitty, shitty season
continued on without improvements, I feel negatively about spending
$2000 of my hard-earned money on something that should, in theory, help
me race faster, but that I do not feel like I deserve. If I can't even
focus on my workouts, WHY in the hell should I spend my money on a
powermeter? To just highlight the fact that I suck even more?? So I am
now back on the cx bike. I think it would allow me to have more "fun"
cycling time (because it's not always my idea of fun to be hammering
away in aero for multiple hours). I would be able to do some light
touring, ride some trails, go on group rides, and even TRY CYCLOCROSS!
There are a few problems with buying a cyclocross bike. The main
one is that I am short, very short, and most 'cross bikes are made for
men. So first, I have to find a brand that makes a tiny 'cross bike, and
THEN I have to find a shop that has one in stock so I can try it. So
far, I have had zero luck finding the 44 cm Cannondale CAADX bike in
which I am interested. The shop employee went as far as to say that I
will never find that small of a bike stocked in ANY shop except maybe
the factory shop. Wonderful. I have plans in a few weeks to go test ride
a variety of bikes at Geneva Bicycle Center with Solveig - she has
discussed this with them and they are going to assemble a list of tiny
bikes for us to consider (she is rather small as well).
The second problem with buying bike #2 is that I have nowhere to
put it in my apartment. I would be happy to hang it on a wall but I
don't have any unused wall space. So this will be interesting to figure
out as well.
On a TOTALLY unrelated note (and don't ask me how I even started thinking about this).. does anyone here remember playing with POGS in the 90s? I totally remember going to craft shops like A.C. Moore or trading card shops and digging through GIANT bins filled with cardboard POGS.. looking for super cool ones to add to my collection. Also, I had the sweetest slammer EVER. Aw and now I am getting all nostalgic for the 90s!
POGS-YES! Those things were the coolest. Ahh, I miss being a kid.
ReplyDeleteRe: the training, I feel ya. Its been a bummer year for me, too. I think if you do Timberman then give yourself a break and just have FUN, you might feel differently next year. I am always up for a trail run, mountain bike, or hike!!
I am so in the same place as you. I'm putting in the work, I'm not improving, I'm probably going backwards, I'm not enjoying it, I can think of 1000 other things I'd like to do on my weekends. I think you have to listen it and let triathlon be fun because as competitive as we want to be we're not professionals and we do it because it's fun. If it's not fun any more than it's a waste of our free time. That's how I see it.
ReplyDeleteOn another note...Is Ridley on your CX bike list? I have a Ridley road bike that comes in XXS. I just checked with the BF and they also have a CX bike in XXS. The Crossbow. A 50.2CM top tube. I hope you find something and get to play in lots of mud this fall :)
I've been in that funk for a year now( a little over in fact) Substitute running with your biking and I'm thinking now of doing 1 half marathon a month at different places around NY and PA next spring,summer and fall. I can't tell you if I ever come out of it, I do know that major purchases help with getting you out the door....for a while.
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