The Iron Horse Has Fallen

Last Friday I 'rode' the Iron Horse to Element Multi Sport, a triathlon store run by Team in Training coaches and participants. The whole way the gears slipped making life very interesting on busy roads during rush hour. Lo and behold, I made it to the store only having to get off and walk at one major incline due to the poor girl's complete inability to conquer a hill. I took her in the shop and was greeted with "You're the one who swam a mile out!" My goodness, I can't escape that small mistake, shoot! When I told them why I was there they said "okay hold on." They called for someone in the back and told me to take my bike to him when he came out. Seconds later he appeared looking like he'd smelled something foul. I saw his face as his eyes wandered upon IH and his already disgusted look multiplied ten fold. I grabbed hold of my baby and shot him a death stare. I explained that I am competing in the triathlon and that I know Iron Horse isn't the ideal racing bike, but she's all I got and a mountain bike is better than no bike. He rolled his eyes and said "Let me take her to the back and take a look." I met his gaze for a second trying to telepathically tell him that if he didn't respect my bike the same way he respected any fancy tri bike, I'd do something drastic. No doubt I looked like a loon with some syndrome as he gave me a puzzled look as he reached for the handle bars which my white knuckles were reluctant to give up. As he wheeled her back she squeaked a little-- crying no doubt. I felt like a mother watching her only child being wheeled back to surgery. Torturous.
An eternal six minutes and forty three seconds later he waved me back to break the news. "Well, somethings work okay and somethings really don't." Profound. "The brakes are really bad and this (insert big bad bike term here) is really out of alignment for some reason." Whatever it was I am sure its issues are a direct result of getting doored. Grr. So originally I'd thought that I'd take her in, they'd tinker around and work some magic, then I'd ride her home-- no problem. I was wrong. "We'll need to keep it 'til... Monday night." (silence) "....oh." So after telling me how much it would all cost (vomit-worthy... restoring a bike to get me through this race is more than the original entry fee... that's outta control) I walked home. A long, depressing walk. However, once again, my mom saved the day as I called and chatted for a majority of it. I'm super nervous to get IH back. When I told the guy my main concern (the slipping gears... it just made forward movement next to impossible which is not conducive to a positive triathlon experience...) he said "....yea.... that's probably because of this alignment thing... it should be better if I can knock it back." I have no doubt that this man knows bikes better than I know anything and is probably pretty talented at restoring them. But his diagnoses and plans of attack were less than comforting to me, the mother. So we'll see. I was supposed to go get her today, but they called saying it needs another day. What does that mean?! Killing me!

So this weekend I have been without my main mode of transportation. It's been brutal walking everywhere. But good at the same time, I guess. I've also been running outside more, and leaving my headphones at home. As you may recall, headphones are not allowed during the race because of some safety issue (which I can understand for the bike leg, but I don't see how they're a safety hazard for the run... just my opinion). So it's been interesting to adapt. Saturday I ran with a friend from out of town who was here visiting and her friend that lives in Chicago. We went very slow and went 7 miles. We got back to starting point and then me and out-of-town decided we wanted more of a cardio workout, so we ran back to my place. 3.22 miles later we were like 'holy cow are we there yet?!' We ended up pulling the plug, getting Gatorade and water and hopping on the el. No matter how slow they were, we went over ten miles which probably didn't hurt anything. Yesterday I ran 6 miles along the lake. I wish that my outdoor pace was equal to my treadmill pace. The whole time I'm running outside I am thinking "I know I can go faster than this on the treadmill-- why can't I pick it up now?" Honestly-- it perplexes me. But both times I ran during the hottest part of the day which was brutal, but it will be good on race day when I'm roasting to be somewhat used to it already... right? Today I lifted and did a quick three miles on the treadmill to remind me that I can run faster than what I did this weekend. I'm on my way to look at an apartment, and I'm going to run there-- I have to, my bike is still in the shop. It feels good to get some legit miles in again. I don't know what happened these past couple of weeks, but it felt like I was always at work-- the hospital or the gym-- or doing this or that or something nuts-o. I work at the hospital for the next four days straight, so we'll see if I drop of the face of the world of exercise again or not. The schedule says we're supposed to be tapering, but ... I think I exhausted my taper last week.

On a final note, I received such a wonderful package in the mail today! My parents sent me a 'Triathlon Survival Kit' complete with a Camel Back Hydration Pack (!!!) a bike bag, a super great Gatorade water bottle, Gu, an extra swim cap, a nose plug, ball needles (which was a mistake, but a GREAT one because I really need some!), and many more goodies. I knew my mom had sent the water bottle, but everything else was a surprise. I'm very grateful-- and excited to sport all my new cool stuff!

Pray for the Iron Horse!!!!