chichitao's group - FULL! (Page 70)

I say no need unless you really really want one!  Excited yet!?

That seems ideal for me.  Every run/tri I do is 30-75min away and most races around here start at 7am.  Leave the house by 6a and you're there with plenty of time to find parking and get to the start area. 

4 weeks and counting!

All this talk about racing, training, injuries...we need to lighten the mood in here a bit!  Sandra is living it up in Mexico right now.  So anyone have any vacation plans this year?  Or looking forward to something fun you have planned?

I am still working on the logistics of it, but wife and I are seriously thinking about going on a road trip.  We nixed the HIM thing up in Washington but it lead us to something similar.  We are thinking about flying out to San Diego, then renting a car and driving up the entire west coast all the up to Seattle/Vancouver.  Then fly back from there.  I would like to do it without making any plans or booking any hotels in advance.  Just drive and go where we want and stop when we want.  We would literally take like 3 weeks off from work.  I am pretty excited about it.  Not sure if it will happen, but I hope so.  Maybe Sept/Oct time frame.

Happy Thursday!

That would be awesome, Tim! There was talk a few years back about me, my dad, my uncles and my grandpa doing basically that, but on Harleys, and going south. It would have been awesome. Unfortunately, my grandpa is too old for that now, so I don't think it'll happen any time soon, but I will do it one day!

I don't have anything major planned right now, but my gf's cousin is getting married in your neck of the woods (well, I think it's near Houston, but I can't remember for the life of me) in November (I believe...) As you can tell, I don't have all of the information yet, as I haven't officially been invited. If I am, though, I'll be heading down to Texas for about 4 days some time in the fall. That's about as exotic as I have planned at this point :P

I LOVE vacations!  Unfortunately, Ryan and I don't have the income to really plan one anytime soon, though we're saving up for a trip to Australia hopefully in the next 2-3 years!  Ideally, we would go winter 2012-2013, but that's mostly dependent on me getting a job out of school.  For this year, the only thing we really have planned so far is a weekend family reunion in July in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (since my extended family used to vacation here every year until I was like 15), even though it's only like 20 minutes from where we'll be living.  More of a mini-vacation than anything!

Other than that, because I'll be out in Portland this fall, most of our visits to see each other will be vacations!  Unless you consider that an extended vacation for me!  We do also have a wedding to go to in Detroit in October that I'll be flying home for...but I don't count Detroit as a vacation...ever.

And T1, if you drive through Portland this fall and don't meet up with me, I will be quite upset with you!  I would even offer a place to stay if I had any idea where I'll be living yet!

Awww, come on...I heard Detroit this time of year is just beautiful!

And I would hate to see an upset Erica!

And I am trying to end all my sentences with these lovely emoticons!

Only two more hours of work for me today then I am off to get my arse handed to me tonight on my Thur night hill ride!

Happy belated Easter, everyone!  I'm so full just thinking about the food I ate.  It makes me want to be sick, ughhhh. 

My knee has been feeling great lately *knock on wood*.  I hope I can keep this up.

Only if this semester doesn't kill me first!

So, here is my update...

I will not be running the marathon next month and I am 99% sure I will be selling my bib for MCM.  I have been on the fence about MCM for a few weeks so that was not a major decision.  John and I talked for awhile on Saturday about some things.  Well, I did most of the talking.  He kept telling me it was all up to me.  I am very much a "what works for the family and John, works for me" kind of person.  For example, I told him last night I either want to bike this evening or swim tonight and it was up to him.  Biking means I will head out around 6 for an hour and swimming means I head out closer to 8 and will be gone for longer than an hour.  It does not matter to me which one I did but I wanted to give him the option. 

Back to Saturday.  I knew I was not going to get my long run in between John working overnight Friday night and sleeping most of the day on Saturday.  And then Sunday was Easter.  I shortened my previous long run because of my foot and I just don't feel as though running a marathon in 3 weeks is the smart thing to do.  I know I could finish it but it would not be pretty and I would risk injury.  I don't feel as though my Achilles is up to 26.2 right now.

I have decided to put the marathons on the back burner for now.  I need to do right for and by my kids and I don't feel as though I am right now.  They are too little for me to justify long runs every weekend.  We have identified some issues with Joe and I need to focus on him more right now.  I need to go back to exercising for the sake of fitness and not the endurance events.  I loved training for and running Philly last year but marathons will always be there! 

I am planning on 3-4 sprint tris this year and the HM the end of August I am already registered for.  I am pretty sure I am going to do the 10k instead of the MCM.  John was really disappointed when I told him I was selling that bib because we are making that a kids free weekend to visit friends.  The wife of our friends is doing the 10k so I think I am going to run it with her. 

Like I said, I am going to exercise and focus on the shorter distances.  I don't even want to say focus on races but I will do some because I enjoy them.  This was entirely my decision and John made it clear that he would support me on whatever I wanted to do.  He has no issues with me training for whatever I want to.  I just feel as though this is not the time for it.

We are going to Washington DC to visit family the end of July and other than that will be back and forth to Chicago a couple of times, but that is it.

Meggan-Hang in there!  It is hard to balance family and work and training! 

We're behind you 100% Meggan with whatever activities you choose to do!  Doing right by you and your family is the most important thing.

RESPECT to all the parents in the group!

One of Ryan's friends called us DINKs the other day.  Didn't know what that meant at the time though (Dual-Income, No Kids).  Then I had to correct him that we are SINKs instead, though I very much look forward to the day where we are DINKs (one more year!).  That will be the life! 

I'm too selfish to have kids quite yet.  I respect those of you who do because it is so much work.  Ryan and I don't think we want kids, but we're not completely ruling it out because you just never know.  I don't have a motherly bone in my body though! 

Don't think I EVER want to make the decision you had to make though, Meggan!  You are a wonderful mother!

We sacrifice a lot because of the kids but they make it worth it.  Sunday morning Logan was crying around 3:30.  It was the first night he slept in his new bed in his room rather than Joe's room so it was a bit of a rough night.  I went in and climbed into bed with him but he tossed and turned until I took him downstairs at 5.  I put the tv on for him and tried to go back to sleep on the couch.  Around 5:15 he kissed me and said "Mommy, I love you to the moon and back."  I told him I loved him and be quiet so I could go to sleep. 

There is nothing wrong with not wanting kids!  My sister has no desire to have kids but she is miserable and will probably never get married!

My first bike ride of the season ended 1.15 miles in with a flat tire.  I was dumb and went out without my repair kit so I ended up walking home.  I called John and he offered to come get me but I said I was close enough and would just walk.  I was within sight of our house when our neighbor pulled up beside me.  She was in the backyard with John and the boys so she came looking for me.  Love good neighbors/friends!!

I am taking the bike over to my LBS at lunchtime today to drop it off for the yearly maintanence (which is free for 10 years!) and also talk to them about pedals and shoes.  Any suggestions?

First of all, that story was SO cute!  I hope I was ever that nice to my mom!

Second, here are my pedals: http://www.speedplay.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.zero .  I have the Zero Chrome-moly's in green.  They are BY FAR my favorite part of my bike.  I convinced Ryan that he should get them on his tri bike, too, and he likes them a ton more than his SPDs when he had those.  I actually convinced a guy at the bike store the other day to try them out because I think they are the biggest bang for your buck in terms of price exchange for speed on the bike!

Last, here are my shoes: http://bontrager.com/model/07822 .  Keep in mind that I got these on sale for like $90, so when I looked these up online, I was shocked at how much the retail price was!  They are very light and vented really well, so my feet never heat up while I'm biking.  I also like that they just look fast!  HOWEVER, shoes are a VERY personal preference.  Try every single pair on you can.  March up and down in them on your toes to see how comfortable they are.  There are tons of women's pairs that you may find much more comfortable than these. 

Best of luck with the bike!  Let us know what you decide!

My wife and I are proud DINKs.  We just never felt like we had enough responsibility or desire to raise kids.  I even got neutered last year to make sure it didn't happen.

Way to get the bike out but sorry about the flat.  About pedal/cleat suggestions, Erica had some good ones.  Not sure what I use can translate to females but I currently use Look pedals and have been thinking about switching.  They are good pedals and I went to them after Shimano's were giving me hot spots on my feet, but only being able to clip in on one side has gotten to me.  There have been times were I am starting from a stop on a hill (we have lots of hills in my area) and if you miss clipping in just right it becomes a total pain trying to pedal with one foot uphill while trying to get the other one clipped in.  I am seriously looking at moving to the Speedplays, but I hate dealing with getting the new pedal and cleat set up exactly where I want it.  Your shop should let you test ride pedals (if they are a good shop) and I would start with the speedplays just for their ease of clipping in.

For my shoes I use Louis Garneau tri shoes.  I love them and wear them on all my bike rides.  I've gotten so used to wearing them without socks and they are very comfortable.  I like them b/c most bike shoes are pretty narrow and these have a nice wide toe box.  If you have a narrow foot I wouldn't go with them.

I actually love my Looks. Part of that is because they have such a large pedal that you can use them as a platform if you miss clipping in the first time, even with my carbon sole bike shoe...

I really want to get a pair of tri shoes, but I haven't found any that fit, unfortunately. Not many stores around here carry tri shoes! Tried on the Specialized TriVents, but they slipped too much, so no dice. I may look into the LG, though.

Meggan - What kinds did you end up getting?  I love living vicariously through others when they buy new stuff!

Pete - My shoes are actually tri shoes, but it was totally on accident.  They just happened to be the ones I liked the best after trying on like 20 pairs.  Love them!

The brand is Shimano!  The shoes were on closeout!  Wohoo!!!  http://bike.shimano.com/publish/content/global_cycle/en/us/index/products/shoes/road/product.-code-SH-TR31.-type-.sh_road.html

The pedals are Shimano too but I have no idea which ones!

I am kidfree tomorrow morning and heading to get my bike!  I thought it was going to be next week sometime but I made some adjustments to my kidfree time tomorrow and called the bike shop.  They said it will be ready!!  Cannot wait!!!

Ok...John and I were talking about food last night.  We/more me is attempting to cut out sugar!  I am stuck on the weight loss and I like my sweets way too much.  It is just added calories and just not good for me.  We are also hoping to limit the sugar with the boys to see if it makes a difference with Joe.  I am not sure if I posted on here about him but I believe he is showing clear signs of ADD.  At 4 years old, they won't diagnose him or put him on medicine (which I would not want at this point anyway) so we are going to make other changes.  Today is day 1 for me.  I did put my flavored creamer in my coffee this morning because I am not ready to give up my coffee yet. 

I am looking for substitutions for a few things.

Creamer...see above
Chocolate syrup...Logan will only drink soy milk if we put some chocolate syrup in it.  Of course homeboy Joe wants chocolate milk too!  I don't like the high fructose corn syrup in the syrup or the sugar in the powder.  I am looking to make my own syrup if that is my only option.  I wish I could cut out the chocolate milk altogether and I hope to eventually

Those are the two major ones.  I hope to pretty much cut it all out for me and limit it bigtime for the boys.  I don't want to be the crazy mom who won't allow her kids any treats.

Tim...didn't you and your wife do this in January?  How did it go?

We didn't specifically cut out sugar but we did stop eating sweets for the month.  It really wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be.  No candies, cookies, ice cream, desserts, sodas, etc.  I found myself eating a lot more fruit and that helped with the occasional sugar craving.  Even dried fruit if you can find some without added sugar (banana chips became by favorite treat).

On the chocolate milk, you could try unsweetened cocoa powder and splenda.  It would probably take some experimenting to get it right or maybe find a recipe online.  They do make sugar free chocolate syrup but I found it disgusting.

I don't drink coffee but they do make sugar free creamer, or try the milk/splenda option.  I use splenda or stevia in all my teas.

Let me know if there is anything else.