A post for Pixie!

Poor Pixie, she's taken a back seat to my vacation, work and 'catch up' training. She deserves this post... she deserved it nearly 3 weeks ago!

Pixie, my spankin' new Cervelo P2C with Ultegra package, has been a long time coming. When I started all of this triathlon insanity last year what I 'should' have done was just put skinny tires on my hybrid and complete my first race. Instead, only 3 weeks into even 'thinking' about completing a sprint, I purchased a road bike- a Trek 2.1 WSD. I was never completely comfy on it. After completing my second triathlon in July, I knew that my days nurturing the Trek were over. Maybe the fact that I never gave the Trek a name created a bonding problem. LOL! No matter, I was eager for a tri bike purchase.

Of course, I pretty much went into tri bike shopping totally wrong. I wanted a Cervelo. I LOVE the look of them... the thick down tube, sleek lines. The rave reviews. Chrissie Wellington's Kona win on a P2C. Need I say more? I didn't even look at anything else. I guess I'm lucky that the P2C actually worked for me! After choosing between the 48cm and the 51cm (I went with teh 48), I played the waiting game. Pixie, as I have affectionately dubbed her, arrived two days before we left for vacation and we bonded instantly. Okay... she's totally gorgeous on the outside, but it's the smooth way that she moves that really excites me! Um, perhaps my choice of words are a bit too racy? No pun intended. All kidding aside, when I shift gears on my Trek, it sounds more like 'grinding' gears. When I shift gears on Pixie, I barely hear anything. When I hit the brakes on the Trek, they squeak, rub and wail! When I brake Pixie, she just breaks... without any associated moans and groans. When I ride the Trek... the Trek is really riding me. With Pixie, I'm in control! Get the picture? We're falling in love.

I'm still in the process of tweaking my position so that means more trips to the LBS and I have 'another' saddle on order (a Koobi Stratus), but I'm confident that Pixie and I are going to have a wonderful relationship for many, many years to come. Other than my Profile Design aerobottle and Karbon Kage and my cycling computer, she's completely stock right now. After getting my saddle and fit dialed in, I plan on buying some wheels for her; however, that will be something that takes place for the '09 tri season... I think I've dished out more than enough in this inaugural year.

Riding Pixie around the neighborhood. Look at her teeny 650c wheels! Yes, I have sandals on my feet. Scott and I were just tweaking the fore/aft on the saddle.

Training note: Completed an 8 miler this morning. I think I mentioned in a previous post that I am no longer following the FIRST method for my long runs (still using the method for intervals and tempos). I'm doing them at my own pace and ignoring my watch 'except' at the conclusion of each mile. The long runs are actually enjoyable this way... and in the end, that's what counts. Anyway, I ran negative splits... very happy gal this morning.
10:42
10:19
10:18
10:10
10:11
9:53
9:47
9:37

Tomorrow Sondra and I are doing a bike out in Babcock (maybe only about 20 miles). It will be her first road bike experience and she'll be using my Trek. Her tri bike (purchased off of the fabu Mrs. Heather Gollnick should be in this week). I also have a short brick run planned for us immediately after and then some swimming in the afternoon. Geesh.. almost like a mini-tri. :o)

ETA: Bike ride was cut to only 12 sad miles due to flooded road! I cussed more in a 30 second period than I have in the past month! LOL! Grrrrr....

Next weekend is the Gasparilla 10k. I'm doing this race purely for the experience of 'feeling' what it's like to run a 10k race prior to the MiamiMan tri. Hoping to get a feel for pacing. I will most likely sub out my weekly tempo run for this race. I don't have any real time goal set, although I would like to at least run10 min/miles or slightly better.

Twenty-eight days left until the Orlando Women's Tri and 42 days left before MiamiMan. Ack! Everything is so near!

Kevin... hope you rock the South Carolina 1/2 Iron tomorrow!!!