Upgrades

Last sunday, i decided to get my happy as up to Richardson Bike Mart and change my cycling pedals to road from mountain.  I never wanted MTB pedals, but when i was starting out, i was convinced that was the way to go for convenience, cost, etc.  Well ok that made sense then. But now, things are different.

don't get my wrong..i loved my spd's and specialized shoes, they were very good, but i've moved into a more serious season and i want to do it right.

I planned to buy the specialized Torch road shoes, Look pedals and gray cleats.  After trying on the shoes, once again, i decided to upgrade to the Specialized Pro Carbon.  Yes, the cost difference about made my heart stop.

However, i had done my homework ahead of time, and knew that those shoes were not only better, but would last a while longer than the others. Not to mention, they feel like a cloud on.  If I'm gonna spend 4 hours or more on a bike once a week, not to mention the hours i spend during the week (last week was clocked over 9), then im going to give my tootsies a break and treat em right.

After having a bout of buyers remorse on the way home, I called my dad.  When i told him what i had done, he said plainly "this is you, you're hobby. You don't do anything like this halfass, and you've made this committment. Do it and don't look back.  BUT, you'd better ride $400's worth! lol".

Well, Dad and the world, THEY ARE WORTH IT.

I went out today, to do hills and sprints.  I was scheduled for 14 miles but damn i was having so much fun, i went to almost 17.  I will say, that almost racked the crap out of myself hurridly trying to cross Buckner to the lake.  I looked like it was my first time on a bike.."first time w/ new shoes?" yeah i could hear that snooty driver in the mercedes thinking that. "Bite Me..and oh yeah! It is!"

I got the hang of it, and after shifting around a little bit to get used to the different feeling in my feet, i took off like a bullet. It also helped there was little wind. As i rounded the lake, both my boss and coworker P, told me where the hills are in the lakewood neigbhorhood.  OH YEAH there wre hills. i admit to cursing P's name a couple of times, but i really dug it.

It seems, a day of rest, and those new pedals really made a HUGE difference. I felt the power and i felt like i had more control.  SO worth it. SOOO worth it.

In fact, i was having so much fun, i repeated the mockingbird hill 3x and the asphalt hell hill twice.

Yea new shoes and pedals!

Weight check.  So, my boss told me to log it, but only choose one day to gauge my weight.  .4 lb net loss.

I was kinda disheartened, but he put it into perspective for me.  According to the Livestrong.com website, i am gonig w/ the 1600 cal diet, which states i would not gain/lose. My boss added an extra 400 cals due to my training.  (If i went w/ the lose a lb a week option, it put me at 1k cals...who can live on that!)  But he told me, that i'm out of the initial water loss period, and now into the real fat burn/muscle building mode.  .5 lb a week is healthy and good. Ok ok fine.  I was  hoping for a little more, but  he's right.  If i eat less, i wont have enough fuel for training.

I will say, that i feel soo good. A little hungry, but overall, soo energetic.  My skin looks better too.

Today, i got a pair of Louis Garneau shorts i'd order weeks ago.  I put them on. Wow. They are pretty short! Shorter than i planned. However, I looked oK.  I was shocked.

Maybe that .4  lbs loss, is also included muscles and fat loss. I def thing my jeans fit better.

I just need to keep my eye on the 1600 cal ball.

One day tho, I am going to reward myself with some GS cookies..damnit!

Clear Skies my friends!