New Wheels

I got my new bike today.  Some of you may have read that my road bike had a run-in with a garage.  I took it to my local (well, as local as I can get) Trek dealer and we discovered a definite chip out of the carbon fiber in the frame as well as the crack in the fork.  Trek has a great crash replacement policy, but alas, they had no forks or frames in stock for my bike.  My dealer spoke with his rep and they were able to get me a new bike of the same model (Madone 4.5 WSD) for about the same price as a replacement fork and frame.  It took about a week for it to come in and the bike shop to put it together (with some of the components from my old bike). 

I spent a couple hours this morning and another hour this evening tinkering with the settings, trying to adjust it for me.  It should have been easy.  Stock stem with three spacers, seat height adjusted to hip level, as far forward as possible, tilted slightly down.  Ummm, not so much.  I swear this frame is smaller even though we ordered the same size.  The height is perfect, but the reach...oh, the reach.  I feel like I'm going to fly forward over the handlebars even with the seat as far back as possible.  I can't decide if I'm crazy or if they really did change the frame geometry.  And forget about my aerobars, I knock my knees on them trying to get on the bike.  If I move them forward, I really am going to fall over the handlebars.  This DID NOT HAPPEN with my old bike.  I have exactly ten days before my race to either get used to this bike or find another solution. 

New bike:

It's very white.   At least it's not pink.

Old bike, RIP:

New Gear!

Let me preface this by saying that I purchased all of this gear and was not given any of it by the respective companies (I'm not that fast nor that popular a blogger.  Maybe someday...).  Anyway, to get to the point,

I got new stuff today!

CW-X compression tights and tri shorts

An assortment of gels and blocks

CEP compression socks

Spinervals with IronGirl DVD

Newton Lady Isaac 'S'

I am most excited about the compression shorts/tights and the new shoes.  I took my new shoes out for a 1-mile test run tonight and so far I think I'm really going to like them.  It seemed to be easier to turn over faster, though that may be because they are quite a bit lighter than my current shoe.  Also, I ran that mile, with the stroller, at what I thought was a fairly easy pace.  It was an 8:58!  That's the third time in a week that I've run a mile under 9 minutes.  Not sure where this speed is coming from but I'm sure not going to complain.
Because they have a low heel-toe drop (5mm instead of the 12mm my other shoes are), Newton recommends getting used to them slowly.  I plan to use them for a mile during each of my runs this week, then maybe 1.5-2 miles during each run next week.  After that I'll have to see how I adapt to them. 
I have more new stuff coming next week (sunglasses and bike shoes).  This multisport habit of mine is getting to be expensive! (For the record, in case my husband ever reads this, I didn't pay full price for any of it.)