Having had two flats (one for each bike) last week I opted out of a swim this evening in favor of biking over to the bike shop to pick up more tubes. I had replacements for the ones which popped, but needed more to have spares around. Decided, since I’d never used one and will be racing more this year, to try out one of the CO2 cartridges to blow up the tri bike tire. Very cool toy, let me tell you. Instead of a minute or more to blow up the tire, this was done in seconds, to a perfect pressure. Good to know it works (and how it works) before needing it in a race. Also good to know the variable pressure thingey I got for it worked, too (basically there are two types of connectors for cartridges – the “pop it and all the air comes out immediately” type and a type which allows you to control the air flow – I have the latter, and it was worth the small amount of extra cash).
So, bikes all set and ready to go for the morning, for the club ride and the commute. Saved the old tube and cartridge since my bike shop can now recycle them. Better than ending up in a landfill, and easy enough to do.
I sat down and picked out the basic training plan I’m going to follow for the 1/2 iron in september. Plotted all the workouts into iCal, which means they’re on the treo now. It looks manageable, spelled out like that, and not quite as overwhelming as the plan I’d been using when I was trying to do a 1/2 last June (before the calf injury). It also helps that I’ve been doing a lot more biking, and feel more confident in that aspect of the sport now, as well as my running. I’ll tweak the plan as need be, and have already adjusted around my known schedule (the sprint race weekend after next, the charity ride and newbie races in july, etc.), but it’s looking manageable. And I might even get to have a social life in there on occasion, too.