Finding another way to build my endurance: Part 1

One consistent theme in my running since I started to seriously run again over a year ago has been injury.  It hasn't mattered how slow I have increased my weekly mileage, or what shoes I've been running in.  At some point my left calf has failed me.  It's frustrating and a true motivation killer.  I thought I had the injury issues under control but unfortunately the set back I suffered at the beginning of March seems to be here to stay.

With my continued desire to run and the realization that high mileage just is not in the cards, I've been exploring different ways to increase my endurance while not wrecking my body for extended periods of time.  My options have been limited but I had been considering either joining a local rowing club for a few hundred dollars a year, or investing in a road bike.  I had ended my gym membership since I don't feel that being inside for cross training is acceptable and I hadn't used it in months.  I have free access to my firehouse gym so it didn't make sense to keep dropping $50 per month on the gym membership.

I'd been thinking about a road bike for a few years now, even before I started running.  It was always such a big sum of money that I could never justify it.  Finding myself in a better place financially now than 2 years ago, and having working a large amount of overtime in the last 2 months has left me with a large chunk of change as well.  With the mounting frustration over my current calf injury, my realization that I need to do another form of fitness that doesn't beat up my legs and the extra cash in the bank I decided it was time to make a decision.

Yesterday I ventured down to Bike Junkie.  It has that has been highly recommended by my boss and 2 other coworkers who have all purchased bikes there.  I was warned that it would be an unusual experience my first time there.  My boss said my initial exchange with one of the co-owners might go something like this:

Me: Hi, I'm interesting in getting a road bike.
Co-owner: I'm sorry, I don't know if I can help you.

I found this possibility funny, but after my visit I understood why that could be said.  One of the co-owners is the fit/bike guy, and the other is the everything else girl so really, she couldn't 'help' me find a bike.  I met the fit guy first so I didn't get the pleasure of enjoying the possible first exchange I was warned about.  I ventured down wearing my Vibrams just to add to the quirkiness.  I said hello, told them what I was looking for and we were off, but not after a few questions about my shoes.  No one warned me one of the other customers was a podiatrist.

I'm a beginner.  I know nothing about road bikes.  That's why I wanted to come to a shop like this.  Their reputation precedes them and I felt comfortable going in there as a newbie.  I was asked what I was looking for, what my budget was and then I was sized.  The fit guy talked me through each measurement, tallied up the 4 points I earned for the various criteria and  then walked me through what each of the measurements meant and then we got into bike size.  I turn out to be a 57.5 which surprised a number of people.  I guess it's my long dancers legs.  He decided to start looking at 58 cm frames with me.

We started to look through the catalogs to see what was within my price range.  He stopped on a page with a few Cannondales.  There was the CAAD8 and the CAAD9 that were right in my price range.  The 2010 CAAD 8 was right at where I wanted the price to be.  The CAAD9 was about $150 more, but as he explained the increase in quality versus price was well worth it.  All of a sudden a light bulb turned on and he grabbed the 2009 catalog.  He opened up to Cannondale again and pointed at the 2009 CAAD9.  I saw where we were going immediately.  An older model, needs to make room for new stock...here comes a discount.  The bike lists for $900, and he said with tax that is all I would pay for it.  Good enough for me.  We pulled the bike off the rack, he had me stand over it and we found we had a good gap between my groin and the top tube.  I loved the color.  Flat black but formally called BBQ.  I decided just to go for it.  He's a got a discounted bike in stock, it fits me and will meet my needs.  We did some paper work and I am set to return next week for my first fitting.

I'm excited.  I was expecting this process to take a bit longer but with the option to get a nice bike from last year, why wait?  Part 2 will be my experience learning about shoes, cleats and pedals and my first fitting.

Stay tuned!