Officially Committed

It's official. I have to do this.

If something was to commit me to a race I think spending a few thousand dollars on a bike would be it. She's sleek and black with a personal touch of purple. She sleeps in my room and I don't like to leave her alone for too long. 

Going from a few pretty sound recommendations and with the help of my amazing friend Denise, I made the mission out to Lower Hutt to visit Brent at Cycle Science. These guys know how to look after you. We spent a solid 3 hours in the store discussing everything from the event I was preparing for to the colour of the handlebars. Brent fitted me perfectly to the bike and I made sure I was completely happy before personally loading the bike into the car and waving us goodbye. He's even invited me along to maintenance classes and group rides to help with my training. Freaken awesome!

I did however forget to grab the stock pedals which means I only have my Look pedals. 

My what now? 
The pedals my shoes actually clip into. They give you extra pull with each pedal stroke, therefore more efficient riding. What is not so efficient is when you can't unclip fast enough as you stop and subsequently fall flat on the road. Keep an eye out for posts about these falls because I guarantee they will happen. I will try to get photos.


Now for the pool
Here's a quick summary of how my first swim panned out.

1. Swim one lap freestyle. 33m. Clutch the wall at the far end of the pool to prevent drowning from extreme fatigue. Disguise tears of anguish with pool water.
2. Discuss with trainer (Scotty) to kick with straight legs, from the hip, rather than like a spastic frog.
3. Clutch flutter board like life depends on it and swim 6 laps slowly, stopping for hip cramps and to bitch about my rubbish breathing technique.
4. Sit in the spa and talk about anything other than swimming.

It went pretty well I thought.

Thanks for your patience Scotty. 

So now it begins. 10 months to go

Now that the first rubbish sessions are out of the way, I began my scheduled training today, set out by Emma. Follow me on Strava (Sam Bryant, Wellington NZ) if you'd like to track my progress.