Pretending to be a Cyclist

This weekend I took my NEW BIKE out for its maiden ride!!!!!  Since I'm pretty sure I would not be too successful in figuring out a bike rack, I was excited to discover that my bike fits perfectly in the back of my car.  Win for the Prius!

I haven't been doing much biking this summer (mostly because my old bike had deteriorated to the level of "May fall apart if ridden"), so I'm definitely not in the best "biking shape"!  But I did ride about 10 miles through the forest preserve.  Beautiful!  This brings me to the "pretending to be a cyclist" part...I may now have a fancy bike, but I feel like I'm an impostor because I have no idea what I'm doing (yet)!  Someone in my building lobby commented on my bike and noticed that I still have the Muddy Buddy number on my helmet (can we say lazy?).  He made a comment along the lines of that I look like a serious rider and what race did I do etc...My response was something like, "Oh, um no I'm actually pretty slow..."  :)

I definitely need to get the hang of shifting gears on this bike--I was struggling like crazy on my ride!  Seriously, I know next to nothing about road bikes and cycling.  I know I'm only supposed to use certain gears on the front with certain gears on the back...but to be honest I'm having a hard time remembering which way to shift up and which to shift down!  How sad is that???  My old (cheapie) bike had the gears numbered!  I am hoping my dad and Coach Lauren can give me a little lesson...

ANYWAYS, here's the beautiful bike & sweaty me post-ride:

At least I look the part...now, I have to actually figure this baby out!

Sunday morning before enjoying a lovely book club brunch (we have been meeting non-stop lately, more for eats and wine and less for book talk tho!), I took my legs on a run!  I brought one of my latest purchases--a road ID!

I've been meaning to get one of these things for awhile, but now that I not only run alone but live alone too,  and no one really knows when I'm going out for a run, I figured it's the least I can do safety-wise!  After browsing the Road ID website last weekend, I settled on the Road ID Slim.  The band is comparable to a livestrong bracelet in material and thickness.  I loved that it was tiny and that I could pick a fun color.  The plate holds 5 lines, which is perfect to display my name, two emergency contact numbers, a medical condition (asthma...), and a mantra. :)  You better believe I was excited about that!  I went with "Keep Moving," one of my favorite short and sweet mantras from summer.  My wrists are pretty tiny, so I went with a size small.  I later found out that the small is really intended for kids, but it fits perfectly!  It's tight enough that it doesn't bounce around and loose enough that I can barely feel it on my wrist.  The price was totally reasonable too.  The Road ID slim was about $15, and additional bands are only $1.  I'm tempted to get one in every color...

I made it through 3 miles again this morning!  My hip flexor and IT band were tight/sore towards the end, but I was still able to get through 3 miles without too much pain.  I have to admit that I have gotten away from my daily foam rolling lately, which is probably (definitely) why my IT band is tight again, even with the strap.  I'm so happy to be running at all, though, and excited about the prospect about some fall 5Ks!  (BTW I am totally loving the end of summer wildflowers that are all over my neighborhood trails right now.  I guess there are a FEW wonderful things about the Prairie State!)

Last but not least, I got an exciting package in the mail this weekend!  I won XLMIC's Hood to Coast dvd giveaway!  I was so excited because not only was I dying to see this movie, but I NEVER win anything!  

The amazingly fabulous XLMIC is currently racing her way from Hood to Coast as part of Team Nuun!  Make sure to stop by her blog and check out her race recaps!  Thanks, XLMIC! I can't wait to watch this asap!

Did you have a great workout this weekend?

What fall races are you looking forward to?