I'm starting to crank up my training intensity. I'm trying to swim three times a week with one session of drills (one-arm drills are my favorite) and one "long" swim. I try to run one interval run and one long run, and one long ride, then fill in the rest of the week with 30-60 minute runs and rides.

I started taking creatine last week. I did for a month last fall and it worked out well. So far it is rough. I am constantly dehydrated, and possibly from all the water I'm drinking I am running low on salts. I suspect this because I have been cramping and that is not normal for me. I am doubling up on bananas and drinking Gatorade to correct that. My hamstring cramped up on me twice and I just do not like that at all! I am working out more intensely and as a result I'm completely sore.

In between winter storms I've gone for a couple of short rides. I intended to buy everything at once when I got this bike but I skipped a few things so now I have a wish list.
Work to do:

I picked up a new bike, a 2008 Specialized Tricross Sport triple. I was calling around to the local shops, looking for a 2009 or 2010, and http://www.t-townbicycles.com/ in Tulsa told me they had a 2008 for 20% off. It was such a deal that I gave them a credit card number to hold it until the weekend (yeah, it sat on their floor for two years but I didn't want to risk having it sit their three more days) and went over to look at it yesterday.

It's a 58cm frame, which fits me pretty well. I wasn't sure if I needed the 58 or 61 - I'm 6'3" tall but my legs aren't especially long, 34" inseam. I looked at the specs and the 61 is 15mm taller than the 58, but only 10mm longer. And 58s are a lot easier to find. When I got on the trainer it was cramped - no surprise there - so they put a longer stem on it. I think the current stem is 120mm and the original was 110mm. The 120mm might be a little short still, but I can't tell because I haven't been riding in months. If it is I'll take it back and try a longer one. It is set up now with the handlebars pretty flat. I need to angle them down a bit for riding in the drops, and that rotation will effectively add to the length to the hoods.

I chose Crank Brothers Candy SL pedals. I wanted the Candy X but they were out, so I upgraded to the stainless SL. I wanted fenders, but they were out of those as well. It's a lean season in a lean year for bike shops, so I won't fault them for keeping their inventory low.

The weather was rainy, misty, and wet when I got the bike, so the first thing I did was head to Turkey Mountain. I didn't actually go up on the trails, there were a couple of guys with full suspension mountain bikes pretty caked with mud in the parking lot so I stayed on the pavement.