I've never really been great at making decisions, especially big ones. I tend to research things out and try and make the best decision based on that. Other times, I (like many others) like the comfort of my trusted friends opinion. But there are just some decisions that just need to be made on your own.
I bought a new bike yesterday, it was a big decision. I had a budget but I also had a few things the bike 'needs' to have for me to buy it. I am not nor have I ever had a big tolerance for bargain shopping or going from store to store to find a good deal. I usually have my stores that I'm loyal to, and when I need something I just go pick it up. If I were back in the states, I would have gone to the tri shop and one other store that I know and trusted and picked a bike from one of those places. Here is Korea, there is many shops, but I think compared to my old bike shop, they have a minimal selection. For example, the first shop I went to only had 1 bike that fit what I was looking for, and it was just a bit outside of my price range. Luckily, someone helped me find another shop with a bit bigger selection, at least online they looked like they had a bigger selection. I went there to find the bikes I saw online (the discounted 2011 models) were all too big for me. And if there is one thing I've learned in the last few weeks, it's size is the #1 factor in bike buying! They had some 2012 models that fit was I was looking for - carbon, min of 105's or equivalent from a different brand for components. Then it came down to fit. Out of all they had, there was just 1. They were able to discount it to the high end of my budget, it is full carbon and it has 105's. It really did fit just what I wanted. So I bought it. It only took about 2 min of looking at it to hand over my deposit. Why bother going to another 2-3 stores... I might save $100 (yes I get it, $100 can be a lot of money) but when you have to travel 1.5hrs each way(+subway time) and pay $10 (+subway money) a trip to get to/from Seoul, it comes down to the fact that my time is worth more to me then that $100 I might save, and who know's I might end up back at the same shop a few days later to buy the bike anyway. So I made a big decision, without the support of friends!
Now I have another one to make... I have been training for this Ironman 70.3 in Taiwan. I haven't been cycle training though, since the last 4 weeks or so I've been playing phone-tag with the insurance company and slowly working towards settling. And prior to that, I have off the bike just to recover from my last Ironman 70.3, so I'm about 9 weeks away from the race and have to start fresh on cycling. This worries me, as I had a lot of improvements to make. With my running slowly improving, I think I might have picked a race that is just too soon for the improvement I'm expecting to make. So at this point, I am considering my options... I could postpone my next 70.3 till 2012, and then train for a December marathon. This way, I can have a solid running base and keep up some swimming and cycling, but have my focus be on running improvement. Or I could do the 70.3 give it all I have over the next 9 weeks and hope to shave 30min off my time (vs. the min 1hr I am aiming for). At this point I'm leaning toward the marathon. Either way, both are great tests of my strength and commitment to endurance events. Both are races I've done before and have not been satisfied with my times. While I'm out enjoying my new wheels and doing some running this weekend, I'll be making a final decision about which event to do.
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