A surprise, though, was waking up to my bike helmet being half eaten by our dog. She had made her way into our garage (the side door was left open by an anonymous little person) and chewed it beyond use. I was really mad and irritated. My brother bought that for me just last November, and it was supposed to last me a couple of years (barring no accidents)! Ugh! For now I am using my oldest son's helmet, since his bike isn't working. Cost to replace the helmet? Probably around $50 to get a comprable one.
A couple of days ago I took my bike in to get it looked at. I have had it for 8 years and never replaced anything but tubes, tires and a rim liner. It's also been about three years since it's last tune-up. So, I was expecting the worst. Which is a good thing, because my mental estimate was not too far off the actual quote.
Here is the plan:
Premium Tune-Up, replace brake pads, replace chain, replace gear coils, and possibly replace rear derailer and cassette. Total? $274. Ouch! Hopefully the derailer and cassette won't need replacing and will be $100 cheaper. I'll take it in next Tuesday and get my bike back safer and better than ever!
(Final cost was "only" $223)
My wetsuit split at a seam. I will have to get it repaired, because there's no way I can buy a new one! I have no idea how much that is going to cost me.
I am a couponer. I shop sales, check ads, and try to get the best deal. I peruse ebay, craigslist, and listen to other's when they mention deals. I am really trying not to make this Ironman thing a financial desprarity issue. I've been stocking up on Gatorade and Powerade as much as my storage allows! Last week Powerade was on sale for only 57 cents each! That was so nice! So I bought 10. A few weeks ago Gatorade was on sale, $2.99 for an 8 pack. So I bough six. I still have some lingering 30 oz. Gatorade bottles around, but not for long I'm sure! I like fruit snacks on my shorter bike rides, so when Save Mart had boxes on sale for 88 cents each if you bought multiples of four, I bought 12 boxes (each box contains 10 pouches).
I would like to get tinted goggles for swimming. Speedo Vanquisher goggles, to be exact. The cheapest I have found them for is $16.95. The swim at IMAZ starts at 7am sharp, and the route takes you due east. Guess what time the sun rises in Tempe in November? Around 7am. And as you hopefully know, the sun rises in the east. Yep, we'll be thrashing, sighting, and breathing with the sun nice and in our eyes.
Being a baker and not afraid of trying new recipes has led to some great discoveries! Making my own bar alternatives will save me some major moo-la in the end. The other nice thing about making your own goodies is you can control what goes into them. I like to add chia seeds to anything I bake. They are known to be super antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Apparently the Aztecs would munch on them a lot as runners.
Then there will be the other inevitable replacement things here and there. I'll let you know as I go. Boy, oh boy, this thing is getting expensive....
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