As of today, I am the proud new owner of a 2006 Trek 5200. Hopeully next week I'll start biking to work, and maybe next spring I'll be in shape enough to do some light touring... we'll see how that all works out. It's been about a decade since I've been on a bike, and even at that I wasn't riding a road bike -- the drop handle bars and an STI road shifter are going to take a lot of practice, and having locking cleats is a very strange feeling...

The purpose of this post though is to point out (and laugh at) the notice on the back of the printed manual that came with my bike

An English version of this manual is on the enclosed CD, and also on www.trekbikes.com. If you do not have access to a computer, and want a printed version of the manual, mail a request to the address listed above.

So basically, if I don't have a computer on which to view to electronic version of the printed manual I have in my hands, and want a printed manual instead, I can write, and they'll send me one. Can you say infinite recursion? The only saving grace is that there's actually a street address listed, and not an e-mail address.

Well now that I'm settled in at the new job (sort of), the fitness routine is starting :). Today Sammy took out on the 1.1 mi. loop at the office for my first run. It wasn't bad - got through it in about 11 minutes (and hey, you need to be able to make a 12 minute mile to pass high school gym. Suck on that Guccione).

A quick shower and 2 liters of water later, I'm sitting here at my desk beginning to feel like I might actually survive it! Sammy promises it only gets easier, and it gets easier fast -- let's hope.

So there you have it - I finally got off my ass and did something - and had fun doing it... who knew? We'll see how I survive next week :)

Well I decided today was as good a day as any to try that run; I was off a little on my 1 mile estimate before wanting to die; I only made it about 3/5ths of a mile. A couple years of sitting down will do that to you I guess. It wasn't fatigue that got me though, it was breathing - I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not though. Hopefully a little light training will help me through it. Any advice from less novice runners?