Last pieces of the puzzle

I've been saying for YEARS that I wanted to do triathlons...but I couldn't run.  From a bear or a leaping frog (total fear of frogs- I know it's weird) I could run like the wind; however, I lacked the necessary skills to run further than that slimy mucus covered thing could leap.  Trust me, in my dreams those suckers have wings and red beady eyes.  Sorry, back to the point.  I've established that I can finally consider myself an intermediate runner but I was missing one very important piece of equipment that all serious triathletes have....a bike! 

I agonized over which bike to get, did I really want to spend that much money, could I get away competing with my 4 year old daughter's Diamondback?  I finally decided on this little beauty:

It's a Specialized Dolce Sport, blah,blah, blah.  The frame is 44 cm and it really does look as if my 4 year old daughter could ride the thing.  It's shiny and new and all mine.  I considered not taking the plastic off that lovely white seat and realized how impractical that was.  Imagine the rash after that?! 

I took my new gadget for a spin with a good friend of mine and she highly recommended I get  bike shoes and clipless pedals. 

It helps transfer the energy more efficiently and instead of only using your quads to push the pedals down and around, being attached to the pedal allows you to use your hamstrings to pull the pedal up.  If it will make me faster and save my legs for the run then heck yeah, I'll get some!

I decided on getting a pair of Specialized mountain bike shoes and Shimano M540 mountain bike clipless pedals. 

My daughter was very insistent that I get these shoes because they were pretty.  She secretly wishes they were Twinkle Toes and that I ride my bike with pink sparkling streamers on the handles.  The final pieces are finally falling into place.