Back to Biking : A successful first week

Unlike last year when I hurt a foot and tried to keep running anyway and pretend it would heal itself, this year I am being more careful.  I wore nothing but Danskos all week, and didn't run at all.  I didn't love the idea of wearing clogs everyday when the temperature was in the 80s every afternoon, but they were the only shoes that I felt zero pain in, and I want to allow my foot to get better as quickly as possible, so I stuck with it.  By Friday evening I wasn't feeling any pain at all, so I switched to Chaco sandals, which are definitely more weather-appropriate.

I rode 5 times this week.  Some of the rides were a little short, but I am pretty happy with how the week went, especially considering it has been a long time since I was biking consistently.  I'm a bit slower than I was before, but after a good first week, I suspect it won't take too long for me to get back where I was,  Friday's ride was cut short because my front shifter decided to stop working about 9.5 into a planned 20 mile ride.  When it stopped working, I was at a place where there was no way home without climbing a hill.  That thought was a bit daunting without the use of half my gears, but I picked the hill that was the most direct way home (0.3 miles long, 143 ft gain), and hoped I would make it to the top without having to get off and walk.  It turned out not to be nearly as hard as I thought it would be.  I did have to stand the second half of the hill, but I still got to the top without too much trouble.  And only 9 seconds slower than my fastest time on that climb.  Makes me wonder why I'm always using the easiest gear on every hill if I clearly don't need it...  Happily the bike shop was still open when I rode back into town so I went straight there and got my shifter fixed.  It's not a great shifter, I've had trouble with it in the past.  It's fixed again for now, but I'm probably going to have to replace my shifters for better ones soon.

Today's ride felt really good. I could have kept going longer, but decided not to push it since it was my fifth ride this week and because I plan to bike again tomorrow.

Rides this week:

M : 15.2

T : 18.2

R: 22 (HH shop ride with Stu & Peter)

F : 13.8

Su : 23.7

total miles : 93.2

Decided it was time to start wearing bright-colored cycling jerseys...

Since apparently I can no longer pretend to not be a cyclist.

I am happy to say that after a week of no running and wearing good shoes, I have zero foot pain, even when walking barefoot.  I will be taking at least another week off from running just in case.  And I still may take a whole month off, just to be sure.  I'm going to take it one week at a time.  But for now, I'm feeling good about my chances of not having to miss summer races!

Some views from my rides this week.