Biking like there's no tomorrow

I got new orthotics on Monday.  Now the orthotics for both feet are molded to take pressure off what are apparently "prominent metatarsals."  Maybe my feet are just too bony.  Pretty sure there's not much I can do about that.  Except wear orthotics or expensive shoes.  Anyway, I did the Pub Run on Monday and my foot felt fine.  That's not really saying much, since it's a short and slow jog, but still, no pain is good.  And then, despite the fact that I've been telling myself and others that if I started running again, I would definitely ease into it...I didn't really ease into it.  I went for a run on Wednesday afternoon.  I did start out easy...I did basically the same loop as the Monday Pub Rns, but backwards, to change it up.  I started out at what felt like a nice easy pace to both my legs and my lungs.  The first mile was a 7:06 pace, but it felt  easy, and that's what matters, right?  After the first mile, it started requiring effort to hold that pace as my lungs started dying.  But my legs felt amazing, and were begging for more.  So I worked to hold the pace.  I started feeling discomfort in my foot.  I decided that foot pain meant I probably needed to take more time off, but since I was already out there, I might as well enjoy the run while I could.  So I did.  I worked to keep up the pace for the rest of the 3.1 mile run.  I finished the 5k in 21:57.  And I swear that the joy of the run was worth every second of discomfort or pain in my foot.

This week : 

M : bike 21.4 (17.6 mph/1713 ft), jog 3.2

T : bike 23.1 (16.7 mph/2290 ft)

W : run 3.1 (7:05 pace)

F : bike 26 (18.5 mph/1844 ft)

Su : bike 2.9 (photographing a 5k)

bike 23.4 (17.5 mph/2211 ft)

total bike miles : 97.1

I had some really good rides on the bike this week.  Because the gear sizes are different on this bike than my other bike, climbing was a lot harder at first.  The bike is a machine when you give it the right amount of power, but it took some getting used to and adjusting my riding before I could give it an adequate amount of power.  I think my time on the trainer helped me get stronger faster, and now the new bike is a beast.  Now that I have adjusted to it and found the power I need, it takes what I give it and we fly.  I am riding faster than I used to, and powering up the climbs like I own them.  I am loving this bike!  

I used the bike to get myself around a 5k course to take photos 

of the runners in a few different spots this morning.  

In other news, my asthma has been worse than ever for the last 2 or 3 days.  I needed to use my inhaler just to go about my day this morning.  I am not happy about this.  I'm also not happy about the fact that in a few more weeks my health insurance cost is going to more than double if I can't somehow find a different and better plan.  And the odds of me being able to find an affordable plan are slim to none.  As of now, I am leaning towards discontinuing my new asthma drug that seems to be making me worse instead of better, and going back to just using the albuterol inhaler as needed, and save new drug experiments for the magical day when I'm not getting screwed by my health insurance.  I guess if I'm not running races I don't really need my lungs to be at super-human capacity anyway.  Or normal-human capacity.  I just need to be able to go about a normal day, and I was able to do that before I went to the pulmonologist.  If I can't breathe when I exercise too hard, I can always exercise slightly less hard I suppose.