41-Miler

This morning Chris and I did the Minneapolis Bike Tour and rode the 41-mile route. It took us around four hours to do, and I only felt like I was going to die once (there was one part where we went up two what I thought were significant hills in quick succession, and my asthma kicked in hardcore). That is the longest bike ride I've ever done, and all in all I feel pretty good about it.

Here's a map of the route so you can see where we rode (I'm terrible at explaining those kinds of things):
Chris said that I didn't look happy the entire ride, but the truth is I like doing those kinds of activities, but I really have to focus on breathing. Today was more of a mental challenge than a physical one because whenever my asthma kicks in, which is often, I have to calm myself down and focus on slowing my breathing down. I get frustrated whenever this happens, but have not found a way to prevent it except for not doing activities like riding, which I'm not willing to do. I have found that I can train my lungs to withstand a great deal of cardio without freaking out, but it takes a long time to build up that kind of endurance. I had it a couple of years ago, but my time was consumed my second year of grad school and I didn't dedicate the time or money to keep myself in that great of shape.

Now I'm trying to slowly get myself back into shape. I'm thinking that I might bike into work more frequently because this cooler weather is incredible to bike in and it would save me money on bus passes. I also am going to try to get myself in a routine of going on walks during the week so I can enjoy this weather while it lasts. We'll see if I'm actually committed to it. If not, I will continue to enjoy the bike riding that I do now and only complain about my breathing to myself and Chris (sorry Chris!).