It was gratifying to notice that my lung capacity and muscle stamina have significantly improved. My lungs still hurt when I breathe deep, but no longer restrict airflow. Good deal. My legs burn after working hard as before, but they no longer crash as quickly. I find I can maintain high output for long distances, perhaps miles, where before I could hardly sprint for a few hundred feet without collapsing.

Yay.

I find my biggest struggle right now is my lungs. I feel like my legs are ready & desire to work harder, but my lungs hurt and I feel like I’m not getting enough oxy to my muscles. Hopefully I’ll be able to work through that relatively quickly, it’s growing to be a hindering annoyance.

Another item of note – I was run off the road by a dog today, a combination of the oncoming dog occupying half the burke-gilman, and an obviously blind cyclist moving to pass the dog left me with no room to maneuver, and I found myself in the dirt. No incident followed, and I repressed my desire to shout obscenities, but the desire was there just the same. I wonder if I’m too uptight for this sport. I doubt if the seattle area needs anymore bike-nazis.

My goal is to get to 20miles in an hour, and overconfidence what it is, it’s humbling to suffer such an epic failure. I have a long way to go.