Normally, I’d use Strava to tell the story. Not today, because Strava doesn’t always get the climb exactly right. And today, it needed to be exactly right. Because, at 26 minutes, 56.17 seconds, there just wasn’t room for the slightest error in establishing my time up Kings. And in fact, Strava says exactly 27 minutes, 0 seconds. The difference between the two? Let’s just say there’s a lot less internal respect for a 27-anything time than 26-something. And this morning, it was 26-something. The sub-27 monkey is finally off my back.
It’s been a year since I’ve had a sub-27 time up Kings. A year in which I was beginning to doubt that I could get into the 26-range again, which wouldn’t be a good thing in terms of that age/mortality thing. A year in which I was beginning to think that maybe it’s a zero-sum world, meaning that, if Kevin was going to keep getting faster, it meant someone else (me!) was going to be going slower. But I’ve put those concerns to rest, for the time being. By 3.83 seconds. Nearly an eternity. The YouTube piece below will help put this into perspective. –Mike–
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwnAspbudrw&t=8m14s
So Mike, the drugs must be working (asthma inhaler, that is).
The inhaler definitely reduces the wheezing at the end of my breathing, which is a good thing for those around me. It doesn’t feel like it’s doing that much for me, but that might just be me forgetting what my breathing is like without it. There were a couple times on Sunday, a day I hadn’t used the inhaler, when I found myself wheezing a bit… and that was a day temps were in the low-80s. Thought I didn’t need it when it was warmer. Maybe I do. –Mike–