changing of the seasons

One of the things I love most about Japan is the changing of the seasons. Here in Niigata we have heavy snow in winter. A long hot summer. And a beautiful spring and autumn in-between.

However, changing seasons means changing of bedding and clothing. The summer clothes are packed away. The winter clothes are pulled out of boxes.

Even after a wash. Dust and pollen from the spring clothes come back into the air. This gets me every time.

I did some tests in the spring and I'm allergic to almost all kinds of dust (house dust, wheat pollen, cedar pollen...). I try to avoid medication as much as possible. Coming to Japan and starting a healthy lifestyle helped me to wean myself off asthma medication which I'd been taking for almost 10 years...

I find myself a little breathless though. Especially at night.

On the bike too. I rose the heart rate a few times yesterday. But breathing was troubling me.

I don't want to be like this in Sunday's race.

Time for some antihistamines...

Wednesday's training: Road (65 km, 900 m climbing)