Keep Calm and Carry On

At 5:30 am this morning I grabbed the iPod Touch as I do every morning and saw most of Texas, east of IH35 was experiencing moderate levels of 2.5 particulate matter pollution (27). I really wanted to run this morning as my Achille's tendon finally released after Saturday's long run. I think it was so tense after a long ride on Friday night and a long run on Saturday morning. It was just too much at this point in my training so I'll have to separate the two days with some low impact recovery pool running.

The Tour de France had an off day so I spent 45 minutes on the recumbent bike watching HLN and reading Runner's World Magazine, while playing tug of war with Travis. I'll get my 10K worth of running on the treadmill tonight. While it looks like the 2.5 pollution is dropping, the ozone pollution is rising and so is the heat. Treadmill time.

I just ordered and downloaded 50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days -- and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance! by Dean Karnazes. I need to order a couple more books for the Touch before I get to San Jose for a much needed vacation. If this book is as good as Born to Run, I'll have much more to share here in the next couple of weeks.

I don't know if it's the meatless diet or the added mileage or both but the winter weight is starting to come off fairly fast. Last year I never really lost the other ten pounds I should have to have good races. This year, I'm losing the 10 pounds or just not racing until I do.

One last note. It appears Governor Perry vetoed a bill that would've given more protection for cyclists. From the Austin American Statesman article.

"Anger in the bicycle-riding community does not appear to have evaporated much since Gov. Rick Perry vetoed Senate Bill 488, legislation that would have created a safe-passing distance of at least three feet for vehicles trying to pass cyclists and other so-called vulnerable road users."

I can understand the veto if a car is passing two cyclists riding side-by-side in a thin bike lane as I saw quite a few times this past weekend. This law would've put me in the other lane to pass and risked everyone, cars and bikes alike. For a single cyclist or peloton of cyclists this bill, if passed, would've added greater needed protection. It may be better to establish a mandatory bike lane width along with a law that states two or three cyclists can't ride side-by-side.