Bonnie ran with the bike today and she was flying. I was glad to see it. She was not wearing a seat belt yesterday.
After Bonnie’s ride I did 25 miles, mostly in drizzle and post-drizzle, wet roads. I don’t know how people who live in the NW do it. I hate riding in the rain. It gets my bike dirty.
That is what I am thankful for today.
After waiting for what seemed like 20-30 seconds, presumably for the road to clear, the driver turned onto the highway just as my car was arriving at the intersection. I slammed on the brakes. The anti-locks did their anti-locking. My white bumper missed the passenger side, back panel of the green SUV by what appeared to be a fraction of an inch, but was probably closer to 6 inches. Thankfully, Bonnie was in the front (heated) seat because she had been shivering in the back three minutes before. In her usual spot was a spent APC battery, about the size of a small car battery. It had traveled the length of the cargo compartment leaving a noticeable dent in the steel that stopped its flight. It gave me a vivid memory of my collision with a car 18 years ago. That driver never saw me or my bike. Hopefully today was my close encounter for the year…or better yet, the century.
More and more I appreciate that Bonnie’s instincts do not tell her to tough it out. In a way, I worry less about her because of it. I never knew if Jessie was hurt or cold or if I was pushing her too hard. If Bonnie, on the other hand, is not feeling well, she lets me know. She’ll make a couple of efforts at running fast, but she will not be swayed by peer pressure or excitement if things don’t feel right. She may not understand that there will be another chance to play Frisbee or run with the bike, but she does know when to take it easy. If I was as aware as Bonnie, I probably wouldn’t have injured myself at RR.
Running again : )
The doctor decided I do not have a stress fracture so I have been running a little the last week to test his theory. So far so good. It took about 5 days, but my foot is feeling much better now that I am using it.
I frequently don’t respect what a big effect my food choices have on my day-to-day energy level and outlook. It took me a while to catch on, but I’ve learned in the last few years that how I eat has a huge impact on my training. When I am eating well, I nearly always feel recovered and ready to work hard every day.
Kaitlin Quistgaard has an article about greens, Green Party, in the April 2007, Yoga Journal. It will probably be a while before it makes it to the Yoga Journal archives, but here are a few nutritious facts:
The article also has a couple of recipes and a few other ideas for incorporating more greens into your diet.
The World’s Healthiest Foods website maintains a list of the 130 healthiest foods with nutritional data and preparation tips.
You’ve probably wasted a lot of time lately wondering how you’re ever going to get those rollers clean. If so read on …
This morning while I was changing the belt on my rollers I was inspired to go after the tire gunk as well. I tried ski wax solvent, soap and water, Windex, Super Green, and acetone. All of them got some stuff off, but none of them was the magic potion. I was about to try Comet, but decided to write to Kreitler instead.
This is their response:
The Kreitler drums will get a buildup of tire rubber on them over time from normal use. We do recommend that you use a standard household degreaser such as simple green. You may need to use a soft bristle brush with the degreaser to remove the built up rubber. Please ensure that the product you choose is a non-abrasive cleaner, as it may scratch up your rollers.
Since I didn’t want to splatter Simple Green all over my bedroom I used a Scotch Brite pad rather than a brush. Not sure if that qualifies as non-abrasive, but my rollers are as shiny as new. : )
By coincidence, I learned that Simple Green works pretty well for cleaning the carpet underneath the rollers too.