Sustainable Sense

(First, I'll start with...Wow, blog...you've been neglected lately. Hello again. Hello world!)

A lot of life has been happening since my last post. Is it really July? I've done a couple of big events in the earlier half of the year, having run my first half marathon and also competing in my first Olympic tri. The CowTown half marathon was a great event! The weather was perfect, it was well supported and the route was great. The triathlon that kicked off in 50 degree water in Lake Pflugerville, not as much fun, but I learned a lot from the event:
1. Swimming in freezing cold water in a wetsuit that chokes you is not a good time.
2. Yes, there is now a lake in Pflugerville. Who knew?
3. Do not underestimate the Olympic distance.

The training has slowed down quite a bit since those events. I guess this whole "there's a human growing in my stomach" thing has that effect. It's made it a little harder to do things like run and go aero on the bike. Been doing a lot of walking, though, and a lot of thinking. And, that time is good, too.

With less training hours and extra time to sit back, relax a little and think has opened up my eyes to health in a different way. It is not only about fitness and exercise. While those things are great, important and still a part of my life, I've also started focusing more on creating a healthy environment and eating healthily. I've known how to eat healthy before, and am aware of what is good and bad in terms of diet. But, I'm talking about "healthy" in a little bit of a different way than I thought about it before. It's not necessarily about what is low in calories. Sure, a diet soda has no calories and I'm not going to wreck my diet from it. But, is it really healthy to be injecting that into our bodies? Chemicals? My focus lately has been on eating more naturally, getting back to the basics.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how we humans can get back to the basics, in an effort to save our planet and ourselves. There's just so much engineering in every facet of our lives these days. Now, I don't want to sound like a bleeding heart. I'm not bringing this up because of some "liberal agenda". I'm actually pretty politically apathetic these days. The thing is that it is not a political issue like so many make it out to be. It's a common sense issue. We simply cannot keep pumping our atmosphere and our bodies with all of these pollutants and expect to go on without any massive consequences.

Maybe it is the new mother in me, but I feel compelled especially lately to start doing something about environmental and health issues. I do not want to see our kids growing up in a world composed of plastic and soot. It's time to get back to the basics. So, here is my start to that, to a new era. I'll still be writing about cycling and fun stuff. But, I'm also going to be adding some new things to this blog. I'll be doing a bit more investigating into our systems (food, eco, etc.) and will be providing helpful tips on how you can make a change.

The point is, that you can make a difference by starting with simple things at home and by setting an example. The changes can start small. It would be unrealistic to think that we're going to go back to horse-and-buggy days. And, I'm not suggesting that at all. But, we need to wake up a bit and start practicing more sustainable habits. It's common sense. It's sustainable sense. It's about a sustainable you, and me and we.

Stay tuned.
TK