Austin, TX

We got all the way to Riverside before we remembered that Zen training was taking place at the Capitol. At the end of our last training session Patrick told us to meet on the left side of the Capitol. We were supposed to be doing something to support the LiveStrong team and also, I think, to do our workout. Unfortunately, amongst the sea of yellow t-shirts, we never managed to find the Zen group. I’m not sure if anyone else managed to hook up but we never saw anyone else. There really wasn’t a good plan for meeting up. We weren’t even sure exactly where we were supposed to meet. We did manage to catch part of Lance Armstrong’s speech, which included a plug encouraging people to vote for Proposition 15.

Proposition 15 would authorize the state to issue up to $300 million a year in bonds for a decade. The newly established Cancer Prevention and Research Institute would award grants to researchers seeking causes and cures for all types of cancer.

According to the Houston Chronicle, the main enemy of the proposition is voter apathy. The proposition has been proposed due to a lessening in federal funding and passing it would mean a constitutional amendment. I tend to be cautious where amendments to the constitution are involved. I’m not sure about this proposition. More research is required before voting on November 4th. As a breast cancer survivor myself, I can certainly understand the desire for more research and funding.

It was a gorgeous morning. The weather was crisp and sunny. As much as I hate getting up early, I love mornings. We walked around the side of the Capitol toward the back lawn but along the side we saw the first of the Elite runners running past and we stopped to cheer the runners on and watch for a bit. I saw a few people wearing Zen t-shirts run by though I can’t say as I recognized any of them. After a while me moved to the back of the Capitol and again cheered the runners on for a bit. Eventually we headed back to the car, discussing what we should do. We thought about heading over to Auditorium Shores and walking but by that time it was nearly 9am and getting hotter by the minute. Neither of us fancied walking in the heat so we decided to go in search of breakfast. I was missing our Tokyo breakfast so we headed to Zen to see if they served breakfast. Sadly they don’t so we turned around and went to Kerbey Lane Cafe. Kerbey Lane is a bit of an Austin institution. Chip had Eggs Benedict while I had Migas Tacos with chipotle sauce. Mmmm… it was yummy, as was the iced soy chai latte that I drank with it.

This week I’ll have to get in more walking to make up for the lack of Saturday training. I’m up to walking about 3 hours a week in addition to my pilates and Saturday Zen training. As a happy consequence I found out at my doctors appointment this past week that I’ve lost another 4 lbs since I last saw my doc a few months ago. For once he didn’t give me grief for my weight. I’ve actually lost a pound or two every visit for the past 3 visits so he was quite happy with me. He asked me to return for a fasting blood sugar to get a 3 month reading on my diabetes and I had to admit that I was a little afraid of the results. October is a particularly hard month for me because I have a bit of a candy corn addiction. I call this the mean season for that very reason. The Doc said if my blood sugars are good then he won’t make me return for 6 months. With the added exercise and weight loss, I may get away with it but I’m not going to get my hopes up knowing I’ve eaten a fair amount of sugar lately. Still, it’s a three month reading so there is a chance, albeit small.

That’s my Zen update for this week! Hopefully I’m back to it next week!

Week One Review
Week Two Review
Week Three Review
Week Four Review
Week Six Review
Week Seven Review
Week 10 Review ( I missed 8 & 9 )

Zen, Austin, Challenge, Update, fitness, Proposition 15, Livestrong, Lance Armstrong