Training & Nutrition - ozone warning

well, i never took the news really seriously... cuz they love to blow everything out of proportion eh? So they have this alert system to rate the quality of air during the summer, and they say that you shouldn't exercise outdoors during times of high ozone. Well, I thought the reason was simply that ozone preempts the oxygen in the air, meaning just you need to take deeper breaths to get the same amout of O2.... but actually i learned that ozone majorly irritates the lungs, and can even damage them. I tried running yesterday at my normal pace, and i just could not hack it. i know i could do more but my body wouldn't let me. Also ozone is supposed to put extra stress on the heart. anyways... just letting yall know to take those warnings seriously and stay off the streets in these nasty heat waves.

PS: oh yeah, and if you DO "have to" exercise, they say it's best to do it early in the morning or after sunset, when there are less cars on the road and less sun to mess with the air.

I just say that whatever we have to be aware of are all things that are important, not just for us but for the generations to come. Just things that are happening are not exactly natural, thus I think the world should come together and do something about it. Perhaps 'car-free WEEK' ? I think that the weather is also seriously getting warmer, I can feel the difference and that is certainly not good. Maybe we cyclists should also be advocates for such environmental issues as well.

Thanks for the notice!

I would add (from experience) that mornings are always best, because on bad ozone days, the ozone sometimes doesn't begin to drop until 11:00 pm., what with people still using their cars to
shop, eat, etc. after work.

It takes more discipline to exercise in the morning, but it's worth it! Mornings are almost always perfectly safe, even after a bad ozone day. Check your local air quality forcast on the AIRNOW website.