Another big day!

After today I am not going to need to wear glasses anymore!!  That's right I am going to be getting LASIK surgery today!  I am a little bit nervous but I think it will be OK.  I am looking forward to getting to wear a variety of sunglasses while riding or no sunglasses at all!  

Anyway we got home safely from Colorado after a lot of driving and I have basically been relaxing and doing some stuff since I got back.  My college graduation ceremony is this Saturday and both of my grandmas are coming which should be very exciting!  So next time you see me prepare to be surprised I will be both a college graduate and someone that doesn't need to wear glasses !  

sick but somehow doing well in the race!

Today was the criterium at Collegiate nationals.  It ended with a field sprint and Chris got 9th and I was 10th.  We both acheived our goals of a top 10 finish and we couldn't be more stoked.  Both of us just sat in for most of the race and then we moved up with 5 laps to go.  It was pretty hairy at the end as there was a break and U Vermont was on the front chasing.  We caught them with about 500m to go and I moved myself into good position but didn't have much left for the finishing stretch.  Chris passed me just a bit before the line but I am completely pleased with how the race went because I felt pretty cruddy this morning.  I was coughing up a storm after the race but after some hot water we decided to go ride Rist Canyon which is a 10 mile climb just outside of town.  It was painful with but well worth the ride. It was incredibly beatiful and we even saw snow near the top!!  Given being sick I am extremely happy with how I rode today.  Lets hope once I get better I can find some good form for the big crits coming up in Iowa.  Tomorrow we are gonna go for a ride in the morning and then drive to nebraska.  Feel free to call me in the afternoon or all day monday because we will be in the car.  

Sick and not doing well in the race

Today was the Road race and it did not go as planned.  I have been sick for the past week+ with a cold that won't go away and when I woke up this morning I didn't very good.  I haven't felt very fast the past few days and today was no exception. I got dropped on the first big climb and didn't feel like fighting for 50th place.  So I rode to the finish line a bit early and couldn't stop coughing the whole way.  It kind of sucked but at least I got to watch the race which was fun.  No one from my team did particularly well.  Tomorrow is the crit and hopefully I can at least make it though without getting dropped.  maybe I can sprint.... I guess we will see.  I am still coughing a lot today.  I don't know what I have but it is basically a cold that won't go away.  I think moving all of my finals may have caused a lot of extra stress and lost sleep causing me to get really sick.  I guess you can't win em all.  I am still having a fun time out here in colorado and am looking forward to riding the crit tomorrow!  

Gettin Ready for the Big Dance!

I've been in Colorado preparing for nationals for 2 days and the Road race is tomorrow!  Unfortunately I am still a little bit sick with a cold and I cough after I ride hard but I am slowly getting better and will hopefully feel good tomorrow.  I am riding pretty well but the altitude is really killer.  We are staying with Jake and his fiance Alyssa who are both recent Purdue alums out in Loveland, CO and we are only about 15 miles from the race courses.  I am excited and nervous for my last collegiate natz and I hope I can pull off a good result.  It is incredibly beatiful out here and today we rode a 3 mile climb that had awesome views.  We might try to get in some more nice rides after the crit on Saturday and maybe sunday morning before we begin our incredibly long drive home!  I bought a disposable camera so I promise there will be pictures some time!!!

Almost There!

Only 2 tests and one large manuscript stand between me and being done with school!!! If all goes as planned (which it will I will be done with all of that on Monday and in the car on the way to Colorado for nationals by Monday at 4pm. I should be working on studying or something but I wanted to post an update. Since regionals I got really busy of course but still managed to squeeze in a few short rides. I got a cold too but I am almost over it now. Friday I had a little "graduation party" and to my pleasent surprise my friends Dr. Sean and Sean Metz came down from Chicago to celebrate with me. It was a fun time for all with dancing, korean bbq, and other festivities. Most of the cycling club came out and it was a great way to say good bye to everyone who is leaving for the summer before I graduate. Saturday morning after cleaning up I went out for a nice 3 hour ride on my sweet Felt F1. I actually did an interval too on some of the hills near Battle Ground. I think my average speed was almost 30km/hr which I know thanks to my awesome CatEye Strata computer. Today I hope to put in another 3-4 hours on the bike to prep for the road race on Friday and the Crit Saturday. Wish me luck for getting all my academic stuff finished!

Regionals!!!!!!

Saturday may have been the most epic race I have ever done. It was definitely the hardest I have ever worked in a race. It was an 80 mile road race in the hills of South east Ohio and it was about 85 degrees at the start. The race started and a break that included my old friend Matt Jones. That break had a 12 minute gap after 20 miles!!!!! There were 2 tough climbs each lap and another break went on the second lap of 4. I decided I should be in it so I bridged up on the descent and flats which was really hard. I made it up and then we dropped the Wisco guy on a climb. It was me, 2 marians, Clayton from LWC and Will Nowak from Northwestern. We were motoring and by the end of the lap had caught the entire break and dropped most of them. A Wisco and Tim from Lindenwood managed to hang on. Our group of 6 ended up being the winning group. I felt pretty good but unfortunately I screwed up my feeds and ended up getting water instead of Heed for 2 laps which caused major cramping problems for me on the last lap. Will and the Marian guys rolled away from me and Tim on a climb but Tim and I worked together to the finish. I was basically dying the entire 20 mile last lap and Tim beat me in the sprint because I was cramping so bad I couldn’t really pedal. I was very happy to take 5th in the regionals road race though and pretty much clinch my nationals spot. Joey broke away on the last lap to take 11th. It was a weird race with huge gaps between groups. Luckily there was a lake at the course to cool off in.
The crit didn’t go as well. I ended up in the break that got away and lapped the field but they kept attacking and I was so tired from the day before chasing every move was just killing me. I ended up back in the pack after 20 minutes of being off the front constantly chasing down attacks! Chris managed to get away for 9th and I won the field sprint for 12th. I am getting pumped up for nationals. My goal is the podium but I will be extremely pleased with another top 10 in either the RR or crit. I can’t believe I am graduating! Only 6 more days of school left for me and then off to Colorado for my last collegiate race ever!!!! This week I am taking a few finals early and going to Warsaw for the RR on Saturday. I also plan to try to train hard to build up my form a bit more.

New Orleans!!!!!!

I spent the last 4 days in New Orleans at the Experimental Biology conference, which is national meeting for the American Society for Nutrition. New Orleans is an amazingly awesome and crazy city! We had a ton of fun going out on Bourbon street. You can drink on the street there and it is like a football game weekend only crazier every day! The conference was good as well. I presented my research on exercise’s effects on appetite and food intake on a poster and people came to ask me questions about it. I also went to a lot of talks and got some good information and ideas for potential graduate school studies in the future.
I also found out that I didn’t get a dietetic internship on Sunday night, which is a mixed blessing for me. I would have done one if I had gotten it but at the same time I really want to do something fun for the next few years and something that I will really enjoy. I don’t know what I am going to do yet but I do know that I will be staying around West Lafayette to race bikes and work at my lab until August.
We ate a lot of great food and down there in New Orleans! I had never tried a raw oyster before and Abita beer and hurricane drinks are also good. I did manage to lift and ride the exercise bike in the hotel a few times as well. I probably logged 6+ miles of walking every day as well. Today we took a ferry across the Mississippi river to walk around the Old Algiers neighborhood. It was a really cute part of town with lots of little houses. New Orleans probably has the most dubz per capita of any city I have ever been in. It was like a car show! We also went out to a dance club one night that literally played all of my favorite rap music! I think they played 4 different soulja boy songs! I would love to visit New Orleans again in the future it was a really great time.