Happy Nobel Prize Week

"If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied." -Alfred Nobel

Yesterday it was announced that Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie, and Roger Y. Tsien won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Each biochemist (too bad an organic chemist didn't win) had a major contribution in the research of green fluorescent protein (GFP). Shimomura first isolated GFP from jellyfish, Chalfie demonstrated how GFP could be used as a genetic tag, and Tsien furthered the understanding of how the protein fluoresces.
My brother from an asian mother told me that one of these men is actually a runner! How cool is that??
While I probably will never get to go to Sweden and accept my own Nobel Prize, I have touched a winner. Dr. Robert H. Grubbs visited my university this past spring. Yes, Dr. Grubbs of the Grubbs catalyst. This was a great honor for me and for my school.
Tomorrow the Peace Prize will be awarded and Monday the Economics Prize is awarded. Happy Nobel Prize Week!

Sulfa Allergy?

I'm writing this post high on benadryl and with a rash all over my body. This started Sunday morning, 24 h after I got through with the sulfa drug regimen. I know there are cases of delayed onset, but normally a does of steroid shot in the butt takes care of it. This is what the doctor did for me on Monday afternoon. I asked the doc if I could workout and they said it would be fine. So I ran my five miles yesterday (rather slowly I might add) and I went to my Pilates class. After class we were standing around talking and I started to feel a little nauseated and almost blacked out. I sat down and got home quickly to get some sugar in my system. I took benadryl last night and fell asleep watching the Cowboys game (they won!).
This morning I woke up and the rash has spread. I'm not so sure it's sulfa drugs that I'm allergic to. I'm not sure what it is, but I wish I hadn't come into contact with it. I'm not going to run today. I'm just going to sleep. zzzzzzzzzzzz

Life Under a Black light

There are two kinds of light - the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures. ~James Thurber

In my Pilates class on Mondays we workout under black lights. I've always loved how I look under a black light & I think all fluorescent lights should be replaced with black lights.
They make you look tanner, they make your teeth whiter, and I just realized the best part of all three days ago ... they make your muscles look awesome!!!
I was in downward dog and lifted one leg to the ceiling to stretch my hip. I opened my body to the side and I bent my knee. Please note, in this position it is hard to keep your shirt from falling up to reveal a bit of tummy. When I looked in the mirror I was amazed. I saw a six pack. Not a six pack of Budweiser either (I don't drink), a six pack of abs! On me!
In regular light, when I'm not contorting my body, I definitely can't see any definition in my abs. That's why I'm moving that we all switch to black lights in the work place, church, school, the gym, dressing rooms, everywhere!! Who's with me?!

I have a test on Saturday so I'll update my training stuff after that. I'm way too busy & too much of a procrastinator.

School's In Session

"We don't need no education. We don't need no thought control." -Pink Floyd

School started last week. I don't have nearly as much free time as I thought I would. I'm only taking one class and I'm not teaching this semester, but I sure am spending a lot more time in the lab. I've been trying to get up early to get my run in before I go to school. Emphasis on the word "trying." I've gotten up at 5:15 a few mornings, gone for my run, and was able to get ready at to the school by 8. The other mornings I've been waking up around 7 and getting to the school around 8:30. This means I have to get my run in when it's super hot outside or on a treadmill. Boring!
I hope I can get into the 5:15 wake up habit. I really like running by myself early in the morning. I also don't feel like an idiot when I'm talking to myself as I run. No one else is up that early to hear me. You see, I've been listening to a "Learn how to speak Chinese" podcast. I listen to the host of the show and repeat the common Chinese phrases. Then, when I get to school, I talk to my Chinese brother. And then he laughs at me because I don't sound Chinese at all.
So, that's what I've been up to since my last post. I finished watching the Olympics, which were awesome! Usain Bolt is amazing. The men's marathon was awesome! Did you hear about Brian Sell? He ran with no socks on (like normal)... but he doesn't normally run in that kind of heat. Here's what Runner's World had to report on his race.
I also just saw this article on Runner's World that goes with the theme of this post: Marathoning 101. Why don't they offer this course at my school? I'd ace it!

Well, I don't have that much time right now to post the last two weeks of my training. I'll get to that later in the week.

Phenomenal - Olympic Weekend Wrap-Up

“When I came back, after all those stories about Hitler and his snub, I came back to my native country, and I could not ride in the front of the bus. I had to go to the back door. I couldn't live where I wanted. Now what's the difference?” -Jesse Owens

As I mentioned last week, I LOVE THE OLYMPICS!!! I also hate the Olympics. This juxtaposition is due to my feeling of remorse, regret, disappointment, [insert other synonym here] that I didn't get to participate in gymnastics when I was younger. I see gymnasts like Shawn Johnson and wonder if that could have been me. I doubt that I would have gone as far as the Olympics, but I really think I could have excelled at this sport.


And then I see the 33 year old gymnast, Oksana Chusovitina, and think, "I still have a chance!"; but I really know I don't. And I also realize that if I were any good at gymnastics I probably would have gone to another college and I would not have met my husband. It all worked out well in the end.

Michael Phelps. Awesome. I watched him swim with his relay teammates to his 8th gold of these games. It was phenomenal. I doubt I'll ever see such an athletic feat in my lifetime.

Saturday night was the women's marathon. I watched every minute of coverage for this event with hope that Deena Castor would bring a medal back home to the US. I was extremely saddened when she had to drop out in the early miles. She said she felt a pop in her foot. It takes great courage to drop out of a race of this magnitude, even when something serious is afoot... pun intended. I applaud her ability to realize when she can't go on and I look forward to see what else she can do.

Paula Radcliffe was my next hope for this race. Eight weeks ago she was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her femur. I thought she might be able to pull through and medal, but she wasn't able to. It looked like she might drop out in the latter miles of the race, but I think she really did not want to repeat Athens. She was criticized a lot for dropping out of that race four years ago. Deena and Paula were on two ends of the spectrum, and I believe they both did what was best for themselves.

Shalane Flannagan won the bronze in the women's 10 K! Our hopefuls, Lopez Lomong and Bernard Legat, in the men's 15oo m did not qualify for the final race. China's hurdler, Liu Xiang, dropped out of the race after a false start by another runner and disappointed 1.3 billion Chinese. The Jamaicans are the fastest people in the world with Usain "Lightning" Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser taking gold in the men's and women's 100 m races. Tyson Gay said he was 100% in the semifinal heat for the 100 m, but I really think that his hamstring is still injured. I love that he won't give an excuse though.

This year looks to be a great year for the athletes. The Olympics are always a place where character and sportsmanship is displayed. I wasn't around to see Jesse Owens' snub that is mentioned in my quote, but this is part of what the Olympics can bring to the forefront of people's minds. He was a great ambassador for African Americans in the Civil Rights movement. Hopefully, changes like this will begin in countries that continue to violate human rights, e.g. Russia's treatment of the Georgian people and China's role in the Darfur situation.

Runs:

M - 6 mi, 55:04.33

T - 6 mi, 54:01.35

Th - 5 mi, 42:57.51

Hot Dam!

"Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air, can't live, can't breathe with no air" -Jordin Sparks

Saturday I ran the Hot Dam Runs 5 miler. I wasn't expecting much from this race, but I thought I should be able to run it in less than 40 minutes. I was very surprised at how hilly the course was. I felt pretty good in the first mile, but not great. I was having some trouble breathing. Stupid asthma!
For the first 2.5 miles I was leading a woman that I had seen at several races, but she had never beat me. I knew I wasn't feeling up to par, but I didn't want to lose either. She drafted behind me until the turn around and then she passed me. I kept her in my sights the rest of the race, but I never did catch back up to her.
At the Prairie Dog Runs back in February there was a guy who would speed up as soon as I got close to him, then slow down. This went on for the last few miles of that race. It happened again at this race, but only for the first mile then the last half mile. I was so disappointed because I finished just a few seconds behind him. Ben was cheering for me to beat him, but I couldn't. :(
I finished in 40:27, which isn't too bad, but not as fast as I could have gone if I hadn't had any trouble breathing. Oh well. This makes it easier to beat my time at next year's race.

The bigger story this weekend is the Olympics!!! I love the Olympics. It makes me want to be a gymnast or a swimmer. I really can't wait until August 15 then the track and field events start! Here's an awesome rap about the Olympics from Paul Brogan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89X0CP4MuME

The biggest story this week is that two of my friends from college got married!! Yay! I love weddings!

Runs:
T - 3 mi, 26:41.30 - This included my race against Felix!!!
W - 5 mi, 41:03.94
S - Hot Dam Runs 5 mi, 40:27.21; I got 26/60 overall, 7/23 women, 2/3 age group

Sibling Rivalry

"Besides winning, [the most fun thing is] getting out there and mixing it up with friends; it's the competition." -Al Unser, Jr.

So sorry for not posting anything sooner. I have a good reason for my late post; I was waiting until after I raced one of my coworkers, Felix.
Felix is sort of like my big brother at school. He has really taken me under his wing and taught me a lot of stuff that is really important for me to know as a grad student.
He is also Chinese (Felix is his American name). He has no brothers and sisters and one day we were talking about this and I told him I could be his little sister. Part of my responsibilities as a little sister is to taunt and annoy the older sibling.
I have told him on several occasions that I am faster than him and could definitely beat him in a race. So, today, we tested my theory.
Felix plays soccer every weekend and is pretty quick. He is 8 years my elder (like my real brother), but is still in good shape for that age ... ;) ... like my real brother. We decided that he would be able to beat me in anything shorter than a quarter and I could beat him in anything longer than a mile. So our agreed upon distance was a half mile.
I plotted our course using mapmyrun.com and we made our way over there around 5pm. It was 99 ºF and I was little worried about my asthma so I used my inhaler. We warmed up and stretched a little bit, and then we were off.
I led the whole first quarter. The jogging trail we were running on gave at each step; it was like running on sand. A bus stop was on the trail, and as you would expect, a bus stopped right as we ran by. There were only a few students getting on and off, but it was enough to slow us down a little bit. I got back up to pace and then realized I didn't hear Felix's steps anymore. I was not about to look back or slow down, so I just ran the last straight-away. I finished in 2:51.84 and turned around to see Felix had about 1/16 of a mile left. I whooped him!!!
I wasn't wearing my usually running watch, so I couldn't get his time, but I bet he finished in around 3:15 or 3:20. That's not bad.
I did end up having an asthma attack, and I think that scared Felix. He made sure I was okay, like a good brother. This was a lot of fun & I look forward to being able to rub it in his face tomorrow about how much faster I am than him.
That's what little sisters are for, right??

Runs:
T - 5 mi, 42:02.41
W - 4 mi, 34:21.94
Th - 7 mi, 58:31.24 - this was a speed workout, 5x1600 at 7:13
S - 10.59 mi, 1:38:14.96