We made it!

We've officially been here for 5 days.  I haven't blogged because I had to make sure we weren't going to run away screaming from the get-go.  We're adjusting to our new roles well: I'm going back to my "work until you can't see straight" mentality and Sideburnz is becoming a house husband.

So far, we've both made some rookie mistakes.  Probably the most notably was the great chicken stirfry dinner Sideburnz made last night.  He went to the local farmers market and bought some delicious fresh veggies.  Every thing was great, especially if we wanted to follow the Atkins' diet.  Somehow rice was left off of the grocery list.  I can't be upset,  because Sideburnz remembered everything else: oil, soy sauce, chicken...  The duplex cookies he bought for treat definitely made up for it.

My rookie mistake was part laziness.  We went to the beach on Tuesday when I was done with work.  Sideburnz brought my swim suit (and he even remembered all of the pieces!) and I changed at the restrooms.  After we were finished swimming, I rinsed off, and feeling slightly lazy, I decided that I would just put my tank top and skirt on OVER my wet swim suit.  Well, it took about 4 seconds for me to realize it was not the best idea.   I had developed 2 very noticable wet spots on my tank top where my boobs were.  No worries, I had another shirt to wear, so I put the other shirt on over top.  Things seemed ok until we were almost home (a 30 minute ride that's mostly up hill).  I developed a nasty chaffe mark on my leg from my saddle and was really wanting some chammy butter for my underside.  I got home and laughed at how foolish I looked wearing soaking wet semiprofessional attire- a new suit and some board shorts are definitely in order.  My current suit (circa 2004) has a neat function called "lets flash maria's boobs when she's swimming."

Today was a record day for sleep- we stayed up until 9:30 and I slept until 6.  Sideburnz is still sleeping (tired panda).  This weekend will hopefully afford us some fun time and probably a few more stories.  

The lesser of two evils

I woke up to 34F and 2 inches of slush on the ground this morning. My morning activity options were 1) ride for 2+ hours or 2) grade 24.5 poorly written research papers. I rode. I don't mind riding in the snow, but slush is different. Cars put slush all over me when the pass me. My front tire put slush all over me because I only have a rear fender on my mtn bike. The Gateway trail put slush all over me because no one wanted to use it this morning (probably on account of the slush). My feet froze despite wool socks and my beloved Lake boots. The rest of me was toasty. Nothing like standing in the shower without feeling the bathtub under your feet.

You can tell I'm really motivated to grade these papers since I'm blogging (24 papers left to go).

Yeah, I'm still racing cross. Lots of other weird stuff is going on too, so I don't have much time to keep you updated on my race results. State champs is Sat. That will probably warrant a post.

Two "Races of My Life" in Two Days

CX season started Sept 21 in Moorhead, MN. I forgot how much CX hurts. The hurt is exactly why I love it and want to do it more- I guess that's sort of sick. This weekend I drove to Madison, WI to race with the Big Girls (UCI race). I didn't have any expectations. Alex from VB was there for support and Kathy Sherwin (VB pro CXer) flew in from Utah to race. I knew I just had to "do my best." Since I became a veteran of racing with the big girls last year, I was pretty stoked and not too nervous for the race on Saturday. The heat and humidity were a major barrier for me, sweaty girl. After the whistle, I had a slow start, but caught on to the lead group of women right away. "Wow, I'm racing WITH the Big Girls." For the first 2 laps, I was racing with the big girls! Then I tried to bridge up to the next group. Hmm... body thought differently... panicked, I went into recovery mode. 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th...11th I slowly was passed. 11th. Bummer. I still won money, and I was still proud to have lasted 2 laps with the Big Girls.

Saturday night was early bed time at Tink's house. I'm pretty sure I was asleep by 9. Sunday I was feeling peppy and a little more nervous. I didn't want a repeat of Saturday. Sunday proved to be a very different day- Twenty degrees cooler for starters. I did my usual warm up with a few extra laps on the course to get the technical sections figured out. Off the line, I was in almost the same place as Saturday- near the front. I dropped my chain after the barriers which dropped me into 10th or so. Yikes! Lap 1 and I'm already hanging on to 10th place! I wasn't having any of that, so I picked my way through the riders and latched on to Kathy's wheel. She didn't seem comfortable in the corners (recovering from hand surgery makes it tough). I could barely hang on during the flat sections, but in every corner I was right on her wheel. Catherine from Trek was not far ahead, but Kathy wasn't making up the ground. Finally, with 3 to go, I went around Kathy to bridge the gap. I knew she'd follow and maybe she could pick up even more places. The closer. Catherine was caught. At the end of the lap Kathy attacked and gapped Catherine. I wanted to go super bad, but I knew that would just pull Catherine back up to Kathy. I don't usually have teammates, so I'm surprised I even remembered to stay back! For 2 laps, I just rode my bike. No, not leisurely sitting behind Catherine, I rode my bike as if that was the only thing I knew how to do. My brain was so oxygen deprived that if you asked me a basic question, like my name, I'm sure I couldn't answer it. I wanted to pass Catherine, but I was so maxxed out that I didn't even know how muster more effort. I crossed the line in 7th. What a day! The podium is only 2 spots away! UCI race goal now upgraded... formerly, just hang on.... presently, kick ass, take names, find the podium. Maybe I'm meant to do this.

Special thanks to the Rosch's for their hospitality and Alex for putting my with my dirty bikes.

The Post Script.
I hate I-94 between Mpls and Madison. What makes it worse is when you still can't handle solid food, and you're driving on I-94 between Mpls and Madison in the dark. My GI system is still recovering (its 4:30pm on Monday).

CX is in the air

Knee warmers, not warm enough
Leg warmers, check
Arm warmers, not warm enough
Long underwear, check
Gloves (full fingers), check
Hat, ch...wait, if I wear a hat now, how will I stay warm this winter? not cold enough outside yet.
Thermal coat, check
Wool socks, check
Lake winter boots, thought about it, probably would have been happier with them on.
I hate it when my feet feel like stumps, especially when I can't feel the bottom of the bathtub when I'm showering.

Its fall in Minnesota! 50 degrees at ride time Wed-Fri this week, yowzers!

Done!

On Tuesday, I passed my final oral exam, so I'm pretty much done being a grad student. I had a hard time yesterday (day 1 of being pretty much done) because I didn't have a "cause" anymore. I wandered around a lot. That didn't last long- after I came home from school, I ate some supper and realized that it was 5:30 and I had NOTHING TO DO! It was sweet. I decided a good thing to do was to go for a bike ride. The Crosscheck is the only functioning "fast bike" in the stable right now, so I loaded up my pannier and headed to the Gateway trail. 2 hours and a broken fender later, I returned happy as could be. Bikes are fun. During my ride, I found my old cause from last year... bike racing. This morning I endured intervals on my trainer in the backyard because bike racing is my replacement cause. Less than 2 months until race day!

Almost done!

I printed the first nearly complete draft of my dissertation- 183 pages not including Appendix A, which is still at Purdue University. I'm expecting Appendix A to arrive by this weekend. Maybe I'll top 200 pages of smartness once Appendix A is added.

The bionic arm is a sometimes treat AND another degree of nerdiness

Saw the Dr this week. I guess my diligent PT has paid off and I can ride my bike without my bionic arm at my discretion. Rad. I really don't mind wearing it all that much... but I will mind a lot when its 75 degrees and warmer.

However, after the badminton showdown at Jay Cooke State Park last weekend, I know that the bionic arm is absolutely necessary for badminton. F-steve was talking a lot of smack about being a great badminton player. He was good, no doubt, but it took him 2 overtimes to beat me in our head-to-head match.

And now for the nerdiness...
Sideburnz and I have reached a new level of nerdiness.

Geocaching

I don't consider tromping through the woods to be nerdy, but the techy GPS part is sort of nerdy. I've been exposed to a strange world of people who look for ammo boxes, fiberglass mushrooms, and cement rocks in the woods. When you find the cache you sign the "log" in side the container you found in the woods. You can also sign the online log to let the www know that you found the cache. I figure its for gamers who need outside time. I even got a personal welcome from "King Boreas," another local geocacher.

Next up- tearing apart my legs in mtb race (s). No, I really haven't been mtbing this year. No, I'm not riding my geared bike because my fork is still broken. Yes, I have an advanced degree in science. No, I'm not smart.