Adam is currently cooking my favorite meal for the end of spring! It's his own special version of white chicken chili, yum!
Here's what you'll need to make it:
-2 lb boneless, skinless chicken, chopped into cubes and sauted in olive oil, and dried chili powder, cumin, basil, garlic powder, and pepper
-1 large red pepper, chopped
-1 large yellow pepper, chopped
-butter
-1 onion, chopped
-1/2 gallon vitamin D milk
-cornstarch
-small amount of cold water
Cook the chicken all the way through. At the same time, cook the vegetables in a large stock-pot with butter and salt. Add the milk to the stock pot. Mix 1 tbsp of cornstarch with equal amount of cold water at a time and add to stock pot, stirring constantly. Once the chicken is fully cooked, blend it in the food processor and then add to the stock pot. Add more cornstarch/water mix and stir chili until the soup is thick enough for your liking. Then, it's ready to serve!!! I like it with shredded cheese on top (cheddar or colby/jack), and with a side of Chebe bread !!
Weekend downstate
I am wrapping a brief venture to the Lower Peninsula, where the boys (Andrew and Adam) and I had our triathlon bikes professionally fitted. We went to ProFit Bicycles in Sylvan Lake, located in the Skier's Peak Ski Shop. What a cool place. The owner and pro-fitter, Chad Johnson, was awesome. He spent a thorough 2+hrs with each of us, hammering out our position based on our goals (for all of us, I think it was focused on power, aero, and comfort). He made significant changes to my position, including lowering my bars, raising my seat, chopping off my aero-bars... And he provided good conversation, too.
The trip down was decent, probably because I slept a lot of it. My parents met up in Sylvan Lake and we went out for lunch and took Sam to the park. It was so great to see them! It was a beautiful day, too. I am so glad they were able to meet up.
Today, we went to the Eastern Market in downtown Detroit. Holy cow, what a big market! There were so many vendors. I went to Rocky's and bought deliciously fresh nuts and dried berries for some great, healty trail mix. After the market, the boys and I went for a brick workout at Stony Creek Metropark. We rode our triathlon bikes around the park twice and went for a short (4 mile) run on the trails in the park. It was a little windy on the bikes, and I wasn't very good about staying aero for the first lap- but made it around the second lap nearly the entire way (until the road got a little choppy at the entrance).
The trip down was decent, probably because I slept a lot of it. My parents met up in Sylvan Lake and we went out for lunch and took Sam to the park. It was so great to see them! It was a beautiful day, too. I am so glad they were able to meet up.
Today, we went to the Eastern Market in downtown Detroit. Holy cow, what a big market! There were so many vendors. I went to Rocky's and bought deliciously fresh nuts and dried berries for some great, healty trail mix. After the market, the boys and I went for a brick workout at Stony Creek Metropark. We rode our triathlon bikes around the park twice and went for a short (4 mile) run on the trails in the park. It was a little windy on the bikes, and I wasn't very good about staying aero for the first lap- but made it around the second lap nearly the entire way (until the road got a little choppy at the entrance).
Research, publishing, and conferences [insight and info]
Here's something I shared with the undergraduate students who are working or planning on working in the Soft Tissue Mechanics Lab (where I work):
I thought I'd share with you some information that I didn't quite pick up on until I entered graduate school. As undergrads, you have a great opportunity to experience first-hand what it is like to do scientific research and work independently. The biggest and most important part of research is learning and teaching- both ourselves and others. We can use certain mediums to teach others what we are learning and developing. Perhaps this will provide incentive as the summer begins for getting involved in projects and/or cranking out some good data...
Through the summer, we'll be sharing our ideas and results with each other in regular lab group meetings. We need to make sure that our findings and ideas are shared with others in the field, and the best way to do this is by publishing manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals as well as presenting our work at conferences. For me, attending a conference was my "first step" in sharing my research.
At conferences, we are offered the opportunity to chat with others who are doing similar research, which can elucidate potential collaborative efforts as well as open doors for future professional opportunities. As a bonus, attending a conference offers an opportunity to travel and see new places- more of an incentive to get your research done. So, if you are doing the work, collecting data, and getting results, the next step is to share these findings! Plus, conferences are not like going to class, where you have to sit there for an hour and listen to someone ramble on. You can pick and choose what talks you want to see, each talk is usually only 15minutes long, and the research presented is new, innovative, and (typically) interesting. It's a competition to get a podium talk at a conference, so the talks are of cutting edge research in an area that is hopefully of interest for you (that's why you're involved in the Soft Tissue Mechanics Lab, right?!).
In the past, members of our lab group have attended conferences hosted by the Orthopaedic Research Society, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Society of Biomechanics, European Society of Biomechanics, and International Society of Biomechanics- in places such as California, Vancouver-BC, Switzerland, Florida, Colorado, Virginia, and Ann Arbor. Some future conferences include:
ASB in Rhode Island (2010)
Summer Bioengineering Conference in Naples, Fl (2010)
ESB in Edinborough, Scotland (2010)
So, is that motivation? Nicole and I get to go to Tahoe in June, so I'm pretty pumped about that.
I thought I'd share with you some information that I didn't quite pick up on until I entered graduate school. As undergrads, you have a great opportunity to experience first-hand what it is like to do scientific research and work independently. The biggest and most important part of research is learning and teaching- both ourselves and others. We can use certain mediums to teach others what we are learning and developing. Perhaps this will provide incentive as the summer begins for getting involved in projects and/or cranking out some good data...
Through the summer, we'll be sharing our ideas and results with each other in regular lab group meetings. We need to make sure that our findings and ideas are shared with others in the field, and the best way to do this is by publishing manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals as well as presenting our work at conferences. For me, attending a conference was my "first step" in sharing my research.
At conferences, we are offered the opportunity to chat with others who are doing similar research, which can elucidate potential collaborative efforts as well as open doors for future professional opportunities. As a bonus, attending a conference offers an opportunity to travel and see new places- more of an incentive to get your research done. So, if you are doing the work, collecting data, and getting results, the next step is to share these findings! Plus, conferences are not like going to class, where you have to sit there for an hour and listen to someone ramble on. You can pick and choose what talks you want to see, each talk is usually only 15minutes long, and the research presented is new, innovative, and (typically) interesting. It's a competition to get a podium talk at a conference, so the talks are of cutting edge research in an area that is hopefully of interest for you (that's why you're involved in the Soft Tissue Mechanics Lab, right?!).
In the past, members of our lab group have attended conferences hosted by the Orthopaedic Research Society, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Society of Biomechanics, European Society of Biomechanics, and International Society of Biomechanics- in places such as California, Vancouver-BC, Switzerland, Florida, Colorado, Virginia, and Ann Arbor. Some future conferences include:
ASB in Rhode Island (2010)
Summer Bioengineering Conference in Naples, Fl (2010)
ESB in Edinborough, Scotland (2010)
So, is that motivation? Nicole and I get to go to Tahoe in June, so I'm pretty pumped about that.
National Guard Marathon Report
What a great weekend! So much to say about the race, weekend, and fun times.
I rented a car from Houghton and drove down to Madison, Wisconsin to meet up with my great friends, Leslie and Jess. Thursday night, we ate at Bluephies, and I had some delicious gluten-free vegetarian risotto! We went for an easy run to Picnic Point in the morning, and drove down to Omaha on Friday afternoon, where we stayed with Sarah, my roommate from Bozeman. All four of us were entered in this year's National Guard races in Lincoln, Nebraska- the other three ladies did the half, and I went all-out for the marathon. We cooked a gluten-free spaghetti dinner on Friday night, and went for a nice walk around Omaha. On Saturday morning, we walked around the Omaha Farmer's Market for a little bit, and I bought some delicious local chevre cheese! Then, we headed off to Lincoln for the race expo and some relaxation time. We picked up our race packets and headed to the hotel, where we napped for a bit. We had dinner at Lincoln's Venue, an elegant restaurant on the south-west side of town. I had the sea scallops and cheddar mashed potatoes... so good!
Race day started with us waking up at 5am and making some Starbucks coffee in the hotel. I was nervous all day on Saturday, and started to get excited and anticipated the race to come. We headed to the race a little after 6, and parked only a few blocks from the start. Lines were long for the toilets, but we all made it. I didn't want to start too far back from the starting line, but also didn't want to get swept away with the speedsters, so I started between the 7 and 8 min pace groups. I felt good, stayed relaxed, but noticed my heart rate was a little high even before the 1-mile-mark. I had started my watch a little after I crossed the starting line, but I was still around 8min pace, which was slower than the goal pace. I was ok with that, because if I stayed conservative in the beginning, then I'd hopefully have more at the end, but my heart rate rose to 170+. Weird... but I didn't want to slow down too much more than 8min pace, so I hung on. I ran for a few miles with a girl that goes to school in Omaha, and it was nice to control my breathing by taking my mind off the race a little and being able to chat. I was taking aid (Roctane) every half hour, and water/gatorade at every station. Unfortunately, my heart rate continued to stay high. I got a little carried away a few times, where I ran a few 7:40s and my heart rate rose to 180+. Ooops, so I held back more, relaxed on the downhills, and tried to stay focused.
After the half marathoners split off to the finish, I tried to regroup again, but the heart rate drift started to take its toll. I was now in the 181-185 range and, regardless of slowing down, couldn't get my heart rate to drop. The sun started to peak above the buildings, and I started to get passed more and more. I stopped to use a porta-john (I was drinking a lot of water) but wasn't satisfied with how little fluids came out. I stopped again a few miles down to stretch and regain control of my heart rate, but it was too late. I eventually got so frustrated with the whole hr thing that I just took off my monitor from my chest. I pushed through the last few miles, in a lot of pain, and when I crossed the finish, I wanted to cry. I drank two bottles of water and was still thirsty, but didn't pee until three hours or so later.
As far as the race organization and course goes, I couldn't have imagined a better event. I enjoyed the post-race massage and great food (local pork roast). The support crews were phenomenal, and there were spectators everywhere. The aid stations were consistently full of volunteers and VERY frequent, nearly every 2 miles in the second half.
Leslie did exceptionally well, finishing 4th overall in the half. Jess and Sarah both PRd, and I qualified for Boston next year. Going to spend the week on recovery and perhaps pick up a new training plan. I'll talk about that more later.
Special thanks to Brooks Running for picking me up as an ID athlete.
I rented a car from Houghton and drove down to Madison, Wisconsin to meet up with my great friends, Leslie and Jess. Thursday night, we ate at Bluephies, and I had some delicious gluten-free vegetarian risotto! We went for an easy run to Picnic Point in the morning, and drove down to Omaha on Friday afternoon, where we stayed with Sarah, my roommate from Bozeman. All four of us were entered in this year's National Guard races in Lincoln, Nebraska- the other three ladies did the half, and I went all-out for the marathon. We cooked a gluten-free spaghetti dinner on Friday night, and went for a nice walk around Omaha. On Saturday morning, we walked around the Omaha Farmer's Market for a little bit, and I bought some delicious local chevre cheese! Then, we headed off to Lincoln for the race expo and some relaxation time. We picked up our race packets and headed to the hotel, where we napped for a bit. We had dinner at Lincoln's Venue, an elegant restaurant on the south-west side of town. I had the sea scallops and cheddar mashed potatoes... so good!
Race day started with us waking up at 5am and making some Starbucks coffee in the hotel. I was nervous all day on Saturday, and started to get excited and anticipated the race to come. We headed to the race a little after 6, and parked only a few blocks from the start. Lines were long for the toilets, but we all made it. I didn't want to start too far back from the starting line, but also didn't want to get swept away with the speedsters, so I started between the 7 and 8 min pace groups. I felt good, stayed relaxed, but noticed my heart rate was a little high even before the 1-mile-mark. I had started my watch a little after I crossed the starting line, but I was still around 8min pace, which was slower than the goal pace. I was ok with that, because if I stayed conservative in the beginning, then I'd hopefully have more at the end, but my heart rate rose to 170+. Weird... but I didn't want to slow down too much more than 8min pace, so I hung on. I ran for a few miles with a girl that goes to school in Omaha, and it was nice to control my breathing by taking my mind off the race a little and being able to chat. I was taking aid (Roctane) every half hour, and water/gatorade at every station. Unfortunately, my heart rate continued to stay high. I got a little carried away a few times, where I ran a few 7:40s and my heart rate rose to 180+. Ooops, so I held back more, relaxed on the downhills, and tried to stay focused.
After the half marathoners split off to the finish, I tried to regroup again, but the heart rate drift started to take its toll. I was now in the 181-185 range and, regardless of slowing down, couldn't get my heart rate to drop. The sun started to peak above the buildings, and I started to get passed more and more. I stopped to use a porta-john (I was drinking a lot of water) but wasn't satisfied with how little fluids came out. I stopped again a few miles down to stretch and regain control of my heart rate, but it was too late. I eventually got so frustrated with the whole hr thing that I just took off my monitor from my chest. I pushed through the last few miles, in a lot of pain, and when I crossed the finish, I wanted to cry. I drank two bottles of water and was still thirsty, but didn't pee until three hours or so later.
As far as the race organization and course goes, I couldn't have imagined a better event. I enjoyed the post-race massage and great food (local pork roast). The support crews were phenomenal, and there were spectators everywhere. The aid stations were consistently full of volunteers and VERY frequent, nearly every 2 miles in the second half.
Leslie did exceptionally well, finishing 4th overall in the half. Jess and Sarah both PRd, and I qualified for Boston next year. Going to spend the week on recovery and perhaps pick up a new training plan. I'll talk about that more later.
Special thanks to Brooks Running for picking me up as an ID athlete.
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