Thursday, June 21, 2007

Sunburn and muscle cramps

Took a day off from any training yesterday and decided to jump in a lake instead. Melanie and all the other doc students received an invite out to Jordan Lake for a day in the sun. By default, I was lucky enough to tag along. We spent the next four hours floating around and having a good time. I returned with a nice sunburn, but an even sweeter burn pattern from where I missed applying the sun screen. It was only a mild first degree burn, so I would be surprised if it even peels. All in all it was a nice break from all that is going on.
Monday I decided to do a timed ten mile bike ride and 3 mile run in order to prepare for Sunday. I finished in an hour and some change, which is OK. I'd like to improve on my first triathlon time, maybe get under 1 hour 25 minutes, but the format is different, so its hard to say what I can expect. Nevertheless, I'm pretty excited about Sunday, and to top it off, that next week I get to hang out with a good friend down in LA. The next couple of days I am not planning on pushing very hard, don't want to cause any injuries before the race.

Monday, June 18, 2007

One week left.

Have a whole lot of events coming up here shortly, and I'm looking forward to it. Next weekend is my second triathlon, and first open water swim. The first triathlon I did was a pool swim, this time is out in the ocean for me. Mel's last triathlon was in the ocean, and she had quite an experience with it (you can check it out here), so I'm looking forward to my induction to the waves. We are bringing Kiera out with us for her first trip to the ocean. I predict a bath in her near future. After the triathlon, we have Melanie's national convention down in LA. She had hoped for a speaking presentation, but it seems that this year its poster presentation for everyone. The planning committee seems to have cut short the number of speakers this year to allow for folks to head out to Universal Studios and Disneyland, which is too bad. There is always next year.
After NATA, Mel heads straight to Colorado for JUMP-ACL, the large study she has been participating in for the past couple of years. That will keep her busy for a couple of weeks out at the Air Force Academy. While she is out there, I get to hold down the fort back in NC. That's ok, since we have a couple of other trips shortly after she returns. Summer sure is flying by.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Quick run down on Tri-work out

Real quick post here. Just wanted to jot down how I've been doing with the triathlon training.

Earlier this week I mainly focused on running.
Friday I completed training for 2100 m in the pool
Today I clocked in 35 min on the the bike trainer.

Only a couple of weeks till the next triathlon. Time to push it hard this week.

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Water found on Mars!

Water (or perhaps clear ice) found on Mars!!!! (with picture). A new analysis of pictures taken by the exploration rover Opportunity reveals what appear to be small ponds of liquid water on the surface of Mars.



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Tank Man

Documentary about the legendary tank man and surrounding events of the Tienanmen Square protests in 1989.

In this day and age when information is available to so many on such a large scale, there are many out there who do not enjoy such freedoms. This video is close to an hour, but please find the time to watch this. We must never forget the power of an idea, and what a single image can give rise to.

Friday, June 08, 2007

Sunday, June 03, 2007

An Egghead for the Oval Office

One thing that should be clear to anyone who's been paying attention these past few years is that we need to go out and get ourselves the smartest president we can find. We need a brainiac president, a regular Mister or Miss Smarty-Pants. We need to elect the kid you hated in high school, the teacher's pet with perfect grades.



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