Good News Bears

I'm happy to report that getting back to my training post first race of the season is much easier than last year at this time. Last year, I felt like I had done my racing, and I needed a solid two weeks of practically no training just to recover. This year, I'm right back at it and I don't feel too badly. I definitely didn't feel like a million bucks this morning during my 1:30 ride and :15 run, however, it could have been worse.

Also, yesterday was the 20th annual Student Research Forum here at Memphis, where over 100 undergraduate and graduate students present their research. It is sort of set up like a science fair, where you have a trifold board with your research on it (my poster (thesis) for the NSCA conference served as my research) and judges walk around and judge you. Historically, our department has always done well at the SRF. Last year, however, I was the only one to represent the department, and unfortunately chose the wrong category, because the judges had no understanding of exercise and its impact on many areas of life. I didn't get a dang thing. This year, however, 5 of my classmates and I showed up strong. We were in the Life and Health Sciences category. This was probably the largest category in the graduate division, with 14 projects. One of my good friends and classmates Heather, won 2nd place, and Andy (another classmate) and I TIED FOR FIRST PLACE!!! We won a nice plaque and $150! I was so excited because I love every aspect of research, especially presenting. Both the judges in our category were so interested in my research on Parkinson's disease and that made me fired up to tell them about it. It was great to get recognized in front of the most important people on campus related to research for something my advisor and I have worked so hard on. This definitely made me think about what I want to do in the future..more to come on that in the next few days.

Also, tomorrow is my BIRTHDAY!!!!!