Askinosie Chocolate

My adventure bug has bit me a few times already, and I am putting my eggs in all sorts of baskets this spring. With a marathon in April, followed by Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim two days later, and the American Triple T a month after that (with a half-iron distance tri in between), my racing and training schedule is calling for a no-holds-barred endurance-athon that includes treadmill marathons and ski marathons (in the same week). So I went on a search to find something that I can’t get enough of to help me get through this: chocolate.

I came across Askinosie on Twitter, and based on their website (which looks like this)…:

I decided that they’d probably fit the bill.

When I look at their website, this is what I see: Do you like learning about how chocolate is made? Yesssss. Do you like looking at yummy pictures of chocolate? Uh-huh…. Do you like adventures? Yes. Want your chocolate to come from adventurous places? Sure! Want fair trade chocolate? Yes! How about something better, like A Stake in the Outcome? Oh! PLEASE!! So, do you want to buy chocolate? YES.

Askinosie is an interesting chocolate company. The owner, Shawn, is a criminal-defense-lawyer-turned-chocolate maker. I’d love to get the story in person and meet the people behind the chocolate, because their description and bios are so intriguing– but the jist is, Shawn was given the gift of an idea, and tediously, meticulously, and methodically figured out how to make chocolate the right way. And it’s really, really good chocolate.

Another cool thing about the company: they follow a motto called From Bean to Bar. This motto means that Shawn and friends develop a solid relationship with bean farmers before they even order any beans. Each bar is made with authentic, traceable, single-origin beans, and the bars are made in small batches. Askinosie does so many unique things that are hard (if not impossible) to find anywhere else in the states, including pressing their own cocoa butter and making white chocolate from scratch. When it comes to getting beans, Askinosie travels to the countries where they get their beans, meet the farmers, and get to the heart of chocolate making by learning the old-fashioned way (and getting up-close-and-personal with the ground from which the beans come). Pretty sweet. Then they buy the beans (above Fair Trade prices), ship in the beans using the help of a shipping broker (and bing-bang-boom; but not really that easily), and the beans arrive and are made into chocolate.

Ok! So, what about the chocolate? There are a lot of options. First thing I looked at was the price (dudes, I’m a graduate student). And, yes, I cringed a little. But after reading all the work that goes into making these bars and after I took a single square off the Davao White Chocolate Nibble bar, I wondered why they don’t charge more (shh! don’t tell them I said that). To start, the packaging is awesome; the bars come in wax-paper-like brown bag packaging that is unbleached and all natural (its home compostable and biodegradable, too). The packaging folks do a most excellent job of making sure the bars arrived to my doorstep safely- the bars were rolled in biodegradeable, soft material. The bar has really creamy white chocolate with cocoa nibs embedded into it, which makes it crunchy, but the bar has such great balance of flavor. It was sugary-sweet, but not too sweet, and I felt what I thought were the sugar crystals on my tongue as it melted in my mouth (they actually make their bars with organic cane juice). It tasted so wonderfully blissful, but also not like any other white chocolate bar I’ve had before, and I think I know why: they made it with goat’s milk powder. There were no other ingredients that detracted from the flavor of the cocoa beans and cocoa butter. Just goat’s milk powder and cane juice.

I love the letters in each square

For $10.50, the bars don’t disappoint. They are large (enough to share even!) and one square makes me smile and keeps me content. These are indulgeable bars of chocolate, but not in the sense that you wanna eat the whole thing in one sitting (like pizza, or ice cream). It’s one of those find-your-center foods, for sure.

Other really cool things about Askinosie:

• They profit share with their farmers. This ensures that the farmer has a Stake in the Outcome and Askinosie gets the best bean.
  • Simply put, A Stake in the Outcome means they guarantee to their farmers above-Fair-Trade prices, open books, and a share in Askinosie’s success
• Askinosie is the first company in the world in over 100 years (outside Mexico) to make chocolate from the historic Soconusco, Mexico region
• They are the first chocolate maker to export cocoa beans from the Philippines in 25years
• Other than the white chocolate bars, they use two ingredients to make their chocolate: cocoa beans and cane juice

Cocoa nibs: super-antioxidants!

Since Askinosie sent me some bars and cocoa nibs free of charge to get-me-rolling on my endurance-challenge, I have obviously been a bit more frivilous with the chocolate. I am even sharing it with Baberaham. I made some fruit-and-nut bars with dates, cocoa nibs, and almonds, and ate the whole batch in one sitting (I don’t recommend that). I’m experimenting with the cocoa nibs to develop some yummy energy bars for R2R2R, and expect my kitchen to be a disaster area for the next two months.

The first round of bars from Askinosie aren’t enough, though. I spent $50 yesterday and bought some more (even though I haven’t even gone through my current stock). But, I couldn’t pass up the current deal they are running (4 bars for the price of 3) and, with free shipping over $40, I decided to get the V-Day deal and threw on a white chocolate bar with pistachios and another bar, an El Rustico bar (specially developed for Zingerman’s Deli near my hometown). So, six bars, for $45? That’s … doing the math… $7.50 a bar. Now that’s more in my price range. It’s also a really easy Valentine’s Day gift for Baberaham, because the 4-bars-for-3 comes in a special V-Day wrapped in a kraft box with a tag already attached to it (fill in the blanks V-Day gift!). Who knows if I will be generous enough to give him the whole box, but we’ll see. Good thing he likes to share.

My recommendations (and I haven’t tried all of them, but here’s what I’ve liked so far):

• Dark Milk Chocolate Bar + fleur de sel sea salt
• Davao White Chocolate Nibble Bar
• Cocoa nibs in yogurt (put the yogurt and nibs in a container the night before and let the nibs infuse into the yogurt)

I’m excited to try:

• White Chocolate with pistachios
• El Rustico
• Del Tamba
• Ok, I’m really excited to try ALL of them!

Want to learn more? Feel free to ask me. Take a tour of their factory if you’re in Missouri. You can also follow @Askinosie on Twitter or check out their website.

My second delivery!

Post-script- my second deliver came today (the V-Day box and the two bars). Another awesome thing about Askinosie: incredibly fast turnaround. I placed my order for the chocolate on Monday, it shipped Tuesday and arrived today! So, it’s not too late for Valentine’s Day treats, folks!! 🙂 These I bought with my hard earned money, too!

FTC disclaimer: Askinosie sent me these bars for free to run through my test kitchen in preparation for finding the right Adventure foods. But- they didn’t sponsor this blog post with extramural funds, nor did they even request one. I guess they knew I would like the chocolate so much I’d want to write about it anyway.

What got me through the treadmill marathon

Question of the week: You ran a treadmill marathon?! [trust me, it’s always been a question, never a statement]

Why yes, I did! Ok, now the next question: Why?

There are lots of reasons. One reason: running the ‘mill offered me a race-simulation. I could wear shorts and a sports bra and had all my nutrition needs at my fingertips. Another reason: my buddy, Erik, talked me into it. But in all honesty, I had a good time (seriously!).

It was quite the experience, that’s for sure. And the time actually went by rather fast (considering). Here’s what I learned:

1. Setting a goal in advance is key. I knew when I stepped on the treadmill that morning that I’d be running 26.2miles. I knew I’d be there for several hours. I didn’t have anything planned that morning, nor did I feel rushed to get the workout done. And because I wasn’t running “just to run”- the time really did go by fast. The first hour just flew by. Plus, I had friends that were in it with me, and friends that knew what I was doing, so I had a few companions and fans coming in and out of the gym that morning. That made the time go by faster, too.
2. Have a plan, and stick to it. I wasn’t just going for a training run, it was a more serious venture. I had the whole workout planned: when I was going to eat food or take drink, what it was going to be, and what pace I was going to run. I could have got caught up in the fact that a) I overslept and missed running the first 40minutes with my training partners and b) my neighbor treadmill was pumping out 6:30min/mile [it should be known that I have a very, very bad habit of racing my neighbor treadmills, especially when they are operated by males]. But I didn’t get caught up, and I really stuck to my plan. I ran the first hour at around an 8:30min/mile pace, which was right around a 3:40 marathon pace. I was able to eat solid foods and feel comfortable. My second hour, I slipped to a comfortable 8:10-8:15s and slurped down mostly liquid calories that sustained me the rest of the run. My third hour: I was running sub 8-min miles, feeling great. The last 10K was more of a let-loose-and-have-fun, with a few 7:15s thrown in for kicks. Truth be told, the last two miles were the hardest, and I just wanted to be done. But who doesn’t feel like that at the end of a marathon?
3. Be prepared. My training didn’t put me at running a 26.2mile run last weekend. The longest run I’ve done since Ironman was about 20 miles. But, mentally, I was in the zone and I knew my body could handle the miles. I threw a towel over the treadmill display so that I wasn’t staring at it the whole time. I knew what I was getting myself into, and that really made all the difference. I told myself that I couldn’t look at the mile-mark or clock until a commercial break. I had my nutrition laid out, I knew what to eat and when, and I had my music stacked just right.
   • Another thing to be prepared for: when you get off the treadmill to go to the ‘loo… try not to fall down. Seriously, the longer you run on the treadmill, the harder it is to walk on real-ground. Just sayin’.
4. Get un-focused. Alright, I’ll say it: Running for 3 1/2 hours on a treadmill can be boring. But when I was running, I wasn’t thinking about the distance or the duration the whole time. The first hour, I was recooperating from oversleeping, so I listened to some really nice, relaxing music for a good 60minutes*. I just hummed along and enjoyed the repetitive, mindless movement that I was engaging in. I felt light, almost weightless. I wasn’t focused on the next 19.5miles I had to run, or the next person waiting to use the treadmill (bonus: there wasn’t anyone waiting). Maybe since I knew I was going to be there for a good while, I didn’t worry about how much longer I had left. I listened to all different types of music, from folk to rap to pop. I watched a movie I had never seen and was enthralled. I giggled at commercials and pointed at them, with much disregard from my running mates.
   • I think my favorite song was “Breathe” by Alexi Murdoch. I listened to it twice in the first half hour. Here’s some of his lyrics:
   • • Don’t forget to breathe, don’t forget to breathe; you know you are here, but you’ll find you want to leave, so don’t forget to breathe. Keep your head above water, but don’t forget to breathe.
   • I ramped up the music in the second hour to include:
     • Bodyrox & Luciana – Yeah Yeah
     • Cake – Mahna Mahna
     • Britney Spears – 3 (hey, don’t judge me)
     • and other songs by Common, Crookers, Cut Copy, Deadmau5, and Drake
   • Hour three, more ramping:
     • Mindless Self Indulgence for a good 20minutes
     • Ke$ha, KMFDM, Lady Gaga, M83, and Metallica

I would love to say that it was a spiritual experience, that I reconnected with my running in a way I haven’t done in a really long time. And that may be partially true. But what I really got from running a marathon on the treadmill was that I can pretty easily disconnect my brain from my body. I kept my mind entertained, and my legs kept moving. Sometimes I was thinking about stuff, but most of the time, I wasn’t. I knew how far I had to go, and I knew my legs would get me there (or, realistically, that my legs would keep moving until I stopped the belt).

So that’s that. Sorry if I disappointed anyone with my non-earthshattering emotional connection with the treadmill. It was fun and I will do it again. It was challenging and a great test of my early-season fitness. OK, you’re turn!

*Seriously. Mellow music to start is the way to go. It got my mind relaxed, calmed and ready for the run.

The Hamsterwheel Marathon: Race Report

One of the beneficial things about running a treadmill marathon is: the starting line is waiting for you to press “start”. I definitely missed my mark this morning, waking up with the sun peaking through my curtains and thinking: “SH!OOTAH!” I looked at my alarm clock and it read 8:15. Good thing it was supposed to go off at 6:45am so I could have my morning cupa brew with peanut butter and jelly toast for breakfast because I was supposed to meet Marg and Erik at 7:30. Crap. I was still able to grab a cup of coffee while flying out the door, but missed the toast.

After a good panic-mode gear-up, Baberaham and I got in the car and headed to the SDC. Belts were moving for him and I by 8:40am, and Erik and Marg were already a good 4-5 miles ahead of me. The cool thing? We all got to still run side-by-side, even though they were so far ahead. Marg’s plan wasn’t to run the full marathon, but she was gonna give’r until she felt like not givin’r anymore. Erik- he wanted to shoot for a sub 3hr marathon pace to see if he was where he wanted to be in his training. Baberaham wanted to get in a long run. My personal goal: Run 26.2miles on the ‘mill. Time? Not important. Just stay steady, and increase my pace every hour or so.

Once I got moving, I tried to collect myself from the late-start anxiety by listening to an hour of Alexi Murdoch’s album “Time Without Consequence.” It helped me find my center and I got through the first 7.1 miles like a breeze. The treadmills all auto-stop after 60mins, giving us all a break on the hour to restart the speed.

Round 2- 5.8 miles, with some faster music on my ears.

Round 3- 7.4miles- slightly faster pace and faster music, and I caved and turned on the television (Geronimo was on AMC). Marg left after she finished around 18miles, a pretty gnarly job. Erik also stepped off the belt around 24miles, but was on pace for a 2:47marathon, and thought: what’s really the point of pushing it those last two miles in a training run?

Round 4 – last 6miles, faster pace yet (with a few miles between 7:15-7:30) and the last two miles were a slowed, cool down if-you-will. I got a little nervous that I might get booted from the Fitness Center because I was in there before it officially opened, but no one seemed to care. My headphones came off (intentionally) with two miles to go because I was over the feeling of having buds in my ears. I also started craving the bubbly, sweet nectar of beer. Baberaham promised me I could drink some, once I finished the run, and we went home. Talk about motivation! I hit 26.2miles at 3:36, total time, with a bathroom break and the stops between treadmill restarts.

How I felt: Not too shabby, actually. The first hour went by fast, and the second hour as well. It wasn’t until the last two miles that I thought: “OK, I’m ready to be done.” In the last 10K, I felt better and wanted to push the pace a little more. I wanted to be tired when I was done but not over-taxed. And I wasn’t over-taxed. Baberaham and Erik chilled out until I finished and cheered me on in the last few miles, which was nice. I feel good now, minus some muscle soreness which is expected (and really not anything more than I normally get after a long Sunday run). I think some Trigger Point this evening will get rid of all that.

Necessary items: hand towel for wiping the sweat off my face, Headsweats visor, two chilled-over-night water bottles, fully loaded and fully charged iPod, phone (for the calculator function, of course, so I could keep track of miles; the ‘mill autorestarts after 60minutes!), snacks (including Honey Stinger chews and EFS liquid shot).

Wanna do one, too? Try this:

1. Make sure you’re in a well-ventilated area. If the treadmill-room is small, make sure you get a fan blowing air on you.
2. Treat it like a race-day.
   • Get a good night’s sleep.
   • Eat a decent dinner the night before.
   • Test your race-day nutrition like you would follow for a race.
3. Talk some friends into doing it, too! (helped me stay motivated, fo sho!) —>
4. Get new music or a new podcast (something that will be enticing to listen to since you’ve never heard it before).
5. Set up your station (make sure your nutrition is easy-access, one of the benefits of running on the treadmill. Start the run in an organized fashion and plan when you’re going to eat/drink).

Nutrition: Pre-run, I had a homemade fruit and nut bar (dates, almonds, cocoa nibs and cocoa powder) and a cup of Blue Ox Blend. In the first hour of the run, I had a pack of Honey Stinger chews and 3/4th a bottle of Kona Kola Nuun. Hour two: the rest of the Nuun and 1/4 bottle of Grape EFS, another pack of Honey Stinger chews and a few sips off my flask of EFS Liquid Shot (or what I refer to as frosting. So. good.). In the third hour, I had another half bottle of the EFS, went through half the EFS Liquid Shot flask. Last 40ish minutes, the rest of the EFS and chugged another bottle of water when I finished.

How I feel: Mood: I felt quite elated at mile 22, almost euphoric. The whole run just flew by, which is suprising since I was confined to a very finite space. Body: My legs are a little sore, and sitting for an hour means it takes a few minutes to get used to standing up. But I don’t feel like I normally do after running this distance.

Recovery nutrition: I had a glass of Nuun when I got home (because I was so frekkin’ thirsty!) and a bowl of falafel with sauerkraut. I am pretty sure I am allowed to eat whatever I want after a run like that, right? I just made myself an Ultragen shake (orange creamsicle) with peanut butter and milk. Bottoms up! (Don’t worry, the beer will be coming soon…)

A different kind of Sunday run

Bald eagle soaring, something I probably won't see tomorrow unless I'm watching the Discovery Channel

Every Sunday, I try to get out for a long run with my training partner, Marg. We always have something to chat about, and see some amazing things. Tomorrow’s long run is going to be a little different.

My friend Erik, who is training for Ironman St George, convinced me to run a marathon this weekend. Not just any marathon; a treadmill marathon. He’s done one before (when he was on his second deployment in Iraq as a Marine), but the farthest I’ve ever pushed it was 22 miles. What’s another four? Erik’s time spent training while he was deployed to Iraq got me thinking about all the other guys and gals overseas that aren’t able to enjoy the things that I get to enjoy; being able to run outside for three hours in a nice, cool breeze, being able to race, or even being able to embrace the changing seasons. The melting snow, the blossoming flowers, a lot of our troops on active duty are missing the things many of us take for granted back here in the states. And, although I’m sure some of our troops have exciting jobs, there are most definitely days when things are boring, mindless, cabin-fever-ish for them. So, although I’m sure it would be (much?) easier for me to design a 26.2 mile route outdoors in the beautiful Keweenaw, [especially since it’s going to be 30F and sunny tomorrow – perfect running weather, I think], we’re going to throw down on the “dreadmills” instead. Bonuses? We’ll have access to nutrition at all times, be able to wear shorts, and have easy access to a toilet (just in case).

In honor of this superfun day, I asked some folks on Twitter what a good name for the run would be. Here’s what they had to say (other than “You’re insane”):

The Treaddy Twenty-Six (@YouRHere)

The HamsterWheel Run(@dirtdawg50K)

Who in the Hell Runs a Marathon on a TMill Fun Run (@dirtdawg50K)

Stationary Marathon (@dirtdawg50K)

Trial of Mills (@SilentSportsEd)

I kinda like Run to Nowhere Marathon.

What do you think it should be called?

So tomorrow morning (Sunday) at 8am EST, I’ll be hammerin’ out 26.2 miles on a ‘mill at the gym. Erik will probably be done a good twenty-thirty minutes before me, but luckily I will have friends coming and going to run along, too. And my trusty iPod Shuffle is locked and loaded with music and podcasts for up to 10hours of entertainment. I’ll share the music list with ya’ll after the run. Stay tuned for my detailed race report… ha! Who else is going to join me?

By the way, my runnin’ girl Marg will be joining us for a bit in Sunday-run tradition, as will Baberaham. Neither of them have committed to the full marathon, though. Maybe next time?!

Note: [I think someone swapped my vitamins for crazy pills.]

TrakkersGPS Site Launches

I remember when I first discovered Trakkers GPS. I stumbled upon one of their team member’s blogs, which directed me to a single-page site with the Trakkers GPS logo and a few images, and an application for the team. I was intrigued. I scoped out a few other Team Trakkers’ blogs, and discovered that the company is uber family-oriented, and is developing a novel GPS-based real-time tracking system for athletes. Sounded pretty sweet to me. So I applied for a spot on the team and was one of the lucky few to be selected!

The athletes on Team Trakkers (and at races where Trakkers GPS is testing) themselves don’t necessarily get immediate feedback on their race progress. Their race data (heart rate, pace, and location on the course) gets uploaded to the internet in a live-feed fashion for the athlete’s fan-club (eg. parents, husbands, and kids) to follow. Cool, eh? I’m pretty excited about it because I race a lot all over the US, and my parents can’t always make it (although I am sure they’d love to come along!), and this gives them a chance to “watch” me race without having to deal with all the traveling. For longer races, when they do travel to spectate (like Iron-distance events), it gives them real-time feedback on where I am on the course so they don’t just sit all day waiting for me to come in after the 112-mile bike (and they can hang out in town doing fun things or take a nap at their hotel)! This will be especially nice at the Cedar Point Rev3. Maybe they can ride a few rollercoasters while I am riding my bike around Sandusky? 🙂

Here’s a blip of my athlete page on their site. I’m one of the easier athletes to find on the map because I’m the only one up by Lake Superior 🙂 Make sure to see the map and look for a Trakkers athlete that lives near you!

Cool tools for my fellow Science Geeks out there

As I wonder and plunder through my third year of grad school, I get a breath of confidence every once in a while that I may graduate in the near future (and then proceed to be hammered back to shore by the waves of reality). Last spring, I focused my efforts to get to research-only mode so that my advisor could save money on tuition and I could make an extra $250 a semester in stipend. Trust me, that $250 was significant. Recently, however, I started thinking about the next step: the Post Doc.

Currently, I’m putting the pieces of my doctoral puzzle together, in the form of a dissertation (it’s in its initial stages, known as The Outline). It gets me starting to wonder what lies ahead. Seriously, I know that jobs are few and far between, and being in school for so long might put me in a position to be “over-educated and underpaid”. So the best strategy to tackle my next-phase step is to ask: What is it that I want to do with my life? Since I ask myself this question every time I fill out a fellowship application or write an essay entitled “What it is that I want to do with my life”- I should really know the answer. But the truth is, what exactly I want to do with my life next is dependent on what exact opportunities are available when I defend my dissertation and move on from the graduate school lifestyle. Having flexibility, exploring new areas of science, and continuing to learn and expand my horizons, now that is what I want to do with my life!

Since I know that I want to go into academia, the next step is to look for a post-doc or a teaching position. I know that I love doing research and I love learning, so let’s say my next step is the Post-Doc.

I’ve recently discovered RePORTER from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Formerly known as CRISP, RePORTER is a new and updated version, used to find out who has been awarded a grant (or grants) from the NIH recently (updated weekly), what research they were awarded money for, and how long their grant money will be there. Want to know how much the faculty in your department were awarded last year? Type in their name. For me, I’m planning on scoping out potential laboratories that sound cool and checking if the PI (primary investigator) have money to support research. If you are a pre-doctoral life sciences student and you want to try and get funded without a graduate teaching fellowship, one option is to apply for the Ruth Kirschtein-NRSA Pre-Doctoral Fellowship through the NIH. In order to be awarded this, one must first establish a relationship with an NIH-funded faculty (ding ding ding! Use RePORTER to find these faculty). It beats going door-to-door and asking.

RePORTER is really neat, too. I tried searching for PI’s in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin who have received money from NIAMS (National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases). It was really interesting to see who was doing what research in my region! RePORTER can be used to navigate through all different search procedures, like Funding Mechanism (training grant, SBIR, research projects, etc), Award Type, State, and organization (such as university). Now you can find out who has what kind of money, because it will list the award cost, too!

Every researcher in bio-based science should know about PubMed. It’s an online database for compiling manuscripts that have been accepted to peer-reviewed journals. Depending on your university or library, you may not be able to access all the manuscripts listed on PubMed without paying a fee, but most medical schools and universities have Free-Access permissions (and if that doesn’t work, try to Interlibrary-Loan an article you can’t seem to access). The most important thing about research is knowing what has already been done, and what needs to be done next. Reading about what others are doing, and staying on top of the literature, is key! I use PubMed practically every day to try and find new articles or articles I may have missed, especially while preparing manuscripts for submission (and preparing my dissertation, too!).

Remember when you had to write papers for school, and you had to use references and form a bibliography at the end?

Please tell me you don't just cite Wikipedia!?!?

EndNote is a really awesome tool that helps make writing papers a whole heck-of-a-lot easier. First, take all those journal articles you have stacked up on your desk. Second, enter in the title, author, journal name, etc. into EndNote. Hit save. Type your paper like you normally would, and when it comes time to enter a citation, click on the paper in your EndNote database, click insert, and voila! You have an automated bibliography. If you are planning on submitting the paper to a peer reviewed journal, you can change the format of the citations and bibliography even after you drafted the entire paper. Simply change the reference format and it automatically changes all your citations. Sooo much easier than going in one-by-one on your paper. Plus, you don’t have to worry if you are using annotated, alphabetized, or numbered citations. It’s all automatic. Makes grad school survivable, anyway!!

And for a fun tool that I like to play around with on the interwebs sometimes, I bring you Wolfram|Alpha. It’s a pretty slick resource, from the makers of Mathematica, that compiles data and interprets user-input search cues to get results. It’s much more advanced than Google (in fact, its not really like Google at all), and more dense with information than an encyclopedia. For a little bit of fun, you can try this game:  Type in your birthday (day, month, year), and see what other important things in history happened on that day. Or, type in your name, and see something like this:

”]

Other cool (and more useful) tools with Wolfram|Alpha are:

• job/degree searches (This is especially useful for high schoolers and college kids trying to decide what it is exactly they want to study; compare occupations and see the growth/decline of the jobs of interest)
• compare cities (looking at jobs all over the US? type in the cities of interest and compare population, temperature, elevation, surrounding areas)
• find a gene or protein sequence (ok, maybe a little too nerd-core for some people, but I got really geeked when I typed in “aggrecan” and got back the protein sequence, 3-D image, and atomic structure of the backbone of proteoglycans! Goooh!)
• find out about a material and its properties (I retrieved the Young’s Modulus and density of aluminum just like that! Useful for all those kiddies in Mechanics of Materials! *snap*)

National Girls and Women in Sports Day!

In honor of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, I’m sharing with you, my lovely blog peeps, a sweet slideshow of radical women in sports!

Here are some really awesome events going on in the Midwest:

• Michigan Tech Huskies Women’s Basketball at HOME against Tiffin (5:30pm, Thurs) and Ashlan(d 1pm, Saturday)
  • Games will be held at the Wood Gymnasium in Houghton
  • Michigan Tech Huskies are ranked 4th in the USA Today/ESPN Women’s Basketball Coaches Poll !! GO HUSKIES!

• Northern Michigan Wildcats Women’s Basketball at HOME against Ashland (Thurs) and Tiffin (Saturday)
  • Games will be held at the Berry Events Center in Marquette

• Pointer Invitational (Indoor Track & Field) – NMU and Michigan Tech Indoor Track & Field Teams at the University of Wisconsin Steven’s Point, Friday and Saturday

And the Winners Are…

The winners of EnduranceMeg’s Larabar Jocalat giveaway are:

Kim

Dan M

Laura

Alberto

Congratulations, and enjoy some yummy Humm food…

In other news, I spent this weekend at the Great Lakes Multisport, Cycling, and Running Expo in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Once I get my life back in order from a crazy-busy-travel weekend, I will tell you all about it! Highlights included: hanging out with some MegaTough teammies (and running!), meeting Twitter friends, and promoting the Kuparisaari Tri with some help from Tri-Swim and Peace Coffee.