Stormy Weather

It's the rainy season, and I'm gonna bitch about it. I rode to school today, on my road bike, ending up soaked and dirty. On the bright side, I wore black and I look good wet.

Life has been stormy, too. I've just attended the Southern California Users of Magnets (SCUM) meeting, which was co-hosted by my research advisor, mentor, and personal hero, Professor Cynthia Larive and my husband's former research advisor, Professor Len Mueller. It was sponsored (in part) by the company my husband interviewed with in Boston last month, Bruker. I feel like I have a million projects going on right now and it's only a matter of time before I screw something up. But it's all about perception, right? And for now it seems I am managing.

I've been developing some educational materials for a course called "Instrumental Methods," which involves advanced topics in analytical chemistry, such as; chromatographic separations, electrochemistry, and spectroscopic techniques. Analytical chemists are known for attention to detail, accuracy & precision, and the desire to know (1) What substance(s) are present in a "sample" and (2) How much (of each substance) is present in the "sample." One could make a career as an analytical chemist improving experimental designs for targeted analysis or validating new methods to enhance the richness of information from a nontargeted analysis. Often, the analytical chemist is challenged to balance performance and cost, lending somewhat of an engineering or applied type of problem-solving to our field. We can also see a direct application of our work in many diverse types of fields: environmental monitoring, medical devices, pharmaceutical R&D pipeline, quality control, drug enforcement, etc.

Speaking of which, the reason I'm developing these new educational materials [namely a problem-based laboratory exercise] is because UCR Department of Chemistry was the recipient of a Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) donated kindly by the local Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) lab. It's cool because it's already set up to detect small amounts of volatile organic molecules in a complex mixture, because it was likely used to detect banned substances and their downstream metabolites in urine, feces or blood.

The class of substances we're focusing on in this activity are monoterpenes. These are found in citrus peel (among other plant-based sources) and are useful for cleaning and degreasing (as in the case of turpentine) and/or for fragrances in perfumes and soaps. I have isolated monoterpenes from a variety of citrus fruits, including orange, lime and lemon, tangerine and mandarin so far. Each peel has offered a complex mixture of these molecules (between 5 to 20 detectable monoterpenes per variety of citrus) and the subtle but statistically significant differences between fruits is what we're interested in recording.

Since my other research advisor, Julia Bailey-Serres, has been training me to think like a plant biologist, I asked the question "But why does the plant produce these compounds?" Surely not for us to use as a degreaser or additive to our soaps and perfumes. It turns out that these molecules have exhibited antifungal activity in addition to deterring insects from the area. This protects the fruit from pathogen attack and allows the citrus to live long and prosper.

I found limonene in high abundance in each peel extract, while the relative amounts of the minor components in each extract were variable. Orange and Tangerine peels contained little or no beta-pinene, both Lemon and Lime peel contained more beta- than alpha-pinene, and the relative amount of beta-myrcene correlated with strong and pleasant aromas (using the human nose detector that I have built-in for cross-validation). This makes good sense since myrcene is one of the most important chemicals used in the perfumery industry.

So as you can probably tell I'm still trying to find some footing for this lab, but I think it's coming along well so far. It's got to be ready to go in January when classes start (week of Jan 5, 2010) which is less than 4 weeks. This project, along with my regularly scheduled research and another educationally-related project (that I haven't even brought up here yet) is keeping me very busy. Oh yeah and I forgot to mention, we're moving to San Diego. But as I said, I'm managing. I have so many wonderful people in my life right now. Thank you all for your support.

Thanksgiving

I am thankful for... family. I married a wonderful man who is a native of So Cal. We are always welcomed by his parents and siblings and enjoy spending time with them very much. We also love our extended family throughout the country, as often as we can see them. They keep us grounded and at the same time encourage us to reach for the stars.
I am thankful for... health. There are always ups and downs with health, but for now we are in a stable period where we aren't consumed with daily worries about our health or the immediate health of anyone we know. Flu season seems to be on everyone's mind, and surely there are many people suffering, but at least some of us were able to get together and celebrate.
I am thankful for... friends. Our friends have shared some of the biggest events of their lives with us, and we in turn do the same for them. Good friends (such as we have) are around in fair weather and when it is a bit dark and stormy. New friends have grown with us through the changes we are making together and independently of each other. We couldn't ask for better!
I am thankful for... stimulation. I am lucky to be surrounded with opportunities for stimulating my mind and body. I can walk into a Science Library, attend a lecture, or participate in a roundtable discussion regarding the latest developments in chemical biology on any given day of the week. I can get together with friends for a bike ride, road run, indoor climb, lap swim, power yoga, push-up contest... you name it and I bet I can make it happen. I feel like I have the world at my fingertips sometimes. And the sheer beauty of the natural world enlivens me.
I am thankful for... community. I am so glad to have a larger network of people to interact with. I feel a sense of belonging to both the university and the city I live in. I enjoy participating in "local" happenings. I feel that ties to people in your community strengthens the quality of life for everyone. I really love going to local events in public lands and seeing the harmony that can exist when people work cooperatively.
I am thankful for... my dear husband. He really is the axis around which I spin. I feel that he has freed me from my own self-doubt. He allows me to flourish in the nourishing environment of unconditional love and support he provides. He is helping me become truer each day. I would be a much lesser person without his help. Thank you, honey!

Gratitude isn't always easy. I've been having a hard time with it lately. Thankfully we have holidays such as Thanksgiving where we can reflect on life in a more positive way. I've been searching for quotes to put on our T-shirts. How about:
"Tough times don't last but tough people do." - A.C. Green

On another note, the holidays mean FOOD at least in my family. I've been biking and running all year long to achieve the level of fitness I have now. Despite my efforts, I learned today that my BMI is still in the "overweight" bracket and I will have to lose another 8 pounds to be in the "average" realm. I have no plans to lose that 8 pounds during the holidays, I would like to make it my resolution for 2010 that I will maintain and perhaps by 2011 reach that sweet goal of 135 pounds and bearly out of the "overweight" category.

Mission Inn Run

Even though I've been commuting to work by bike, I haven't been on many "monster" rides lately. I did half of a big RBC ride to Tom's Farms last weekend but I wasn't able to finish the ride due to a time constraint. For some reason lately I've been more focused on running. Hmmm... psychological damage from the crash? Well at least the flesh wounds have healed. The alternate explaination is that opportunities to enjoy running have presented themselves and so I put a bit more time & money into that hobby for awhile. For one, I got a new pair of shoes....

The unbiased product review website http://www.productwiki.com/ says "The Nike Zoom Nucleus MC+ is a women's trainer shoe retailing at $115. It targets women who train or run long distances. It features a breathable upper with a supportive overlay design and a secure midfoot saddle to help keep users foot in a neutral position. Zoom Air™ unit in heel and forefoot. Decoupled Crash Pad helps reduce overpronation. Supportive shank, BRS 1000™ heel. Duralon™ and Waffle® Fill add cushioning, traction and durability. Nike+ enabled for instant workout feedback when used with a Nike+ SportBand or iPod® nano and Nike + iPod Sport Kit. Wt. 11.0 oz.

I got them because I was feeling some knee pain, and my new running buddy Ronly Schlenk recommended I replace my old shoes if they weren't cut out for long distance runs. I've been running about 5-8 miles per week throughout September and 10-15 miles per week throughout October. I'm not sure what all the stuff in that description means, but I did try on about 8 pairs of shoes in a store called Running Center in Redlands. The staff was very polite, respectful and helpful, carefully observing my stride in a variety of shoes. My old shoes were cheap ($30) and from Big 5 Sporting Goods (I got them on sale). According to MapMyRide, I started using those shoes 2/09/2009 and since then have put 139.86 mi. on them, making their price $0.2145 per mile. Hopefully these new kicks will help me kick butt and last long enough for me to justify the pricetag. And I know that footwear can't be expected to work miracles, but I am hoping this knee pain will be slightly alleviated. It might help if I stretch more regularly.

We (my husband and my mother-in-law and I) discussed during the race today our running goals. Here's what we came up with (1) that we would make team T-shirts with quotes on them (2) to do a 10K as our next event and (3) complete 4 half-marathons in 2010 as a team. If you have T-shirt ideas, if you want one, let us know because we're doing them as Christmas gifts. Talk about living! There's nothing more exhilarating than crossing a finish line with a cheering crowd and super-fast 10K runners sprinting past you, nothing more motivational than watching a sea of runners invading the streets of downtown Riverside for the sheer joy of running together, nothing more fun than running into friends old and new (Matt, Danny, Bernard and Alena, and Hugh) it was great to share this day with you; nothing is a more perfect expression of love than crossing that finish line together!

Road Rash => Rest Day

What can a cyclist do on a rest day? Write a blog post... So I'm on a complete rest day on account of I had my first crash yesterday. And am I feeling some pain today? Yes, I would be lying if I said I wasn't. Is it worse than my monthly menstral cramps? No. I am a bit sad that I won't have foxy arms & legs for halloween, but if it still looks gnarly I can dress up as a crash victim zombie and get some fake blood.

What happened? Well I'm still not sure, crashes happen really fast. What's going through my mind right now is (1) I ran 10 miles the day before and didn't get more than 5 hours sleep two nights in a row and worked long hours all week and I have slow reflexes even on a good day and therefore the bottom line is that I messed up (2) I got new tires and new brakes and this was my first ride after two major mechanical changes to my vehicle so the bike was to blame. The sweethearts I ride with keep offering to take the blame for me going down, but I'm just glad that I didn't take anyone else out. There is no ride worth going on if you injure yourself or someone else. I should have taken it easier that day.

What are my goals? Why put my body through this torture? What am I proving? And to whom? All these are great questions. The truth is that I don't know. I know I'm doing what feels good and right now I am training heavily. I enjoy the views and the outdoors and it brings me a warm and fuzzy feeling that lasts about a day-and-a-half. Which is coincidentially about as long as it takes for the pain from the exertion to fully hit my muscles. About the fourth day without a workout, I start to twitch and feel a pain in my muscles from not doing anything. If I go five or more days, I start to get really crabby at work and at home.

I just read a great article about how exercise can raise the baseline levels of both norepinephrine and dopamine. I think that's what I'm benefiting from. I know that without it I'm suffering. Everyone around me sees it, but I must endure. Luckily the cycling helps.

In the Interim

It's been so long since my last blog post, I had to look in the photo archives to see what I had been up to "in the interim." In August, we attended a bunch of parties, I worked in the lab a lot, yet I was able to log 250 miles between biking and running (4 runs). In September, my lab moved to a new building, we hosted a dinner party, I worked slightly less, and I logged 225 miles between biking and running (7 runs). Apparently though, I was not able to log in to Blogger and post anything. I was (and maybe still am) a little depressed. Grad school is hard.

My second time trial (Aug 29) was exciting, not as scary as the first. I got nearly the same time as the first one, but I didn't do any particular training in between them so it makes sense that I wasn't able to get much faster. I didn't mind winning the $30 prize for being the fastest woman in my age group. It didn't matter that I was only one of two people in that category. The important thing is that I enjoyed participating in it and I was able to reinvest the prize money into awater bottles, sunscreen, and new lights for my commuter bike!

My dear husband and I got to attend a fun party, the 3rd Annual Foilman (Sept 5) hosted by some fellow bicycle club members, Wade & Edith. It was a super-duper-sprint-Triathalon, complete with timers and prizes, but we just enjoyed being there and having great conversations. It was so relaxing and great for Mike to meet all (0r most) of my wonderful biking friends. It just made me realize how badly we need to get a bike for him so he can tour with us.

We also got to participate in the SmartRiverside Citrus Heritage Run (Sept 26) with family, my husband and myself along with my Mother-in-law and her husband. We arrived at sunrise and ran along almost the same route as the bike time trial. It was cool, shady and relaxing since I wasn't going for a personal best time. The point (in my mind at least) was to spend time together as a family and celebrate Riverside's history and beauty. There was even a marching band along the course to entertain and motivate us. Of course we had breakfast afterwards at the yummy Crest Cafe, which was the perfect way to end the race.

It's funny this year has gone by so fast. It's already the 10th month and time (mile by mile) has flown by! I've gone back to biking to school every day and trying to ride with friends or my club as often as I can. I've also tried to do Power Yoga at least once per week and I'm incorporating some interval training. People are asking if I'm sick or something since I've lost so much weight. I credit my genuine love for cycling and the support of my husband. Here are my updated stats from Map My Ride (prev. updated on May 18 post)...

Total Workouts in 2009: 157

Total Distance: 1,804.52 mi.

Total Burned: 82,030 kcal (approx. 23 pounds)

Gas Saved: 100.25 gallons

Money Saved: $348.87

Carbon Offset: 1,940.9 lbs. of CO2

My dear husband always asks me "What are your goals?" Like it's not OK to workout whenever I feel like it and do whatever feels right on that day. I'm not sure what to think about that. On one hand, I think I should just listen to my body, but on the other hand I feel like one thing I'm lacking is discipline and structure. One goal I have is to finish a triathalon. It doesn't seem right to have taken advantage of my relationship with the UCR Triathalon Club to get a sweet bike at a price I could afford and never actually use it in a triathalon. Hence the running. I also got a cap & goggles so I anticipate that I'll start swimming in the near future. TTFN.

I Don't Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me)

It occured to me last night, as I was walking my dogs, that if my neighbor asked me to explain my life right now, I could legitimately say my life revolves around drugs.

Don't get the wrong impression, if you were my neighbor, you might think because there are always a lot of people going in and out of my apartment and staying up late talking, that we do nothing but "party."

The truth is that most of these friends are fellow scientists, studying some aspect of drugs and hoping someday to be employed by a drug company. For example, my biking friend Andrew is singlehandedly making drugs and determining their bioactivity. My good friend Homero studies the toxicicity of drugs by observing DNA damage as a function of drug dose. And I am searching for "natural products," drugs made naturally by plants.

As for me, I used to avoid taking drugs. Something about my upbringing told me that you shouldn't need to rely on external agents to "feel better." I guess that I would say now that pain which prevents you from getting out of bed is a sufficient reason to take drugs. I still tend to take the minimum dose.

The first drug I became comfortable with was Naproxen (available over-the-counter as Aleve). It was prescribed to me after a back injury. I found that it was non-addictive and effective at reducing my pain and inflammation. Those were the ballet days.

Of course when I had a fever, I was given Tylenol (paracetemol, acetomenophen) or Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). Other aches and pains, including my Mom's headaches, were treated with Motrin or Advil (ibuprofen).

All of these drugs are in the same class, non-steriodal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which shut down the body's inflammatory signaling pathway. Because each molecular structure is slightly different, each of these drugs has a slightly different interaction with their "target" protein, cyclooxygenase (COX). Looking at their structures below, it is easy to imagine how they could "fit" into a "pocket" created by a much larger molecule. COX is about 350 times more massive than any of these "small molecule" drugs.

Interestingly, NSAIDs (and the substances they are converted to after the body's detoxification has begun) have additional "side-effects." For example, in addition to binding COX, Tylenol's primary metabolite AM404 interacts with the body's cannabanoid system, which is the mechanism responsible for paracetemol's pain relieving properties.

I stuck with non-addictive drugs until I discovered caffeine. ( : Maybe in future blogs I can discuss caffeine and other adenosine receptor antagonists. Other classes of drugs I would like to write about are histamine antagonists and seratonin reuptake inhibitors. Future blog topics of a scientific nature may be on the new wave of "biologics," as recently featured in Chemical & Engineering News, which are the newest revolution in drug development. I found it an engaging topic on a personal level because the article really highlighted the cultural divide between traditional "small molecule" chemists in pharma and those trained in molecular biology and bioanalytical chemistry who are equipped to produce and characterize protein-based drugs.

My First Time Trial

Well, this morning my alarm chirped at 5:30am but I couldn't drag my butt out of bed until 5:47am so there went my extra 17 minutes. Was it worth it? Well I did get 17 extra minutes of being sandwiched between my husband and my furry little mutt Edna, so maybe it was just as well. It will become clearer later why this information is important.

I got out of bed and started getting the stuff I should have laid out last night together. Bike, water bottles, Clif bar, fruit snacks, cycling shorts & top, boyshort underwear, sports bra, cycling socks (not really but they said I [heart] my [dog] on 'em and I thought they would bring me luck), cycling shoes, wallet, phone, camera, house keys. I went into the bathroom and washed off yesterday's mascara, walked back out to the living room and put on fresh mascara and all-over sunscreen, SPF 70 on my face and SPF 30 everywhere else. All this time I was walking around naked and then I looked out my balcony and saw some people watching me in a truck parked outside my apartment. Got dressed.

About 6:00am, I decided I needed caffeine, made a latte, ate the Clif bar, drank the latte, played with Edna, meditated, read "Effective Cycling" on Time Trials one more time. Put on my socks and shoes, cycling gloves, helmet. Said goodbye to Edna, Mel and Mike. Somehow it was 7:00am before I left the house. When I set my alarm I knew I'd be lagging but I thought I'd hop out of bed rather than drag it out for 2 snooze periods. I knew I'd have to hustle a bit to get down there on time and I had rather wanted to "stroll" down there and warm up gently. It did feel good though, zooming down Victoria Ave with little traffic and only the thick air pushing back at me.

I got down to "registration" at 7:30am, but there was nobody there! Instead of freaking out, I headed over to where I read the "starting line" would be. I kept thinking I saw other cyclists in front of me but I think it was just my imagination because when I finally encountered the other riders and trial organizers, it was 7:43am and I was LATE. It's a reoccuring theme in my life, the lateness. I'm working on improving in that area of my life.

Luckily, they let me register anyway. A half-sheet form and $5 later, I was known as rider 115 (Kayla) and I was wearing my matching orange jersey and Mike's orange sunglasses, right down there in the orange groves where we got married. The volunteers ask me if I have a goal. I tell them that it was too much work to make a projection and calculate it and I didn't let myself lose any sleep over it last night. I think they were surprised but they agreed that it was better to be well rested.

I started eating my fruit snacks. It was hard to stay calm. It was only 7:45am by my watch and I had nothing to do until 8:00 when the trial was scheduled to start. So I started disassembling my bike. I took everything off that I could: water bottles, front/rear lights, watch and routesheet clip, bag with tools/spare parts. On second thought, I decided to keep one water bottle. I don't know why but later on I was glad I had it. I started watching the ants, hustling in synchronicity along in discrete paths across a dead palm frond. I started thinking about how this race would be just me & the road without anyone to draft behind. Yikes.

Since I still had time I started doing Yoga. This helped my nervousness to dissapate, to get my mind focused, and to get limber from the ride over. It felt good to do some deep breathing. I wonder if anyone has designed a set of stretching exercises for cyclists that can be done using the bicycle as a prop. If not, someone should.

Next thing I knew, it was time to line up and we were told a few things about the route. Pothole here, wide turn there, have fun. There were sixteen riders and I was second to last. So I'm standing there. And standing there. I do a few circles in the street. Car up. Circle again. Car back. Back in line. Standing there. I started talking to rider 116, who had followed me down Victoria in the morning. I told him that he's going to be following me all race too because there's no way I'm letting him pass. I decided it right then.

People started coming across the finish line. It was so exciting! I was cheering for them but I got in trouble because the timer and the secretary couldn't hear each other on either side of the start/finish line. But it was cool to see the other riders come in hard. There was a family of spectators with a cowbell that totally made me smile. The other two lady riders (besides me) were neck and neck, I'd say that was the most dramatic finish of all.

When there were about 5 riders ahead of me, I started to realize that it was time. There was no way that I was going to be able to quit. I was in the queue and it was inevitable that I would be giving it my all in a couple minutes. All I could think about was that I had to pee. Why did I drink that latte? Should I go now or later? Maybe I drank too much of my water? I don't want to feel cramped down there during the trial... So I said it outloud. "I have to pee." Rider 116 says "I'll hold your bike, go in the orange groves." Guess what I did...

I came back out and two other guys went in! I guess I started a trend or maybe we were all nervous. Two riders ahead of me. One rider ahead of me. Rider 115, are you ready? Yes. Secretary, are you ready? 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Go! I was hauling as fast as I could. That may have been silly. I got to the first turn and had to slow down quite a bit. Then I hustled to the next turn and had to slow down again. I was facing gravel, potholes and a large dump truck full of concrete in the oncoming lane (although stopped at a stop sign). It was intimidating and I slowed down a lot. Coming around the turn I saw the hill ahead of me and thought "maybe I should have strategized a bit more on my gearing here." But it didn't really matter.

I kept my cadence high and my breathing deep and regular. I put my upper body in a comfortable but somewhat lowered position for most of the hill. Towards the end, but before the turn, it gets steeper and I started to hurt. I thought, "maybe I burned up too much on the ride over here." Rounding the turn, I kept my cadence high and tried to visualize myself just hauling down the final straightaway and not letting 116 catch me. This is where I really opened up.

My thoughts returned to me when I saw a car on my left, wanting to turn onto the street I was on. Luckily, he saw me, but unluckily he was going my way. I decided to use it to make me go faster. I kicked it into a higher cadence and higher gear until I saw that sweet finish line. When it was clearly in view, I spun even faster and started really gulping air. Whew, when I rolled through the finish I was so amazed with myself. I didn't want to cry or anything, I just wanted to cool down and roll on home. I didn't really care about my time because I had no expectation to begin with. I finished 3 miles in 9 minutes 13 seconds which translates to 19.5 mph. That exceeds any previous speeds I've loosely documented so I'm happy with it. Now I have a time to beat. And 115 finished before 116.

When all entrants had crossed the finish line (including some of the volunteers) we took a group photo. I can't wait to see it because I know I'll have a glowing smile on my face. And I'll be surrounded by a truly great group of people.

One last topic, my knees hurt. I'm icing them now. I wish I wasn't. Any advice?