Cows aren’t really holy but......

Holy Cow! I just opened my Bike and Build account to check for any new donations and boy was I surprised! I just had an influx of so many generous donations from friends and family. I just wanted to say thanks so much to everyone. You all have helped out tremendously and I’m well over half way to my $4,000 mark. I consider myself blessed to even be presented with this unusual opportunity and even more so for the encouragement and support of friends and family. Ya’ll have turned a bad, study filled day, to a super fantastic day and I am grateful.
As far as training goes, I’ve gotten in a few 50 mile rides over the course of spring break. So I think it’s going pretty good and I’m thankful that the weather has cooperated. I honestly don’t see me doing too many rides of that distance as I try finish up the semester. My goal is just to do a little riding or running everyday to keep in shape. Paper and project deadlines are getting closer and the workload isn’t getting any lighter. College, you gotta love it.

Riding against the wind is like swimming up stream

It’s times like this when I wish I weighed more than I actually do. I’ve never ridden in wind like I did today and the whole time I had to fight to keep from being pushed over. It was a constant 17mph with gusts at 27mph. I’m not too sure how that compares to the winds on the plains that I’ll be riding through but I hope it won’t be that bad. But something tells me it will and that I better just get used to it. The good thing is that I got in a 50 mile (the most I’ve done so far) ride facing the wind for the majority of the time and I felt pretty good. Though I must admit there were those times when I just wanted to throw my bike on the ground out of frustration and say a few choice words. But I didn’t. Other than that I’m just enjoying my spring break by doing nothing. It's great

Can't wait

So I finally did it. I finally fell off my bike! I guess fell off isn’t the right word to use since my bike was still attached to me by the clipless pedals. I’m not exactly too sure what happened but my chain did this weird thing in the middle of changing gears. It basically got stuck and the pedals wouldn’t turn. I was going up a steep hill, lost momentum, and fell. I didn’t suffer a severe injury, just a few scratches. I’m just glad I got it over with and now know it’s not so bad. I’m also thankful for this amazing weather here. It’s been sunny and 70 for the past few days so I’ve gotten in some great rides. I feel bad for my fellow Bike and Builders up north who probably can’t get out to ride because of the cold. I’m so ready to do Bike and Build this summer! There will be no research papers, neuroscience tests, sitting in class rooms, studying until odd hours of the night or figuring out what to wear the next day (highly fashionable bike shorts every day!) Although I’m not going to lie, I will miss my comfy bed w/ my electric blanket. It will just be me, a bunch of other crazy people, and the open road. We’ll be doing our best to lend a hand to those in need and pedaling like crazy every day while sweating bullets. Can’t wait

Hey. It's been a while

Well I’ve been really busy here lately. Classes are getting more demanding as the semester wears on and I’ve been doing my best to prepare for this upcoming summer. I got in a 40 mile bike ride the other day. It’s the most I’ve ever done by far and actually went really well. I felt like I could do more and I wasn’t sore the next day (it was still difficult though) On top of that I didn’t fall of my bike once! My goal is to do one really long ride once a week and increase the distance by five or ten each time until I get my mileage up there. Then the rest of the week I plan to run or bike some more. The only problem I foresee in this is finding the time. But I’m sure if I practice better time management (less facebook!) then I can get it done.

There is also a possibility that I’ll be able to go back to New Orleans during spring break and help build houses again. It was a good experience when I went a few months ago and I thought I’d learn even more going back again. The only problem is getting the money to do it because right now most the cash I get goes to my Bike and Build fundraising goal of $4,000.

I just got through running my 3rd half marathon. I’ve been training for that so now since that’s over I can really start training on my bike more. This half marathon was my worst and slowest one yet (maybe b/c of the heat) but I’ll leave out the gory details (just look at the before and after pictures on facebook) I’ll just say that at this moment walking down the stairs right now is barely manageable and a jog around the block is unthinkable. But I’m sure I’ll experience soreness like this countless times as I bike across the country so I need to adopt a suck it up type attitude and go for a run or a ride tomorrow.