Scientist humor

Thanks to Kendra for posting this to FB.

A very good run

Every few months I have a run that leaves me feeling great and wanting more; tonight was one of those runs.

New shoes

Running shoes are more expensive than regular athletic shoes but are worth every penny.
Cost $132.00 for 2 pairs

The things that keep me going

I feel proud to know that I keep these guys flying and bring them home safely.

Round the neighborhood

I don't like dodging traffic and navigating intersections.

Not too tired

I ran hard last night, but my legs felt strong today with no soreness.

A short post

Today's run resembled a convection oven: hot, dry and windy.

Veterans

I saw this place while driving to my meeting today. It was a little over 2 miles away from the hotel so I ran there for my easy run today. One of the things I love about visiting towns with military bases is the patriotism. Very inspiring.  Very much a reality check.
I enjoy the freedom I feel when I run.  And I am grateful for the freedom these guys gave me.

A compliment

A coworker who I used to work with frequently but now only see occasionally, said to me today "Have you lost weight?". Yes, yes I have. Almost 30 pounds in 18 months. In all that time I've had exactly three people notice and ask if I had lost weight. I count that as a big victory, because it signifies I'm losing weight slowly and permanently. There have also been research studies that have shown that the speed you lose weight is the speed at which you gain it back, and vice versa. So, slow is good, as long as I'm heading in the right direction.
A pleasant run tonight, but humid. I had a tough track workout yesterday so I had an easy run today.

The heat that never ends

Another hot one today. I've got an interval workout on tap for tomorrow, so I definitely won't be running at 3:41, more like 8:30 or 9:00. 
Wore my new sunglasses for the first time- they were awesome!  I sweat a lot, but none of it dripped on the lenses like my last pair would do.

Sunglasses fail

I bought these in March for $32.  I gave up on them today.  Here's my failure analysis:  When I put them on my head the temples were pushed farther apart, putting the bottoms of the rims in tension.  This plastic is no good in tension, and it failed in multiple places.  I first noticed the cracks more than a month ago and applied super glue.  Then they cracked again in two new places, and I tried the superglue again, but to no avail.  The rims cracked all the way through. 

Failure 1

Failure 2

 So here are my new glasses (on the right) and the old ones on the left. 





Here is my failure prediction for the new ones:  Most likely failure point- the plastic on the top of the rims, right next to the lens.  Second most likely failure point- the hinges.  

New glasses. Yes I bought another pair of IronMans.  They are cheap

Close up of the predicted failure point:  The plastic rim directly behind the lens

Product Purchase:  IronMan Hurdle sunglasses:  $20


Would I like to buy a really nice pair of sunglasses that will never break?  Yes, but I don't have $150 to spend on them at the moment.

Playing chicken

I played chicken today, with a squirrel. He was laying spread eagle on the running trail. I turned the corner and spotted him immediately. For an instant I thought he was dead. But he turned his head to look at me but didn't make like he was going to run. I have these kind of encounters with rabbits all the time- they always chicken out. So I looked right at him and kept running. He held still until I planted my right foot about a foot from him, he jumped, but was too late- My left foot was too fast and caught him before he could make his escape. My foot clipped him as he jumped and spun him in a 180, and he took off into the bushes. So who won that game of chicken? We collided, do we both lose?
A beautiful place to run- one of my favorites. See the pic below.  It's even better when the grass is actually green- but it's been 2 months since we've had any rain!

A tempo run

First official tempo run. Short but hard. And fast. I was surprised how fast. The weather now is a little deceptive- it felt much cooler thanks to the low humidity and nice breeze.  By 8:00 pm the sun isn't a factor, and that definitely makes it feel cooler.

A NUMBERS challenge.

On her blog today Miss Zippy talked about how she wished there was a runner-adjusted version of the heat index.  It would include runner related variables such as pace, hydration, miles run, time of day, etc.  This would lead to the magical "Runner's Heat Index."  Read her post here.  So I'm taking the challenge.  A quick google search and wikipedia review of the heat index shows it is based on two papers by R.G. Steadman written in 1979 for the Journal of Applied Meteorology.  Lucky for me, a quick Google Scholar search turned up a pdf for each paper.  I scanned the first one quickly to familiarize myself with it, and was pleased to see that I had a solid understanding of the physics and thermodynamics outlined (like thermal and radiation resistance circuits, partial pressures, radiative, convective and evaporative heat transfer to name a few).  So, I've got a very geeky project to work on.  And who knows- this could be the beginnings of an actual article written for a peer-reviewed journal.  Put the PhD to use and such, you know.  Might as well make the most of it since I've got it. 

When 89 feels cool

I ran at 8:00 pm, very nice. The worst of the heat wave has passed, and now it's back to normal summer weather. It felt good and I only got a little thirsty but still carried my water bottle.
And it was a short run- half marathon training Day 1- 3 miles comfortable. It honestly felt very short. But the short runs at the start of the program are designed to keep my legs moving and ready for speed work (tomorrow) and long runs (Saturday) and still allow me time to get in some core training and strength training.

Mile test

This is the post you've all been waiting for, I can tell.  I've been too busy the last 2 nights to write about it, but I had a very good run at the track on Wednesday.  I have a goal this year to run a mile in less than 6 minutes.  Yes, you read that right, 6 minutes or less.  Last year I set the goal to run a mile in less than 7 minutes.  My first attempt in 2011 was on May 27, and it was 7:26.  I ran it in 6:48 less than three months later on August 18th.  And on December 28th, I did it in 6:17, and I set the goal to go under 6:00 this year.  My last attempt was on February 1st, and I did it in 6:11.  To speed this up a little, I tried again on Wednesday, the 4th of July.  I took my 9 year old videographer to capture the occasion on camera.  I was excited about the video, I have never seen what I look like when I run.  Have you ever wondered- do I run like that awkward runner?  Which one? 

 Source:  http://www.youtube.com/user/dontbethatguyvids
The Geezer?  The Dandy?  The T-1000?  The Flight-less Bird?  The Stiffy?  Watch the video above, then the video below, and leave your guess in the comments.

So, in all it was a good run.  I did my 4 laps in 6:04, with a 0:09 negative split.  The negative split tells me I had more in the tank at the end and I could have run the start faster.  I definitely felt sluggish during that first half.  So I think I've got it in the bag the next time around.  My last lap was 1:26.4 (that's 5:45 pace), so I know I can manage 4 laps at 1:29.9 to get under the 6:00.

Warning:  Here comes the geeky stuff.

I took the video files from the camera, copied them to my computer, converted them to a compatible format and loaded them into MATLAB.  Here's the screenshot:

I took the video above, and another one from my warmup and went through frame-by-frame.  I calculated my stride rate and stride length and confirmed a small hitch in my stride.  Very interesting stuff.  It was fairly straight forward to do since the info is all printed on the screen- frame rate, current frame and total frames.

Thank you MATLAB 7.8.0!!

    

Another tool in the toolkit

So here it is.  My latest and greatest tool to make me an even better runner:

Yes, it's a foam roller.  "Self-myofascial release."  SMR.  We'll see how it works.
Also included:  Exercise chart.  Very interesting.
And, free how-to videos at www.ifit.com. 

Big red solar panel

(I wore my red running shirt today)
How to get cooked in four steps or less:
1- Live in Indiana
2- Go running when the weather is like this:

3-  Cooked yet?  

Here are some interesting facts I found on the diurnal cycle of the sun's position and the air temperature.  

 

Source:  http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/ctl/clisci0.html

(These are generic plots.  I have no idea where they represent or what time of year.)  Be sure to notice the temperature from 16 to 18 (4:00 pm to 6:00 pm).  Yep, max for the day.  Perfect conditions for solar panels, but not so much for running.  I'm running in the evening tomorrow.