Running Effort V. Sustain Time

There appears to be a linear relationship between effort in running, as measured by miles/hour and the natural log of how long this effort can be sustained.

The four data points are based on the actual times in races or workouts the author could attain as an 18 year-old track and cross country runner.

Data


Chart

I Am So Old, I Now Get Injured By...New Socks?

Strange, but true, though a bit of a chain-reaction.

I purchased a bale of new socks at Costco and being new, they are a bit more fluffy and thick than old ones. I went for a run on a cold day and figured I would just leave my street socks on because they would be a little warmer. It was fine, but my shoes were a little tight and the tops of my feet got sore. These new shoes had round laces, which combined with the snug fit, cut into my feet. I tried switching over to flat laces and it helped but it was too late, my feet were already sore and so even the new laces hurt. Finally, I just took out the in-soles that came with the new shoes. Quit the alarm bells! I have wide feet and this is a really common shoe hack for me and has never given me a problem. Till now. Two miles in, I had a pain in my right hip and I don't normally have hip issues. By the end of 8 miles, it was pretty agonizing. How agonizing? Over the next few days, I got a cantaloupe-sized bruise on that hip. No. I didn't fall down, I got a giant bruise from just running.

What A Splendid Time To Be Alive

The "Democracy dies in darkness" newspaper spent millions on a Superbowl ad, which casts reporters as heroes.

Meanwhile: This:

"Learn to code" was tweeted at me by a sketchy account. I reported it as abusive behavior as part of targeted harassment. Twitter suspended the account within 20 minutes.

Journalists if they tweet "learn to code" at you don't stay silent, take a moment to report it. https://t.co/RXgqqV2ptw

— Ben Popken (@bpopken) February 1, 2019

Oh Brave Hero and defender of...censorship? Well, he made a...comment which may have slightly bruised my ego...so he HAD to be denied a platform of communication.

I replied:

01101110 01100101 01110110 01100101 01110010 00100000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110010 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100011 01101111 01100100 01100101 00100001 0001010

He will have to (kind of) learn to code to figure out what it means. Will he have grounds to complain that I advised him to learn to code, when he will have already figured out how to code to know what I said?

No!

Because my message means, Don't learn to code!

Ha! He learned to code for nothing.

Business Plan for 23andMe Or Similar Operations

Often there are tiered services: The basic heritage report for $x and then more health data for some further charge or upgrade.

What I propose is a barter: The service would give the upgrade in trade for phenotype data. Specifically, an image of the customer's face as well as scans of fingerprints and footprints. AI had made it possible to use facial recognition software as a screening tool for genetic abnormalities and it has been known since before I took medical genetics over 30 years ago, that similar inferences can be made by dermatoglyphics.

It is really a classic win-win. Neither side has to spend much time or effort on their side but gets valuable data for themselves in return.

If any of you service organizations want to do this, toss a bit of money my way first. It will be better than waiting until you have made a billion dollar business out of it and then I come by with a blog post dated from two years before you launched the idea.

Ocasio-Cortez And Palin, Similarities And Differences

Similarities:

Both are women who are unusually likable*, charismatic, attractive and came to national attention via politics.

Both gained their highest office by challenging a member of their own party. Ocasio-Cortez challenged the incumbent in the primary and won--the district has not had a Republican in 25 years, so the Democratic primary is effectively the election. Palin had a more traditional start, being a city council member, then mayor before challenging the incumbent Republican Governor in the primary. Alaska was not nearly as Republican as New York's 14th congressional district is Democratic, but in both cases, the primary win was the larger hurdle.

Both Ocasio-Cortez and Palin are relatively extreme--Palin to the right of the Republican party and Ocasio-Cortez to the left of the Democratic party. In a way, this is both a similarity and a difference.

Both are (even though they each have some elite characteristics) working class in their outlook and upbringing.

Both inspire emotional appeal and repulsion.


*Yes, I know. Lots of people hate one or the other (rarely both) of these women, but be honest--you know you would like them if politics was not involved.

Running in 2018

I've been using the same Running Ahead app for 7 years now and have a total of 9,625 miles. So my total for 2018 does not look great at 866 miles, when the average per year is 1,375. Unless I decide to train for a marathon again, I will not be likely to hit that average again. The most I ran last year was in December, 113 miles. Even this was an outlier, most months were low 70 to low 90. The first two months were 16 and 30 respectively.

What had happened is that my Achilles on both sides, but especially the left, were tender and sore. I tried to be very gentle for healing last Jan and Feb, but they didn't improve. With running, they have improved but are still not anywhere close to 100%.

My goal for 2019 is to average 90-100 miles/month and try to get some speed back. The girls got me a Garmin for Christmas and this might help, since it keeps track of highest speeds at different distances within a work-out. I think my best mile time (7:57/mile) since I got the watch was in an 8 mile run.

Smart-ass Remarks Come Into My Head, Unbidden

Yesterday, I was some 9 miles into an 11 mile run and finishing on the bike path. Ahead of me a ways, was a woman who had a lab and was towing a child's bike which had training wheels on it. There was no child in sight. I thought of saying, once I got to her, "That is so ambitious, We can barely get our dog to sit on command". Before I got to her, I thought of a better one, "If you had a border collie, you wouldn't need training wheels".

But I said neither thing. She toppled the bike a little before I caught her and she was distracted from righting it.

This morning, my wife and I were shopping and really, it is a one-person job. But things happen which make it nice to have a compatriot handy. The PA system came on and asked, "Please check if you have your own cart and if you have someone else's, please take it to the courtesy desk". This is so stupid: If your cart has been taken so completely that you don't recover it right away, then it probably has more of the other guy's stuff in it than your stuff--just start over! Why would you waste your time complaining to management? Nobody is going to return it. They will go back to their own cart and off-load into it. At that point they now have two and are not going to be able to bring both anywhere.

Soon after that, in the produce section, I saw an Asian guy put some vegetables into a cart and another Asian woman say, "Excuse me, that is my cart". My wife came over and I told her what I witnessed and added, "You see, to Asians, all carts look alike".

Yes, I am a bad person.

My Back-Of-The-Envelope-O-Meter Seems Fully Functional

Two Examples:

1. I was musing in my morning shower that I have reached the point where one half of my remaining life will be working and the other half retired. I am 56 and had earlier determined that I will need to work till 70. According to actuarial tables here: I am 14 years from retirement and 70 year old males have a life expectancy of 14 more years. Bear in mind that the older you get, the higher your total lifespan expectation. Since I have avoided death for 56 years, I am likely to have a longer lifespan, in total years--not remaining years, than a newborn.

2. After picking up Dahlia at UVM, we decided to get some breakfast before making the 3-hour drive back to Chelmsford MA. On the Church Street Mall, a random man let us know of an inspiring story of a guy trying to break his own single season total altitude record. I made a note of the name so that I could look it up later. Ken Jones, Whitefish MT. While we were walking, I did a little calculation based on my own experience: When I worked in Sun Valley, I made 60 ski days in one season. Bear in mind, I was working and so did not ski every possible day--my record was 13 straight days, each of which were also work days (I worked a night shift). In addition, I was in the Marine Reserves and this took 4 days per month. I figure, with no job and a decent snow season, 100 days would be reasonable. Further, on my last ski day in Sun Valley, I decided to get as much altitude as I could. I did 25 top to bottom runs at 3,000 vertical feet each. But, as the last day; the lifts opened an hour late and closed an hour early. Also, the conditions were icy in the morning and slushy at the end. Most winter days have perfect conditions all day long. Finally, even on that day, I could have done more--I got bored with high speed cruising on groomed runs and ended up doing about half the runs on moguls. I think a normal ski day at Sun Valley could reasonably give 100 thousand feet. 100 days times 100k is 10 million vertical feet in a season. So, Ken's goal of breaking his 8 million ft record is pretty solid, but I think it could easily be surpassed. Maybe when I turn 70, I will move back to Sun Valley for a season or two.

If Life Was Like a Nihilistic Movie, I Would Have Died Yesterday.

Foreshadowing:
I had to go out and run an errand--pick up a Christmas tree for the season, no less and the dog "asked" to be taken for a walk while I was at the back door putting on my coat and shoes. She is old and sedentary, so it is kind of a thing to take her when she is willing, but I had a lot to do and so promised to take her later, if I could.

Lead-up:
When I got home from getting the tree, I was good as my word and set out on a walk as the bright sun cast rays at a sharp angle. I was about to enter the bike path but delayed a bit, waiting as a biker went past. He inexplicably bade me good morning as he glided by. It was two in the afternoon! I didn't make too much of it--some people are just so used to "good morning" that they stray into non-morning times of the day, no big deal. I say good day sir. Well, just in my mind. The sun was in my eyes and I was still musing about the whole "good morning" fiasco, when another walker approached from ahead.

The big scene:
There was something not right about him. In the movie version, the sun and my general befuddlement would prevent me from seeing his face. The camera would show the audience how creepy he looked, but I would not see it. Nor the knife he suddenly pulled from nowhere and used to stab me to death. In actuality, the only odd thing was that I was having such thoughts on a sunny day, having a stroll with our cute Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

Coda:
The pathetic and useless (for protection) dog, left whimpering--she wants to go home but also does not like to leave one of her people behind.

Ranking The Last Four Presidents

The final results are not in yet for this mid-term election, but we know the general outcome. Here is a ranking of the last four presidents by how they did in the first midterm after their first term win:


1. George W. Bush 2002 Gained seats in the House +8 and Senate +2 keeping both in Republican hands

2. Donald Trump 2018 Lost enough seats in the House to give control to the Democrats, But Gained seats in the Senate.

3. Barack Obama 2010 Lost enough seats in the House to give control to the Republicans, AND Lost seats in the Senate -6

4. Bill Clinton 1994 Lost enough seats in the House AND Senate to lose control of BOTH

2nd Amendment Conditional Clause

This is what the 2nd would look like if the first part was conditional:

As long as Sally agrees that, A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, then and only then shall the right of the people to keep and bear arms, not be infringed.

What it really has is:

A statement of fact: You may disagree that it is a fact, but it is intended to state something they thought was obvious:

"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state,"

Followed by a rule:

"the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

Quoting Niemoller

First they came for the pro-life activists, and I did not speak out--because I was pro-choice.

Then they came for the Tea Party, and I did not speak out--because I did not agree that we are "taxed enough already"

Then they came for the Little Sisters of the Poor, and I did not speak out--because I really have no problem with government forcing people to participate in things that they (foolishly but sincerely) believe are evil.

But now I quote Niemoller in the hopes you will vote for the people who did all of these things.

Okay People, Get a Grip

Having spent the weekend on a fairly liberal US University campus--Parent's weekend, LOL, there really wasn't much commotion. Other than posters all over the place, all promoting exactly the side one would expect them to promote, the place was very quiet.

For those outraged by it all, here are a few facts:

A conservative justice was replaced by...a conservative justice. What!

1. Yes, it is true: Anthony Kennedy was nominated by Ronald Reagan and sure, he was a swing vote on some key cases, but (and this is really important) he chose to retire while Trump was president.

2. What did you expect would happen? Republicans control the Senate and the White House. Did you think they would put a liberal into the Supreme Court?

3. "But Kavanaugh is a rapist"! is what I have heard many times from opponents of the pick.

"How do you know that"? I ask.

They always reply, "Women don't lie about things like that"

"Really"? "There are exactly two people on the planet who know what happened, Ford and Kavanaugh".

"This is true". They will reluctantly agree. "And yet you are a woman, who stated with some degree of certainty just now, that a man you never met is a rapist". Are you still sure women never lie?

College Days

Scene: A teen aged boy is in his dorm room at Yale. The only illumination is a desk lamp, by the lamp, in the light, is a US History book. Brett Kavanaugh is outlining chapters.

There is a knock on the door:

Brett: Enter! The door is open.

Mike (a friend who is also in the history course) enters: Still studying for that quiz on Monday?

Brett: I'm not sure why I am bothering, I studied with Steve Kantrowitz a couple of days ago and I think I have it all down.

Mike: Yeah Steve is really into history, I bet he will end up majoring in it.

They both laugh dismissively.

Mike: So Brett, were you messing with Steve?

Brett: Of course, always. But what do you mean specifically?

Mike: He said that you, quote: are a "deflowerer of multitudes".

Brett: Y'know that old Robert Heinlein saying about lying by telling the truth unconvincingly?

Mike: Yeah, I remember you mentioning it sometime...

Brett: Well, I've been experimenting with telling a lie, so outrageously, that the person has no excuse for not knowing it is a lie. It's my attempt at humor.

Mike: Well, I think Steve is dense: He is repeating the story and is acting like you're some sort of God, and not a Man, here at Yale.

Brett: Snort! Save the comedy for the professionals, Mike. I will let Steve continue in his obtuse way, he will probably end up a history professor at some Midwestern state U. He will never need a functional BS detector.

End of scene.
‏

The Mind, She Do Wander...

A few days back, the car radio had on a Chicago tune and I only heard snippets of it but when I got the chance I looked it up and played it: Make Me Smile

Children play in the park, they don't know
I'm alone in the dark, even though
Time and time again I see your face smiling inside

I'm so happy
That you love me
Life is lovely
When you're near me
Tell me you will stay
Make me smile

Go to YouTube or Spotify and play it. You will thank me.

This came out in 1970. The 1970's come in for a lot of well-deserved ragging due to, just about everything. But the music from that decade was phenomenal! Established bands like The Rolling Stones, The Who and Led Zeppelin came out with much of their best work--in the latter case, the vast majority of their total output was in that decade. Variety too: Steely Dan got started and put out at least 90% of their best work and punk got its start, which spawned new wave and alternative.

People often remember Chicago as the epitome of soft rock, which they arguably became--sometime in the 1980's. Anyway, if you listened to the song, like I suggested, you will hear heart and edge and trumpet. They are a trumpet playing band and they are rock and roll in 1970!


Which naturally made me think of Dire Straits:

And a crowd of young boys, they're fooling around in the corner,
Drunk and dressed in their best brown baggies and their platform soles.
They don't give a damn about any trumpet playing band.
It ain't what they call rock and roll.
And the Sultans,
Yes the Sultans play Creole.
Creole baby

Mark Knopfler was not thinking of Chicago when he wrote the song, but I can't help but think of them.

Added: There is an interesting dialectic going on in the Sultans of Swing On one hand, they are making fun of a dowdy jazz band with that name. But in the song, Knopfler sings in first person:

"We are the Sultans,
"We are the Sultans of Swing."

So, they are not rock and roll, but they are--because we hear Dire Straits playing. And yet they are a trumpet playing band but no trumpets are being played in the song.

Makes my head spin.

Twilight Of The Idols.

Every once in a while, you are watching when something historic happens: An unseeded player beats a living legend. It is tough, but inevitable. Maybe the younger player thinks, "could I have beaten him in his prime"? The veteran may be thinking along the same lines, but sucks it up and is gracious in defeat.

What to make then of the fiasco that was the Ladies US Open final?

Osaka gushed about how she loves Serena in the post-semi final interview. All her life, Ms. Williams was a legend. In the match, Osaka was better, she won the first set and was even in the 2nd. Then Serena had an epic melt down. It is one thing to see your idol defeated, age takes us all, but to see her act so classless. Wow!

This was no tennis god, she was all too Human.

Not in a good way!

I Am Not Okay With The Assault On Clear Communication

The thing is, I don't think it is an assault on debate per se. It is more of a, we want certain things and the fact that it harms clear communication does not matter.

Well, I am here to say it does matter. The term "homophobic" is a great example: It is a term that on the surface is used to stand in for anti-gay bigotry. And even if that is all it ever was, is still pretty bad. Bigotry and intolerance are moral failures not forms of mental illness! But of course, it has gone much, much further than that. It has become a way of calling whoever is against the latest thing--Don't ask don't tell, civil unions, gay marriage, trans-gender rights--a bigot. It is a weapon which stands in the way of making useful distinctions. To my way of thinking, anyone who uses the term unironically, is telegraphing that they are a simpleton and it is a waste of time debating them. Or, they are cynically using language as a cudgel rather than having to engage in the work of using reason to change minds.

There are lots of others:

Illegal Alien. A simple term, which means exactly what it says. We can't have that! It makes too clear, the distinction between legal aliens, like tourists, foreign students, legal resident aliens, etc. And people who came here without such permissions. The thing is, the replacement phrases are inexact mush. Undocumented Immigrant. The first word is wrong in a couple of ways. It assumes that they could have been documented and possibly will be and brushes-off the fact that they are in violation of the law. And second, maybe a lot of them are wanna-be immigrants but surely not all of them plan on staying for ever. Illegal alien makes no such assumptions--you are here illegally, we neither know nor care what your plans are

African American: Semi-Okay, but it does lead to hijinks when referring to say a black German or to a white person who immigrated from Africa to the US, etc. Otherwise, it is much like saying Italian-American. The thing is that most people don't use that kind of term once they are pretty far removed from the immigration. Both of my grandparents on my father's side,came from Italy. I sometimes say I'm half Italian, never Italian-American. Black Americans have been here significantly longer.

The okay hand-sign: I have to put my foot down. The okay sign meaning white power was a hoax--you can look it up. Now they are going to take away, what? One of the two or three hand signs that are not vulgar?

Added: And don't even get me started with how my kids (and presumably their coevals) use the word "literally". Suffice it to say, they use it in place of "figuratively". I acknowledge that this has become common, but reject its use on the grounds that there is no good substitute for "literally" which has the original meaning.

Don't Deserve To Drive A BMW And (apparently) Have Little Use For Rear-View Mirror

BMW claims to be, "The ultimate driving machine" and while I haven't driven one in a while, they are very good. When I owned one, I felt a responsibility to drive it rigorously. Naturally, mine was a stick-shift. I looked at BMW when I went to replace the one I had and the salesman indicated that most of what they sell now are automatics and then gave me some malarkey about how they are actually faster and more efficient than manuals now. Well, I like the fastness but the reason for owning a car like that is to be engaged while driving.

On the way home from work, I fell-in behind a new BMW. This alone was not a gripe, since the speed limit on that road is a ridiculous 30 MPH and I usually go between 35 and 40. So, the BMW driver could have been going the speed limit and I would have caught up to him. Once I got behind him, I noted his speed at 20-25.

He gradually stopped at an intersection. The side-roads had stop signs, but the main road we were on did not, so there was no reason to stop. He didn't signal, but kind of angled to the right--like he wasn't sure if he was supposed to turn here or maybe the next side road.

I wasn't going to just sit behind him while he figured out how to dislodge his thumb, so I swung widely around him on the left to pass. There was no oncoming traffic and he was clearly a moron, so even though I thought he would go right, it seemed best to give wide berth. Good thing I did: As soon as I was abreast of him, he started forward and to the left. I gunned it and swung further left, avoiding a collision.

Two notes: As I continued on, I looked in my rear-view and saw that he had no turn signals going and was stopped in the middle of the intersection. The road has no lines and no signage, indicating that it is legal to pass.

Final note: I was driving a GMC Yukon XL and always have my headlights on. How do you not see that in your rear-view mirror?

Gell-Mann And The So Called Conclusions Of The Intelligence Community

17 Intellegence agencies all conluded...let me stop you right there champ:

The Myth That 17 Intelligence Agencies Were Involved In Russian Interference Analysis Will Not Die

Okay, maybe it was only 4:

the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Agency. The assessment was not approved by all 17 organizations in the American intelligence community.

The report itself is here, if you care to read the whole thing. The most important fact is on the first page and I will just spoil the surprise:

"6 January 2017"

Just in case you don't remember: Trump was inagurated on the 20th of Jan, 2017. So, two weeks before it was too late: Obama holdovers drop a stink-bomb on the president elect. And we believe this is solid, why?

First of all, they lied that 17 agencies all came this conclusion. Second, the Obama administration politicized pretty much every agency in the federal government:

The IRS: IRS Apologizes For Aggressive Scrutiny Of Conservative Groups

The FBI:

a stunning conclusion. And 63 percent of polled voters in a Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll believe that the FBI withheld vital information from Congress about the Clinton and Russia collusion investigations.

The EPA:

Etc. It is like, we all know that every agency was doing the bidding of the administration and yet we somehow have full-faith in a document dumped on us by the outgoing gang?

I'm not buying it.

Added: JustOneMinute gets it perfectly:

Try to set aside the cognitive dissonance of watching the Blame America First crowd pose as uber-hawks. Try to ignore the years of "Bush lied, people died" morphing into "The CIA said it so it must be so.

Why Are We Using The Word "We", So Stupidly?

I've been seeing it all over the place lately and I think it has been happening for a while: The headline of an article is in the form of "Why Do We, or Why Are We X" where X is the problematic thing they want to talk about.

Just go to a place like Medium and I guaranty you will find at least one story like that. Here is one I found just now:

MEMBER FEATURE STORY

We’re Having The Wrong Debate About Pronouns
Let’s talk about how we talk about ourselves

Go to the profile of Ben Freeland
Ben Freeland
Jul 3

Why does this irritate me?

I am not having, nor do I care to have a debate about pronouns. I suppose that if I had an interest in the article, then the headline might accurately reflect some true thing about me. But the headline exists to get me to read the article. In this case, the presumptuousness of it makes me rather less willing to read it.

Here is a more egregious example:

there are literally so many trans actors that could’ve been cast in this role. why do we keep casting Scarlett Johansson in roles where she doesn’t fit the criteria? https://t.co/nnD7PKH5Gc

— anthony amorim is lo:st (@AnthonyAmorim) July 3, 2018

"why do we keep casting Scarlett Johansson in roles where she doesn’t fit the criteria?"

The decision for Ms. Johansson to play this role came down to a very small group of individuals: At least two, Johansson and the casting director, but maybe a few others like a producer or director.

This is taking the use of "we" to psycotic levels.

The only way it is sane is if Mr. Amorim was involved in the casting. Then why is he bringing us into this discussion: If he wants to bring us into it, he should say,

"What the hell was I thinking when I recommended Scarlett Johansson for this role? Please comment in the thread, so I know where to turn for mental health counseling.