Wednesday 022012

The part of the video that is missing is when the wolverine eats the guy after saving him …

I mean, the dude was a corpse, right?
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I finished a recent episode of TalkUltra – in which Geoff Roes is interviewed.  We are pretty well aware of Geoff’s issues, as he has been very willing to share them – a complete breakdown in his ability to run after being at the top of the ultra world.  I seem to have a belief that Geoff will make a roaring comeback some day (Ian C’s comment at the end of their interview about how Mike M disappeared for a decade-ish and came back as a master seems to solidify that).

But I was left wondering the classic “sell your soul to the devil” question.  I know it has been asked elsewhere, but I can’t recall where.  Maybe by AJW or something.  Would I (or you) take one day of the perfect race:  winning WS100 in record time, coming from behind for that win – but then knowing it would mean you’d never run again?  Or would you rather run mediocre at all your races, but you could run “okay” in beautiful places with friends all your days?
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I received my undergrad degree in geology, geophysics (yes, this was a long time ago, and I am not doing anything that appears to be directly related to rock sciences these days).  One of the classes I took was a geomorphology class.  The professor for this class was Robert Thorson, and a concept that he was particularly keen on was dynamic metastable equilibrium.  Or, the fluctuation about a moving average, marked by discontinuities.

While Thorson’s job was to put this concept into the context of land forms:  a river, a drumlin, a peneplain and hence over loooooong periods of time – I also see its applicability in terms of endurance fitness in short periods of time (like a decade or even a season).  The moving average is you slowly increasing your fitness.  If you really need a number to quantify that consider a graph of your speed at a fixed heart rate.  Over time as you progress in fitness, that fixed HR stays the same but your speed picks up.  So you have a trend or a moving average.

But then there are fluctuations on that moving average.  You get a day where it is a bit hotter, so you run slower.  Or you are a bit dehydrated.  Or you feel great.  So when you look at the moving average, there are little bounces along the way.

But then there are discontinuities – big break through runs where fitness seems to jump.  Or an injury is a discontinuity where fitness slips.

Tim G used to put it to me more simply:  sometimes your fitness is spiraling up, sometimes it is spiraling down.   Just hope you are more on the up than the down.  That might come from the Parker book, Once a Runner. 

Last week, my fitness, or my moving average seemed to be moving up.  I felt light, and ready to get at it.  Runs went well, and I felt strong.  This week, I feel tired.  I wake up tired.  I can feel a cold in the back of my nose and throat forming.   I know on whole my moving average (or my dynamic equilibrium (discarding the metastable) is moving towards increased fitness.  It just does not feel like it today.

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One of the seven signs … Nick C has a twitter account.

If you are free in October and happen to have 2200 bucks, you might want to check this out.

Some good American music.
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Well, I say I don’t really have to schedule off days because life deals ‘em to me.  I got dealt such a hand today.  Full day of meetings for work, a good snow and cold front blowing in late in the day, a kiddo event in the evening, TZ wretching for dozen hours  (and requiring a doa visit to the doc’s office), the older Z kid home from school sick … and me just not feeling good as I feel my own cold comin’ on.  Sure, I could have laced ‘em up at 830 tonight (or maybe I should have at 0600 this AM), but decided to let it go this time.  I could justify going out (I need to toughen up and show myself I can do this regardless of the schedule!) or not (I need a day off anyway as it has been 37 since my last one and it is stupid for me to go out now).