I ran my spring race on Sunday, the blue jay 5k. The course winds around campus, and doesn't have any serious hills, though there aren't really any flat sections to speak of. It's all either going slowly up or slowly down, though in some spots it goes down pretty quick. I was shooting for running the first 2 miles evenly at 5:20 pace, but that didn't really happen. I ended up going out too fast and having a sluggish 2nd mile. First mile was 5:09, but the 2-mile was (supposedly) 11:30, which implies that I hit a 6:21 2nd mile, which I find hard to believe, because I really was trying. My final time was 17:56, which makes my 3rd mile look way too fast. I ended up 6th overall, and I got 1st in the 20 and under age group. Got a $25 gift card to Applebee's for it, which was cool. My parents were there w/ my brother too, to cheer me on, which was awesome. Sam randomly showed up, and so did some friends from church. It was pretty nuts.
There was a guy there who ran the race last year as well, with a Falls Road Racing Team jersey on. He has beat me both years now, but he doesn't seem like he's fast enough to be a sponsored runner. Maybe he's only partially sponsored to run, and actually has a "real'' job.
Boy was I worn out after my race...haven't felt this tired in a while. I really ran hard, and yet I still came nowhere close to the 17:00 mark that I was shooting for. More threshold workouts are needed, faster paces yet still.
I think I had too much ice cream in the days leading up to the race, and as delicious as it is, I really don't think that it made for very good quality fuel to run and train on.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
A run, Chipotle, and practice
So I woke up at 8am today. Then I went back to sleep. I got up around 12:30pm. I did not realize I was so tired! Poked around the internet over lunch/breakfast, and finally got around to going for a run around 4:30pm. Really need to work on improving weekend efficiency. Seriously.
Randomly came across Hanlin and his girlfriend in the elevator, so I went with them for a bit, one trip around the campus, ~2 miles. So basically that was a 2 mile warmup. Fine. Today is an easy day as promised, so that works. But I needed some more miles, so I ran down to Lake Montebello, did a lap there and came back, which was about 4.5 more miles. Ok so it was a long easy day. I was sort of tired toward the end, maybe it was due to the wind on the lake, maybe it was because I shouldn't have gone so far on a recovery day. I was reading up on some stuff about rest/recovery and how to meter it out appropriately.
I am also going to do 16 x 400m on April 10th, at what hopefully will be ~75sec. That will be my final hard effort before the race on the 19th, whose venue I still haven't really determined. Will I run the Penn Relays Distance Classic or the Blue Jay 5k? It's the same weekend as UPenn's Spring Fling, and Guster is performing, which is totally amazing, but I'm not so sure that it is smart to go to a concert before a race. On the other hand, it would be a good opportunity to get out of town for a weekend, and it would be very rejuvenating. What to do? Also, since that workout is going down this Friday, I need to do a good effort workout on Monday and Wednesday. Either a tempo run or a hill workout would be appropriate.
So after getting back and doing a host of core work, I showered and went down to meet up w/ Lara and Nisha for dinner. Lara wanted Chipotle, and Nisha didnt. So she went to Orient Express, the chinese take-out place a few buildings down from Chipotle. On our way there, we passed this random guy, probably in his 40s, who just says, "hey what's that up there?" Being in Baltimore, I figured that telling him it was the moon (it was still light out) would be what he would expect, so I didn't want him to carry it on, so I answered (perhaps I really shouldn't have answered at all), "The sky." He says, "You don't have any clue what that is do ya? You dumb $hit." That was a good time to start walking faster. Quite the experience Baltimore is eh? I ended up getting some peach bubble tea from the asian take-out place and then getting a chicken burrito from Chipotle, which was delicious, as always. Watched an episode of House over dinner; some guy was dying from, uh ***SPOILER ALERT***a paper-cut.***END SPOILER ALERT*** Interesting stuff. Somehow the conversation devolved into talking about giant flemish/german bunnies, and how to acquire one. Also, we came across a guy in front of the dorms with a storm trooper mask on, which was, well, epic. So then I realized that I still hadn't done my laundry since I'd run out of socks (2 days ago), and that I had praise team rehearsal in 25 minutes, which meant laundry would wait yet again. So the laundry is still in the hamper, unwashed, and I'm telling myself to do it tomorrow since I need the sockage.
So that's the day. Chipotle was too filling, so no ice cream today. Plus, 2 pints in 2 days isnt exactly my idea of perfect health, but then again, ice cream isn't healthy, or is it??? Man I feel like Rita Skeeter.
Randomly came across Hanlin and his girlfriend in the elevator, so I went with them for a bit, one trip around the campus, ~2 miles. So basically that was a 2 mile warmup. Fine. Today is an easy day as promised, so that works. But I needed some more miles, so I ran down to Lake Montebello, did a lap there and came back, which was about 4.5 more miles. Ok so it was a long easy day. I was sort of tired toward the end, maybe it was due to the wind on the lake, maybe it was because I shouldn't have gone so far on a recovery day. I was reading up on some stuff about rest/recovery and how to meter it out appropriately.
I am also going to do 16 x 400m on April 10th, at what hopefully will be ~75sec. That will be my final hard effort before the race on the 19th, whose venue I still haven't really determined. Will I run the Penn Relays Distance Classic or the Blue Jay 5k? It's the same weekend as UPenn's Spring Fling, and Guster is performing, which is totally amazing, but I'm not so sure that it is smart to go to a concert before a race. On the other hand, it would be a good opportunity to get out of town for a weekend, and it would be very rejuvenating. What to do? Also, since that workout is going down this Friday, I need to do a good effort workout on Monday and Wednesday. Either a tempo run or a hill workout would be appropriate.
So after getting back and doing a host of core work, I showered and went down to meet up w/ Lara and Nisha for dinner. Lara wanted Chipotle, and Nisha didnt. So she went to Orient Express, the chinese take-out place a few buildings down from Chipotle. On our way there, we passed this random guy, probably in his 40s, who just says, "hey what's that up there?" Being in Baltimore, I figured that telling him it was the moon (it was still light out) would be what he would expect, so I didn't want him to carry it on, so I answered (perhaps I really shouldn't have answered at all), "The sky." He says, "You don't have any clue what that is do ya? You dumb $hit." That was a good time to start walking faster. Quite the experience Baltimore is eh? I ended up getting some peach bubble tea from the asian take-out place and then getting a chicken burrito from Chipotle, which was delicious, as always. Watched an episode of House over dinner; some guy was dying from, uh ***SPOILER ALERT***a paper-cut.***END SPOILER ALERT*** Interesting stuff. Somehow the conversation devolved into talking about giant flemish/german bunnies, and how to acquire one. Also, we came across a guy in front of the dorms with a storm trooper mask on, which was, well, epic. So then I realized that I still hadn't done my laundry since I'd run out of socks (2 days ago), and that I had praise team rehearsal in 25 minutes, which meant laundry would wait yet again. So the laundry is still in the hamper, unwashed, and I'm telling myself to do it tomorrow since I need the sockage.
So that's the day. Chipotle was too filling, so no ice cream today. Plus, 2 pints in 2 days isnt exactly my idea of perfect health, but then again, ice cream isn't healthy, or is it??? Man I feel like Rita Skeeter.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Oh The Joys of House Hunting
So today we went to check out a row house
that we may potentially rent for the next (possibly) 2 years. There are six of us, so there's a lot of factors to consider, as far as how we are going to fit all of us into the house. This one was our first group trip, and it was quite good. The landlady is nice, and the house is in pretty good shape for a row house. The larger bedrooms are somewhat strangely arranged, but that's something to consider some other time. The current tenants are 4 seniors, and they are something of a mess, so the house is pretty nuts as it is right now. There are 3 floors plus a basement, so there's a lot going on. The basement is also quite interesting, with baren floors and exposed ceilings. All in all a productive trip, and at $2950 + ~$200 in utilities, it comes out to about $535 a month for each of us, which is pretty decent. There are 2 large bedrooms with baths, and 2 smaller bedrooms with no bath, though one leads out to a 2nd story patio. There is also a garage, which is nifty. A long narrow kitchen with plenty of cabinet space is nice, and there is a living room and dining room. So that was that.
My run was pretty good today, went down to the track again to do some quarter repeats. The plan was 6 x 400 at 75sec each, and see how it goes. I did 78, 78, 75, 77, 76, 75, and then did one more hard, hitting 71. Rest was equal time to each quarter. It was super windy with the not so passing of the storm, since it started drizzling a bit at the end. Overall it was a good workout, though I would like to be able to do more of them than just 6 (0r 7). My right shin twinged a few times on the track, and my left shin was hurting a bit when I got back to the dorms, so I iced both. The plan is to not do anything hard for 2 days, and just do some easy miles for Saturday and Sunday. I hope I can live up to it.
Time for some dinner. Ice cream anyone?
that we may potentially rent for the next (possibly) 2 years. There are six of us, so there's a lot of factors to consider, as far as how we are going to fit all of us into the house. This one was our first group trip, and it was quite good. The landlady is nice, and the house is in pretty good shape for a row house. The larger bedrooms are somewhat strangely arranged, but that's something to consider some other time. The current tenants are 4 seniors, and they are something of a mess, so the house is pretty nuts as it is right now. There are 3 floors plus a basement, so there's a lot going on. The basement is also quite interesting, with baren floors and exposed ceilings. All in all a productive trip, and at $2950 + ~$200 in utilities, it comes out to about $535 a month for each of us, which is pretty decent. There are 2 large bedrooms with baths, and 2 smaller bedrooms with no bath, though one leads out to a 2nd story patio. There is also a garage, which is nifty. A long narrow kitchen with plenty of cabinet space is nice, and there is a living room and dining room. So that was that.My run was pretty good today, went down to the track again to do some quarter repeats. The plan was 6 x 400 at 75sec each, and see how it goes. I did 78, 78, 75, 77, 76, 75, and then did one more hard, hitting 71. Rest was equal time to each quarter. It was super windy with the not so passing of the storm, since it started drizzling a bit at the end. Overall it was a good workout, though I would like to be able to do more of them than just 6 (0r 7). My right shin twinged a few times on the track, and my left shin was hurting a bit when I got back to the dorms, so I iced both. The plan is to not do anything hard for 2 days, and just do some easy miles for Saturday and Sunday. I hope I can live up to it.
Time for some dinner. Ice cream anyone?
When it rains, it pours
3 tests. 2 days. Done. Organic Chem II, Chinese, and Control Systems. Ok so the last one was a "quiz." But we only have 3 of them, and nothing else besides a final, so it's a test. So that load is over.
It really poured today. Besides my lack of sleep, the rain today was nuts. Water was pooling everywhere. I guess it's not really "pooling" anywhere than right? The campus was one big baby pool. Screw laminar flow, the storm drains where getting wrecked. Thankfully, the rain has let up after a few hours of release, and the clouds in the sky look much poofier, and less laden w/ heavy droplets. I'll go for a run once i'm done w/ this post.
Things to note:
1) ATI and nVidia are releasing the HD4890 and the GTS275 shortly, to fill the $250 price point. There are a number of interesting reviews out there, basically the cards are the same, with a slight advantage given to the ATI part because of earlier availability and better performance at 1920x1200 and down.
2) April Fools 2009 included some interesting things, from Usain Bolt pacing the 2009 Boston marathon to upside down youtube. Fun stuff.
3) My gold arrived. Time for a trip to the bank. Mmmm gold cycling. It's good for building credit and rewards points. Buy money and use that money to pay for the money that was bought. Leave the fees to the credit card companies. Oh America and its lack of credit problems.
4) I've been playing with this double pendulum simulator all day. It's such a good distraction and makes fantastic patterns. If you have a few hours to burn, here it is. Don't tell me I didn't warn you.
5) I had a pint of Ben&Jerry's Phish Food last night. It was oh-so-delicious. Let's see, 250 calories/serving of 1/2 cup x 4 servings = 1000 calories in a pint of win. Totally worth it. Chocolate ice cream w/ marshmallow swirl and fudge fish. It's like swedish fish but with more saturated fat. Speaking of saturated fat, I believe the figure is 43% DV of artery clogging goodness. Per serving. Yep, that's 43 x 4 = 172% Sat Fat. Ohhhh yeah. That's the stuff. At least I got my calcium right?
6) Linearization of non-linear state-space problems is really, really quite aweful at 1am. Thought I'd just throw that out there.
It really poured today. Besides my lack of sleep, the rain today was nuts. Water was pooling everywhere. I guess it's not really "pooling" anywhere than right? The campus was one big baby pool. Screw laminar flow, the storm drains where getting wrecked. Thankfully, the rain has let up after a few hours of release, and the clouds in the sky look much poofier, and less laden w/ heavy droplets. I'll go for a run once i'm done w/ this post.
Things to note:
1) ATI and nVidia are releasing the HD4890 and the GTS275 shortly, to fill the $250 price point. There are a number of interesting reviews out there, basically the cards are the same, with a slight advantage given to the ATI part because of earlier availability and better performance at 1920x1200 and down.
2) April Fools 2009 included some interesting things, from Usain Bolt pacing the 2009 Boston marathon to upside down youtube. Fun stuff.
3) My gold arrived. Time for a trip to the bank. Mmmm gold cycling. It's good for building credit and rewards points. Buy money and use that money to pay for the money that was bought. Leave the fees to the credit card companies. Oh America and its lack of credit problems.
4) I've been playing with this double pendulum simulator all day. It's such a good distraction and makes fantastic patterns. If you have a few hours to burn, here it is. Don't tell me I didn't warn you.
5) I had a pint of Ben&Jerry's Phish Food last night. It was oh-so-delicious. Let's see, 250 calories/serving of 1/2 cup x 4 servings = 1000 calories in a pint of win. Totally worth it. Chocolate ice cream w/ marshmallow swirl and fudge fish. It's like swedish fish but with more saturated fat. Speaking of saturated fat, I believe the figure is 43% DV of artery clogging goodness. Per serving. Yep, that's 43 x 4 = 172% Sat Fat. Ohhhh yeah. That's the stuff. At least I got my calcium right?
6) Linearization of non-linear state-space problems is really, really quite aweful at 1am. Thought I'd just throw that out there.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
I'm running more now!
So it's been a while since my last post, so I figure I should get back in the swing of things. Looking at my previous post, I just realized it's been about 8 months. So let's see, since July last summer.....
Sophomore year started. Molecules & Cells was pretty bad, the lectures were so boring. Linear Algebra consisted of not going to lecture to learn more. Thermo was irritatingly difficult. Chinese was, well, Chinese, and Intro to Business was something of a joke.
Moving on. Winter break was rather unproductive. Ate plenty of good ice cream. Ran some. Skiied some.
Intersession consisted of a BS matlab course and a course on "pursing sustainable happiness." Yeah that's what the course is actually called. Ran some more than I did first semester.
Second semester started off fairly well, with the 2 killer BME courses lined up and ready to fire. Convolutions, Fourier Transforms, lots of DiffEQs and physics. Chinese was still chinese. I'm taking Orgo 2, so that's been interesting. Intro to VLSI is rather slow but at least it's interesting.
First half of 2nd semester is over; spring break involved going home, hanging out, running, eating ice cream, watching Wall-E in 1080p and the first season of gossip girl. Interesting stuff.
Last few days of spring break: went to philly to hang with my high school friend maulik down at upenn. Met up with some other Hershey folk, namely the 2 Nancys. Had some interesting dinners and got some work done. Went to an Asian party and hung out with the two white girls there (...figures), Hanna and Emily. They are roommates. Total opposites; Emily is a raging alcoholic and crazy while Hannah is quiet and dry, and runs for UPenn. Hannah's mom is an olympic race walker. Pretty sweet stuff. Went rock climbing @ penn. That was fun, left my wrists in shambles.
So for some reason, my trip to Upenn has ignited in me the desire to be constructive and efficient and do the things I want in life and not get run down by the day-to-day homework, grades, and testing of college. So that's really sweet. I've been running way more than before, and still impervious to injury, which is great. And I've been applying to internships for the summer left and right. I still need to figure out how to get set up in china for this summer hopefully, and get the school to pay for it.
This blog might end up being transformed into a runner's blog at some point, I'll see where things go.
So today is the day after a track workout, and though I was pretty sore, I felt inclined to do a tempo run since it was time to wear my newer Brooks Defyance shoes, which are comfy. So I hit up Druid Hill for some laps around the lake at 6:40 pace. Did 30min total at 6:40 pace, hit it right on the money, 50sec per 200m. Good thing the distances are well labeled there. Got into a really nice rythm after the first mile, didn't look back. So it seems like things are coming along nicely.
However, I have 2 exams on Thursday and another on Friday, along with a homework set due on Friday in the same class as the test, so I don't know when I'll get to update again. Hopefully soon. We have a 58 page reading for tomorrow's lecture that I'm 15pgs through, so I need to get on that at some point, and sleep.
Happy April Fools! May all your tricks be merry?
Sophomore year started. Molecules & Cells was pretty bad, the lectures were so boring. Linear Algebra consisted of not going to lecture to learn more. Thermo was irritatingly difficult. Chinese was, well, Chinese, and Intro to Business was something of a joke.
Moving on. Winter break was rather unproductive. Ate plenty of good ice cream. Ran some. Skiied some.
Intersession consisted of a BS matlab course and a course on "pursing sustainable happiness." Yeah that's what the course is actually called. Ran some more than I did first semester.
Second semester started off fairly well, with the 2 killer BME courses lined up and ready to fire. Convolutions, Fourier Transforms, lots of DiffEQs and physics. Chinese was still chinese. I'm taking Orgo 2, so that's been interesting. Intro to VLSI is rather slow but at least it's interesting.
First half of 2nd semester is over; spring break involved going home, hanging out, running, eating ice cream, watching Wall-E in 1080p and the first season of gossip girl. Interesting stuff.
Last few days of spring break: went to philly to hang with my high school friend maulik down at upenn. Met up with some other Hershey folk, namely the 2 Nancys. Had some interesting dinners and got some work done. Went to an Asian party and hung out with the two white girls there (...figures), Hanna and Emily. They are roommates. Total opposites; Emily is a raging alcoholic and crazy while Hannah is quiet and dry, and runs for UPenn. Hannah's mom is an olympic race walker. Pretty sweet stuff. Went rock climbing @ penn. That was fun, left my wrists in shambles.
So for some reason, my trip to Upenn has ignited in me the desire to be constructive and efficient and do the things I want in life and not get run down by the day-to-day homework, grades, and testing of college. So that's really sweet. I've been running way more than before, and still impervious to injury, which is great. And I've been applying to internships for the summer left and right. I still need to figure out how to get set up in china for this summer hopefully, and get the school to pay for it.
This blog might end up being transformed into a runner's blog at some point, I'll see where things go.
So today is the day after a track workout, and though I was pretty sore, I felt inclined to do a tempo run since it was time to wear my newer Brooks Defyance shoes, which are comfy. So I hit up Druid Hill for some laps around the lake at 6:40 pace. Did 30min total at 6:40 pace, hit it right on the money, 50sec per 200m. Good thing the distances are well labeled there. Got into a really nice rythm after the first mile, didn't look back. So it seems like things are coming along nicely.
However, I have 2 exams on Thursday and another on Friday, along with a homework set due on Friday in the same class as the test, so I don't know when I'll get to update again. Hopefully soon. We have a 58 page reading for tomorrow's lecture that I'm 15pgs through, so I need to get on that at some point, and sleep.
Happy April Fools! May all your tricks be merry?
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