Running as a Math Geek

I will never deny it. I LOVE math. In particular, I love statistics. A lot of what goes on in the world doesn't make a great deal of sense to me, but analyzing statistics does. I took two extra statistics classes in grad school for fun.

My running buddies make so much fun of me because I analyze all kinds of stats associated with my running and remember them. I can tell you my pace for all of my individual races. I can tell you how many miles are on my shoes, down to a hundredth of a mile. I don't need to convert pace into miles per hour, because I know it already for my speed. I store mental maps in my head. I knew the route for half of the legs for Ragnar DC this past year. My running partners for the Marine Corps Marathon were surprised I didn't have the route memorized. Yesterday, I mentioned someone who we hadn't seen in a while who pushed me through my 7-mile run. I knew exactly when it happened 17 months ago, but mainly because it was my longest run ever to that point.

Do your running partners have something about which they tease you with your running? Are you a stat head and remember dates, times, paces?

I also look for birds when I run, but that's a story for another time.

6 Days Until Ragnar / Proving It To Myself

So, about a week from now, I will be DONE with Ragnar DC. Yesterday, my team captain had me adjust my pace time. Our team was over 11min/mi and Ragnar doesn't allow that. I had my pace at 10:45. I ran my first 5K in April at 10:38 and my second 5K at 11:02. I figured that was probably about where I stood. Well, I've been consistently running 10min/mi and sometimes I manage even faster, so I adjusted my pace to 10. Well, today, I set out to prove to myself that I could do it, with hills. Oh, I more than proved it. I did 9:45 with 200 feet of incline over 4 miles! I guess I am ready for my 7.9 miles up a hill :)

NO EXCUSES!