Fascination with Numbers ... Continued

If you've read this blog before you will know that I have an unhealthy fascination with numbers. Yes, my training log on the computer has every workout since 1992 fully totaled and graphed. So it was with glee that I got my new GARMIN 305 to make sure I was really running 20 miles and not 19.5 (and overestimating my true speed). Based upon my long runs (which turned out to be not quite so long) and long bike rides, the little device seemed uncannily accurate except for one situation.

Once a week I hit the Phoenixville High School track for some sort of torture (like Yasso 800s or 3 x 3M @ Tempo). I follow the rule that says to alternate track directions to lessen the pressure on the knees. Over the last two months with this device it has been strangely consistent. It always said I ran shorter when I ran counter-clockwise (normal track direction) than when I ran clockwise. After a while I learned to subtract 10 seconds from the pace when going in the seemingly shorter direction (Confused yet?).

Yesterday, while running away from a pack of mostly overweight middle-school students it hit me. Duh! My watch was on my LEFT hand. When I ran counter-clockwise it was traveling a shorter distance then my RIGHT hand. When I ran clockwise the watch is on the outside (closer to lane 2) and was then traveling a longer distance. I laughed at myself and said that couldn't make up for the 2-3 % difference in distances that I consistently found.

Then I did the math ...

Making simple assumptions (equal quadrant track) gives the curve on the track a radius of 31.8 meters. If I simply add ONE meter to the radius (about the width of a lane), the total distance around the track turned out to be 406 meters, about 1.5% more. Even adding about two feet (distance apart hands are when running) there was a clear 1% difference. The straightaways are the same so there was a big chunk of the difference I saw. The other part could be easily explained (though I wasn't going there) by the fact that watch checks its position once a second and it would cut the radius into little chords a bit shorter than I would get if the measurement was continuous (remember your calculus with epsilon and delta?). I had noticed that the slower I ran the closer the GARMIN said I traveled the 400M around.

Moral of the story: RUN THE TANGENTS

Educational Expectations

Yesterday afternoon during my office hours I witnessed something that was truly sad. A University College student in my Visual Basic class asked for some help in doing a couple of assigned programming problems. The course is intended for Decision and System Sciences students in the Haub School as part of their major and normally would be taken after basic mathematics and statistics courses are taken, but sometimes they might not have one or the other of the prerequisites. We have UC students who have been granted credit for these courses from other schools, particularly junior colleges. In teaching this course I must assume a few fundamentals. I was not prepared for what happened yesterday.

The first problem involved a simple program for calculating total prices when there are discounts based upon volume. The student complained of being unable to get the result to show up on the screen. So I asked to see where it was in the program that the result was displayed. Sheepishly it was acknowledged that the calculation wasn't done yet, so I asked the student to describe to me how to solve this problem:

A product sells for $100 and there is a 10% discount. What is the selling price?

The bewildered student sat there with a blank stare, mumbling about once knowing how to solve this problem. I carefully wrote down the equations and the outline of the code for that calculation.

We moved onto the next problem. In this one, the program was to take three grades from student tests, calculate the average and select the appropriate letter grade. I thought his problem was with the second step which involves the use of a complex logical expression or an esoteric SELECT CASE statement. No, the problem was with the first part.

I asked: If you got a 100 and a 50 on two tests, what would your average score be?

Again, no response. There was no understanding of the underlying process of computing an average.

Many of my programming students do not have the talent or interest in become expert at the nuance of programming and system development and so we help them achieve an understanding of the difficulty that programmers and developers face. Others go on to become crack programmers.

Where did we go wrong in giving my student the false hope that he/she had the ability to do either?

Ilan and Melodie First Birthday Pictures

Here are my pictures of the Ilan's and Melodie's First Birthdays.
Click on the pictures to go to the websites.

Ilan: http://family.yermish.com/Ilan1
Melodie: http://family.yermish.com/Melodie1

LiveStrong, ChesapeakeMan and Beyond ...

It has been a while since I've written about events. The "Boston Massacre" is long behind me and I've had a very interesting summer. There were a number of smaller races, a pretty bad performance at Mooseman, a couple of good ones at other races, including a decent return to Timberman with my friend from Florida, Ed Deppmann. It has been a tough year from him as I described in my post from Tampa, but he had a great race in New Hampshire with me.


I hit my target of 1:45 at the Philadelphia Distance Run by almost a minute giving me the "privilege" of a preferred start at the Chicago Marathon in 2007 if I choose to do that race. We'll come back to that one in a while. I've trained hard, with a goal race of the ChesapeakeMan Ironman Distance Triathlon. Along the way I did my swimming, cycling and running, following a tough but reasonable training schedule. The schedule required a couple of 100 mile bike rides and I did one of them with my New Jersey club. Over the course of the years I would do the MS 150 ride down to Ocean City. This year I decided to do something a little different and made my plans and donations to the Lance Armstrong Foundation and scheduled the LiveStrong ride in Philadelphia for the 100 mile event. It is more challenging with hills and would be a new experience for me. Fortunately, the ride started about twenty minutes away from home and it was easy to get to the start of the ride that would wander through Montgomery County before heading into Philadelphia via Manayunk and the River Drives.

I pondered which bike to ride: the trusty Litespeed, now cleansed of aerobars and perfect for the hilly and tricky route, or the new Kuota triathlon bike. I wanted more miles on the new bike and loaded that one in the car and headed to Montgomery County Community College. I got to the start in plenty of time to begin at the announced start time of 7:10 AM. Of course, you can't start a charity ride without some speeches and this was to be the case as well. Finally, around 7:30 the 2,500 or so cyclists, many decked out in yellow and black for the ride of 40, 70 or 100 miles.

I started out pretty hard, pushing things to get away from some of the less skilled riders and closer to the front where things are safer on these rides. I probably went out too fast for a 100 mile training ride, but it felt fine. After about fifteen or twenty miles we were stopped at a traffic light and a fortyish woman stopped next to me said "Nice bike!" She was also riding a triathlon bike so we had an obvious point of contact to start up a discussion. Since I was riding this one alone, it was great to chat with another tri-geek. Terrie is a paramedic from New Hampshire and has done some half-Ironman events but said she was getting "too old" to do an Ironman. Then I told her how old I was when I did my first Ironman (age 57) and that she had no excuse. We rode together for a few miles and then I dropped her climbing one of the many hills on the ride.

About ten miles later at a rest stop in Fairmount Park I waited for her to catch up. This was her first trip to Philadelphia and I offered to give her a running commentary as we passed my old neighborhoods and one of the schools I attended. She was concerned that she was going to keep me back and I thanked her for making sure that I didn't push things too hard. This was supposed to be a long, easy ride. We had a great time exchanging information and tidbits. It was clear that she was very active in the Foundation and a really giving person. Then again, that's what this is all supposed to be about.

The day got warm and the hills mounted up. The ride through downtown Philadelphia along the Delaware and to the Stadium area wasn't all that pleasant. After a stretch of about 30 miles of flat riding it was time head back through Mount Airy and Germantown to get back to Bluebell. Even though she was from New Hampshire, our little hills took their toll. (My Garmin said we did over 6,000' of climbing but it tends to overstate that a bit.) She was happy that she had someone to share the hills with. She was having troubles with her pedals and that added to the frustration.

I guess it was around 2:30 in the afternoon when we finished the day's ride. Together, new friends approached the finish line of a day of sharing our love for cycling in a way that gives to others. We are the lucky ones who have good health and a willingness to push our bodies to the limit. With a little help from our friends we did our part to help others less fortunate.


Terrie and I exchanged stories and e-mail addresses and went our separate ways, she back to New Hampshire, and me back home for a great dinner with an old friend.

With the completion of the Livestrong Challenge, I had completed the long rides before ChesapeakeMan. There was plenty of swimming and running left, but my very challenging training schedule seemed well in hand.

On Friday, September 29, I headed down to Maryland. There were the usual Friday afternoon traffic problems and I arrived much later than I had planned. For a triathlete, there is nothing worse than last minute excitement. So many details must be attended to, so many bags have to be packed and checklists checked. I almost got it right except for one detail: loading up the bike with food for the first half of the ride. Though annoying, I knew I could get up a half-hour earlier and drive over to the transition zone to stock the bike with Gatorade, trail mix, Fig Newtons and Enduralytes.

As is always the case, I got no sleep the night before the race. That was OK. I understood this would be the case and was sure to have a very good night's sleep the night before. At 5:00 AM I gave up and made my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, packed the balance of the food in the transition and special needs bags and headed over to load the bike. I returned to the hotel where the race would start and headed down to the little beach along the river. The water looked calm, though I knew we would be fighting the rising tide.

As the sun rose at 7:00 AM over the Choptank River, the 200 or so athletes competing in the full Ironman or the shortened versions with swim and cycling or just swim, I got in the water for the long swim downriver. The water was brackish but clear. It was very calm and sighting was relatively easy, especially since the first half was headed towards a bridge! I felt good and did not have any of the usual early race panic that was common in my early races. I think I've gotten that issue behind me. I settled into the rhythm, stroke, 2, 3, 4, sight ... It was a long swim thanks to the tide coming in but at least it was calm. It took what seemed like forever to get to the first half of the swim, going under the bridge. Clearly, the current must have had something to do with it. The second half of the swim had many more marker buoys which went on forever. About a half-mile from the finish we swam through a large patch of jellyfish and I got stung on my face and ears. I would feel it for the rest of the day. Nothing serious, just annoying. Finally, the end of the swim came and I clicked the Polar and saw the 1:40 which was right on top of my target and clearly reflected the current. Everyone complained of both the current (long times) and the jellyfish (swollen lips). I had a reasonably quick transition and headed out on the Kuota for the flat course on the Maryland Eastern Shore through farmland and the magnificent Blackwater Nature Reserve. No I didn't see any eagles. My head was down too much to keep out of the wind.

It felt good on the bike but I pushed a little on the start, passing too many faster swimmers. Of course, there was a bit of a tailwind on this leg. After the turnaround on an early out and back section before the two main loops, I realized that I was flying thanks to a tailwind. It was time to face the music. For the next twenty-five miles we headed into an increasingly strong wind. One disadvantage of a pancake flat course is that you never get a chance to coast. It is just pedal, pedal, pedal. At this point one of my age group competitors passed me like I was standing still so I knew (not that I had any hopes) that I wasn't going to finish first in my age group. There were four men registered in the 55-59 (geezer) group so there was a good chance I would "place". Around miles 30-40 I felt lousy and was concerned that this was going to be a VERY long day. Finally, we made a turn around mile 50 and picked up 15 miles of tailwind back to the transition and special needs area. Barring a shift in the wind (which seems to always happen), I knew that this same tail wind would be there for the last fifteen miles of the 112 mile bike ride.

I hit the 65 mile mark where I was able to rest a bit, eat a PB&J and down a banana. Quickly, I was off for the second loop of about 47 miles. I felt much better with the food in my stomach and went back into the wind. For a while it was OK, but at about mile 90 it was brutal. I was very careful to keep my heartrate under control. Given that this was my third Ironman event I knew that to take it easy and keep the HR in the 135-140 BPM area. Finally, the last turn came and I cruised the last 15 miles thanks to the strong tailwind. The finishing tailwind gave me a chance to relax and get the legs loose for the upcoming marathon.

Along the bike route I jockeyed with a number of athletes. One was a tall, slim 21 year-old riding a Cervelo P3 with Zipp 404's. He didn't get that bike with money earned at working at McDonald's. We chatted and he asked me what I expected to run the marathon in. I told him I should finish in under five hours and he was impressed. That was his weakest leg. It was his first Ironman and he asked if he should get off the bike to take a pee. "YES!" I said, and he was relieved (in both senses of the words). He never caught me again, but we did exchange pleasantries across the three loop out-and-back run.

Thanks to the tailwind, I was able to finish the bike leg strong and under my goal of seven hours by a couple of minutes. It would have been nice to hit 6:30 which I knew I could have done on the flat course, but the wind took its toll.

I started the run and knew that a solid 11:00/mile pace would be maintainable and would give me the sub-5 marathon and a sub-14 Ironman (and PR by a long way). It was a pleasant, flat three loop out-and back course through farmland and I was able to settle in very nicely at HR=140 and Pace=11:00/mile. I hit every stop, kept hydrated and fed and felt surprisingly good. I was wearing a pair of year-and-half-old Mizuno Wave Precisions which are really too light and had too many miles on them but they felt great. I passed a fair number of people on the run. Those that passed me were on the later loops of the race. There were six 4+ mile legs and I counted them down one-by-one and was happy how well I felt. Before the last out and back, I stopped at the special needs area and passed up the long-sleeved jersey since it was still warm and nibbled some more PB&J. I donned a lightstick since we would be running in the dark and headed out knowing that I was in great shape. At mile 22 I checked all the numbers and knew I had all of the goals well in hand. I could ease up a bit, knowing that I was going to be running the Dublin Marathon in four weeks. I walked about a mile over the last four miles, constantly checking that the sub-5 marathon was not in jeopardy. Finally, at the last aid station a mile out, I fueled up on some warm chicken soup, could see the lights of the finish area and opened up for the last mile.

As I entered the stadium with 300 yards to go another runner was about 25 yards ahead of me. I tried to sprint but he saw me and opened up as well. He finished 20 seconds ahead of me. When I checked the results the next day I discovered that he was the same man that passed me early in the bike leg. He came in second in the age group and I came in third. (He was 55 and I am 59 so I really beat him age-graded!) It would have been a piece of cake to make up that 20 seconds during the run but I couldn't know how close he was. Did it matter? Not one bit. I was the second oldest finisher and managed to beat 30% of the younger men and 50% of the women. Not bad for a man who started this sport just three years ago.

Final results: Swim 1:40, Bike: 6:56, Run: 4:48, Total: 13:46:41

A friend and her one-year old, future Tri-Kid met me at the finish line and I was very pleased. It was an Ironman PR by about 45 minutes and I knew that I was ready to undertake the adventure described below. I had a couple of pieces of pizza and lots of cold soda. It is amazing how little one can eat after an Ironman. I got back to the hotel, downed some Pringles, showered for as long as possible and fell asleep within milliseconds of my head hitting the pillow.

I awoke the next morning and felt surprisingly good with just some soreness in the quads. Now, I could eat. The hotel had a buffet brunch and I got my money's worth. After a less hectic ride home I was able to put things in perspective and finish the details of my plan for next year. All of the careful training and learning from my mistakes during the year paid off in a great Ironman.

So, here we go ...

Last year I thought about how time was flying. I would be sixty and I needed another challenge. Dean Kanzares plans 50 marathons in 50 days ... That was out of my league and financially infeasible. There was RAAM, but that was also kind of out of the question. What would be both physically and fiscally feasible? It came to me: a major race once a month for a year. To test the proposition, I ran the 2005 Philadelphia Marathon about four weeks after running the Venice Marathon with my brother Neal (See post below). I did both in under four hours and had little physical problem doing it. I just needed a good Ironman under my belt after struggling at Ironman USA in Lake Placid in 2005. Now, that is out of the way. At the tender age of 59 I figured out how my body can complete a good Ironman event.

The plan:

On May 25, 2007 I will celebrate my 60th birthday. On May 27, 2007 I will compete in my fourth Ironman, Ironman Brazil, with many of the friends from the South Florida Triathletes I met in Austria in 2004. Then, once each month, I would do a Marathon, Half-Ironman or Ironman for the next twelve months, ending in a celebratory Boston Marathon in April 2008. Along the way, I will need a 4:00:59 in a marathon to qualify for Boston, but that should be well within my grasp. I will be running Dublin in a few weeks and my brother Neal and I will be working to get him his first 3:59:59 marathon. If he reaches his goal, I will reach mine.

The Tentative Schedule ...

1. May 2007: Ironman Brazil
2. June 2007: Tupper Lake, NY Tinman (1/2 Ironman)
3. July 2007: Mountain Man Flagstaff (1/2 Ironman)
4. August 2007: 5430 - Boulder Colorado (1/2 Ironman)
5. September 2007: Grand Columbian Washington (1/2 Ironman)
6. October 2007: Wineglass, NY or Chicago Marathon
7. November 2007: Ironman Florida
8. December 2007: Memphis or California International Marathon
9. January 2008: Goofy 1/2 Marathon and Marathon
10. February 2008: Austin Marathon
11. March 2008: California 70.3 (Half-Ironman)
12. April 2008: Boston Marathon
13. May 2008: Napa Half-Ironman or Wildflower Half-Ironman or ...

I will be on the list for Kona when I do Ironman Brazil, but historically, there is only one slot for the M60-64 group and the odds of the rolldown reaching me are quite slim. If that happens things will change in October and November. This schedule is organized so that there is at least three weeks between events with the exception of the last event. I may select some event later in May of 2008. I should keep the dream of Hawaii and I might just enter the lottery for a few years.

My goal is to both write about and photograph this project. The story might be interesting for others who are getting a little older and need their new challenges. As I prepare for and participate in, these events, I will post the progress. Send an e-mail message to me at ira@yermish.com if you'd like to get on the distribution list.