To Infinity and Beyond - Becoming a Better DopeyBadger (Comments Welcome)

[ZellyB]

75 days to the next marathon! Exciting!!!

 

[DopeyBadger]

You know my training plan kicks into high gear when I add back in my homemade protein bars. This time I've added a twist and taken out the coconut flakes/extract and added in peanut butter powder instead. Delicious!

 

[dmross]

I was a Federal Criminal Court juror for a case involving prostitution, drugs, assault, and a weapon. I wasn't allowed to discuss the case with anyone and thought it best to not even mention that's what I was doing. However, the case is over as of last Friday so my secrecy has been lifted. This is what I learned by being a juror.

Perspective
The #1 thing I walked out of this experience learning is perspective. I only got a small glimpse into the lives of others during last week's trial, but it was enough for me to understand a few things. I've seen crime dramas on tv. I've watched Cops and other shows like it. But it's never been more real to hear about other people's lives than this past week has been. The things that these people went through (both the witnesses and defendant) were heartbreaking. It was emotionally exhausting hearing all of these unbelievably sad stories. I learned that I need to appreciate my life more. I learned that what I've gone through in life pales in comparison to lives like those I heard about. As each of the people were talking, it was difficult to hold back tears. I wanted to go up and give each of them a hug. And even though the defendant committed some awful things, I still felt empathy for him. I too wanted to give him a hug because of the awful things in the defendant's life. I could see a string of bad decisions led us to where we were in the court room by the defendant and the witnesses. The whole situation was sad. I gained perspective that my life up to now has been pretty easy. I've learned from this brief experience that I should appreciate my life more.

Media
I've never experienced media slant in my life. I've heard of it, but never experienced it. I have now. After the trial was over, I lifted the ban on outside information and read the newspaper articles from before and after the trial.

Pre-Trial (Local Newspaper)
Post-Trial (Local Newspaper)
Post-Trial (TV News)
Post-Trial (3rd party)
Post-Trial (Government)

I won't go into details. But needless to say, this is not all of the information. A reasonable person would read these things and immediately think to themselves why did it take 10 hours for the jury to reach a verdict. Because it wasn't that easy.

Court System
One of the things the judge said to us during the jury selection process was "Wouldn't you want someone like you to serve on a jury if you were on trial for something?" This was in reference to imploring the potential jurors to not try to deselect themselves based on their circumstances. As potential jurors, we should want to be on the jury trial because we would want someone like us if we were in the defendants place. But that begs a very big question. How is one selected to appear for the jury selection process? Well for federal court, it's whether you voted in the presidential election. And for state court, it's whether you have a driver's license (in WI case that is). I wasn't aware of this until after the jury deliberation had started (however this was never raised in the deliberations, but merely a conversation about the system in general). Who are the least likely to vote or have a driver's license? Typically the poor and disenfranchised (I think someone who committed a felony loses the right to vote for a period of time). So to me, the system seems rigged against those groups of people when selecting a jury "like them". Or to put it another way, can we consider the jury a "slice of society" when it knowingly is more likely missing a group of people more often. Seems like there should be a better way to select potential jurors (what about social security numbers?).

Also. what's the difference between a state crime and a federal crime? Well in this case, it was effecting (even in a minor way) interstate commerce. You know what counts as interstate commerce? These days pretty much anything.

Your phone carrier is from a different state - interstate commerce
Your car is from a different state - interstate commerce
The website you use is from a different state - interstate commerce
The hotel you stayed at is headquartered in a different state - interstate commerce

In today's society almost everything we interact with is interstate commerce. I'd be shocked based on these grounds that almost anything couldn't be charged in federal court if they wanted to. With it being a federal crime instead of a state crime, it carries with it different sentencing guidelines (found out after trial was over).

My role
Once the trial went to jury deliberation we were tasked with finding the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt based on the evidence presented in the court room. When we entered that room, the defendant was innocent and the evidence needed to prove otherwise. I immediately volunteered my services as jury foreman (or leader of the group). I did this for two reasons:

1) I wanted to make sure we took a VERY deliberative and analytical process in determining our verdict. I wanted to make sure we analyzed every word, sentence, and circumstance of the charges against the defendant to make sure we could prove every necessary piece of information. This frustrated some, but from my perspective was a necessary step to ensure things were done correctly.

2) I wanted to make sure that ONLY relevant things were discussed during the deliberations. Discussion about things that were struck from the record, or issues of personal characteristics, or things that just weren't appropriate, I just wasn't going to have any of it. I ONLY wanted to hear the facts and anytime anyone tried to steer the discussion otherwise, I made sure we stayed on task. I wanted our verdict to be based on facts, not emotions. Given the nature of the crimes involved, in my perspective, this was VERY difficult for some of the other jurors.

But this is a running journal
The trial upset my normal running rhythm. I run at the same time of day. I eat the same foods. I go to sleep around the same time every night. All of these things were thrown off because of this added event in my life. It made the runs more difficult. My diet was off. My sleep schedule was off. My natural rhythm to my running week was off. But, it occurred to me very early in the week. Again, it's about perspective. I'm doing something I love. I get to have this block of time in my life to get to do something like running. Yes, it was hard to run, hard to find time to do it, I was tired, and definitely lacking on my nutrition, but the runs felt different because of what I heard in other's lives. I've gained a new appreciation for my hobby of running.

That's all. I appreciate the well wishes and other statements. I wanted to be less vague and let you all know nothing bad happened, but I felt it best not to elaborate until after the trial was over. As always, thanks for reading.

Great description! Thanks for sharing. I'm glad you took an intentional approach to the case.

Have a great week!

 

[ZellyB]

Yum. Those bars look tasty!

 

[DopeyBadger]

75 days to the next marathon! Exciting!!!

Crazy to think I'm just passing the halfway mark. It both feels like I've been training forever for this race, and yet it doesn't feel like it's been so long since the Wisconsin Marathon.

Great description! Thanks for sharing. I'm glad you took an intentional approach to the case.

Have a great week!

Thanks! I approached the situation like many others in my life. I did what I would want someone else to do for me.

Yum. Those bars look tasty!

They are amazing! The peanut butter powder kind of solidified on the top into a gooey like peanut butter crust. It's ridiculous to think they're actually good for me (to a point). I think I like them better than the original recipe with the coconut.

 

[DopeyBadger]

67 Days to Go (Santarem, Brazil)

It's time to make a confession. I don't live in Wisconsin. I actually live in Santarem, Brazil. Here is a global picture of where I live.



As you can see my city is right in the heart of the Amazon River. It's the second largest city along the Amazon with a total population of 200,000. Here are some pictures of me and my family along the outskirts of the city.

My friends fishing.



That's my house.



There's me in my boat.



Now of course one of the things we're most famous for in the Amazon is our entirely oppressive weather conditions. Here we like to evaluate the weather conditions using a combination of the temperature and dew point. On most days our T+D is around 155-165. It can be tolerable if you learn to live with it, but boy does it make it hard to run.



Let's see what happened...

Date - Day - Scheduled Workout (Intervals within desired pace, Speed +/- 5 sec, everything else +/- 10 sec)

7/20/16 - W - Medicine Ball Workout (MBW)
7/21/16 - R - 1.5 miles @ 9:33 min/mile + 8 miles @ 7:33 min/mile + 1.5 miles @ 9:30 min/mile (3/8)
7/22/16 - F - 10 miles @ 9:11 min/mile (1/10)
7/23/16 - Sat - 11 miles @ 8:33 min/mile (3/11) + MBW
7/24/16 - Sun - 12 miles @ 8:13 min/mile (9/12)
7/25/16 - M - 9 miles @ 9:11 min/mile (7/9)
7/26/16 - T - 2 miles @ 9:37 min/mile + 8 x 800m @ 6:39 min/mile with 400m RI @ 9:48 min/mile + 2 miles @ 9:55 min/mile (1/8)

Total mileage = 62.75 miles
Number of intervals within pace = 24/58 (41%)

Soooooo...

Thursday was another decision day. My wife had to close, the weather was predicted to be BRUTAL in the afternoon (T+D of 165), and my mom had Gigi to be dropped off at 5:30pm so it came down to me having to run in the early morning. I got up at 3:30am. Downed a gel at 3:45. And was running by 4:00am. The T+D was 148 and no sun (obviously cause it hadn't risen yet). I'm not a big fan of running super early morning because I tend to have to be SUPER aware of my surroundings. It's different at night because it seems people are more aware of runners. But in the morning people are still groggy at 4am and just aren't paying attention. ESPECIALLY that darn newspaper delivery guy. I don't know how many times he's come close to hitting me. Anyways that's all to say that my perception of effort is typically increased in super early morning runs meaning my pace typically doesn't match my output regardless of the weather. This run was no different. The first couple tempo miles were in the 7:50-8:10 range. But as the sun started to peak through the clouds, and the environment became brighter I started to get naturally faster. I finished out the run feeling very strong and closed with a 7:25 at a very comfortable effort. A major success! Another oddity was having a wolf/coyote/white dog cross my path around mile 7. Can't be sure what it was, mostly likely a dog, but it sure spooked me as it sprinted across the road from one backyard to the next.

It turned out running the super early morning was actually a REALLY good decision because that evening a MASSIVE storm rolled through. Lightening, 60mph winds, and torrential rain. We got 4.5 in of rain in just 2 hours. So the bad part was I had to drive back into Madison to pick up my wife from work. So me and Gigi loaded into the car once the storm let up and drove about our normal route. About halfway through we typically pass underneath a bridge, but the car in front of me slammed on their brakes and swerved onto the bridge on-ramp. I'm thinking to myself wow, what an idiot. Then I got to where he was and WHOA. There's a ton of water under the bridge and two cars stuck in the flooded road. So I slammed on my brakes and swerved onto the bridge as well. Then I got back to my normal route and was driving along. All the cars started moving to the furthest right lane so I followed suit. The left lanes had some water but not terrible. Got past that and was like whew. Then only 200m past that we came upon another completely flooded road. EEK! Another couple of cars were stuck, so I quick pulled into a parking lot right before the flooded road. Now I was in a predicament. I was on a one-way with no access to the other direction. My only direction is into the flooded road. The only way to get back is to drive the wrong way down the road. I sat there for 10 minutes pondering my next move as more cars started joining me in the parking lot. Gigi started crying that she wanted to go home and that she was scared. I told her I was scared too and didn't know what to do. After a few minutes, some of the cars in the parking lot put on their flashers and started going the wrong way on the one way. I thought to myself this is our best chance of getting out of here. So I followed suit. Thankfully we encountered no problems getting out of there and were able to finally find a non-flooded route to my wife, but boy was that nerve-racking!

Friday came and instead of early morning we were back to our normal afternoon running schedule. The T+D was predicted to be high again on Friday, but since it was an easy day I wasn't terribly concerned. In ended up being 163, which was crazy intense. Honestly, I've never run in anything like that before. The pace was suppose to be 9:11, but it slowly crept up to 10:01 as a final mile. The effort was the same throughout but clearly the pace suffered because of the temperatures. But again, I trust the effort system so I was unconcerned with the falling paces. The neighbors would have sworn I jumped in a pool when I came home.

Saturday was going to be another miserably hot day. I decided to sleep in a little extra because of Friday's tough workout. BAD IDEA! Another T+D of 162! Another very uncomfortable day. I SERIOUSLY considered quitting on many of my loops back to the house. But I kept the effort easy and just kept pushing. I got home and I was wrecked. My wife had to get me my chocolate milk stat because I was crashing hard when I got home. After stretching and showering I was better, but I was exhausted. I jokingly said to myself it felt like the Amazon out there. Now I've never been to the Amazon, only the description of it being hot and humid. So I decided as a joke I'd actually look up what the current conditions were like in the middle of the Amazon river. I chose Santarem, Brazil. Low and behold the current T+D there was 163, barely different then the conditions in Wisconsin. So I could legitimately say that the conditions in Wisconsin that morning were Amazon-like.

Sunday there was finally a break in the weather. T+D was 151 but with cloud cover. A very solid run and even started getting in the zone around mile 9. I had to pull back and keep the pace at 8:13. Another nice sign that things are going well, it's just a matter of the weather not cooperating. Overall a very successful run!

Monday was an easy day. T+D of 149 and some clouds but mostly sunny. Hit 8/9 paces comfortably with the one outlier being too fast. Successful run!

Tuesday was one of the last speed days. Only this one and the remaining 4x1600 next week, and then it's onto marathon specific training. T+D = 149 with full sun. The run started out a bit slow, but has each interval passed I became more and more comfortable. Let's see the splits..

Goal-3:19.5
1- 3:44
2- 3:31
3- 3:25
4- 3:24
5- 3:24
6- 3:22
7- 3:25
8- 3:21 (!!!!)

The last interval was actually within pace. I actually started to feel in the zone during the last interval which was a pleasant surprise given the non-ideal weather conditions. Getting stronger!

So, that makes two consecutive SOS runs with a "zone" feeling in them. Now why is that? Well, it's because we just passed the 9 weeks into training mark. Why is that significant? Because when you restart a training cycle it takes between 8-12 weeks to maximize mitochondria production for the current cycle. So we're just starting to hit the phase of the training where I've maximized my strength/power generators (the mitochondria) and now it's about teaching them what we need to do to finish the marathon. Not quite the "it" feeling like I've talked about, but it's hinting that it's coming.

This week is just another reminder that the summer weather conditions can absolutely wreak havoc on a scheduled training plan. But if you just maintain the effort and throw pace out the window, you'll be right where you want to be when Fall comes around. Making predictions about goals, or worrying about your paces when the T+D is in the 160s is fruitless. Unless your race is going to also be in the 160s, then you likely have little to worry about. In fact, if anything this is another validation reason to having a training journal like this. If you keep good records of multiple weather conditions and the effect it had on your run, then you'll have less surprises when race day comes. You'll know in advance how your body will tolerate those conditions. Whether it be faster or slower than what you did in training. That's why I always like to say "I'm training for a 3:18". I could say my goal time is 3:18, but until the weather conditions of my race are more solidified it's just too hard to say what my goal is. But no matter the race conditions, I'm training for a 3:18. As of right now, my predicted window is between a 3:12-3:30 based on how I've tolerated different possible marathon day weather conditions. Once it gets closer, I'll have a better idea of an actual prediction.

 

[Ariel484]

This week is just another reminder that the summer weather conditions can absolutely wreak havoc on a scheduled training plan.

PREACH.

Looks like a great week despite the Amazonian conditions! Crazy weather for you guys, glad the drive turned out okay!

 

[DopeyBadger]

PREACH.

Looks like a great week despite the Amazonian conditions! Crazy weather for you guys, glad the drive turned out okay!

Thanks! There a few days this upcoming week's cycle that look like they'll have great training weather (Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday). It should be a better reflection of where my fitness is at.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Here's another reason not to worry about the current weather situation. Below is the last nine years of weather (T+D) of the date of my marathon (10/2) at about the midpoint of the race (its a point to point).



Below 100 for T+D is a no adjustment absolute PR zone. In 4 of the last 9 years, both the beginning and end of the race have been below 100. In three of the years, it was just BARELY above the 100 mark and still excellent conditions for running. In the remaining two years, the weather was warmer, but still at least 30 points less than what I'm training in now. So, that puts it at around a 78% chance of PR type weather, and a 22% chance for good weather with an ever so slight adjustment slower in pace. Overall though, not concerned about the current 150-160s I've been dealing right now.

 

[roxymama]

Ok, please send your recipe for those peanut butter guys. If you've learned anything about me, I will take any excuse to cook something new.

That wasn't a dog, it was a direwolf. That means Winter is Coming. It's like a groundhog but for brutally cold endless winters! So fear not, soon you will be able to move from the Amazon to Beyond the Wall!
(I apologize if you are not a game of thrones nerd like me...ignore the above paragraph if you have no idea what I am talking about.)

 

[DopeyBadger]

Ok, please send your recipe for those peanut butter guys. If you've learned anything about me, I will take any excuse to cook something new.

That wasn't a dog, it was a direwolf. That means Winter is Coming. It's like a groundhog but for brutally cold endless winters! So fear not, soon you will be able to move from the Amazon to Beyond the Wall!
(I apologize if you are not a game of thrones nerd like me...ignore the above paragraph if you have no idea what I am talking about.)

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Protein Bars

Cooking spray
2 cups egg whites
2 bananas, mashed
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
3 cups quick oats
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vanilla whey protein powder
2/3 cup organic peanut butter powder (Honeyville from Costco)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375.
Cooking spray on a cookie sheet with high edges
Mix oats, sugar, baking powder, salt, whey protein, and peanut butter powder in large mixing bowl. I mix with spatula.
Mash banana in medium mixing bowl. Add eqq whites, coconut oil, and vanilla extract. I mix with spatula.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients
Spread onto cookie sheet
Bake for 16-18 minutes
I cut up within 5 minutes of removing from fridge
Best stored in fridge to keep fresh


Makes 8 servings (I eat one serving per day, which is about 4 bars)
Per serving: 333 calories, 7g fat, 53g carbs, 4g dietary fiber, and 19g protein

*Recipe from Racing Weight Cookbook by Matt Fitzgerald (a must cookbook for athletes, haven't found many recipes I don't like).

LOL! I've seen Game of Thrones, but only casually. But I'll take it as a great sign if Winter is coming. But can it be fall, I'd really like the 40-60 temps for a while.

 

[roxymama]

Thanks for the recipe!

And I'm sure we will have at least one week of Fall this year

 

[DopeyBadger]

Had to share! My coworker brought in cookies and well they're beautiful and taste delicious.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Forgot to add that I recently got two new running outfits. And yes... I'm aware my shorts are women's... The men's was a 7 inch inseam which to me is crazy long for men's shorts. Yea so whatever get over it. I like my shorts short and split for range of flexibility.

 

[dmross]

It's time to make a confession. I don't live in Wisconsin. I actually live in Santarem, Brazil. Here is a global picture of where I live.

Um, yeah. I spent 5 minutes trying to understand how you fake your Strava routes...

That wasn't a dog, it was a direwolf. That means Winter is Coming. It's like a groundhog but for brutally cold endless winters! So fear not, soon you will be able to move from the Amazon to Beyond the Wall!lol
(I apologize if you are not a game of thrones nerd like me...ignore the above paragraph if you have no idea what I am talking about.)

... It's TRUE! It must have been a dire wolf. Thank goodness, because we're all ready for colder weather. (As long as the others don't come...)

I'm beginning to understand effort, weather, and mitochondrial changes. I'm gonna go back and read that marathon book again... the Hanson one. My background is biology, but I haven't internalized this process yet. When I can explain it to someone as well as you can, that'll mean I've got it.

Are there any other books that you like that delve into the body's response to training?

 

[DopeyBadger]

Um, yeah. I spent 5 minutes trying to understand how you fake your Strava routes...

. I guess you could say I'm good with the internet! Although getting internet service out here in the outskirts of Santarem, Brazil is tough.

... It's TRUE! It must have been a dire wolf. Thank goodness, because we're all ready for colder weather. (As long as the others don't come...)

No dire wolf this morning, instead I got a dark tall slender figure standing at the park at 3:50am. I decided it was in my best interest to run the other direction. Could it have been an "other"? ...

I'm beginning to understand effort, weather, and mitochondrial changes. I'm gonna go back and read that marathon book again... the Hanson one. My background is biology, but I haven't internalized this process yet. When I can explain it to someone as well as you can, that'll mean I've got it.

Are there any other books that you like that delve into the body's response to training?

The Science of Running by Steve Magness is a very technical and thorough explanation of science and running. It can be extremely dense at times and read like a textbook, but he does a great job explaining many of the ins and outs. It puts the "why" and "how" behind many of the theories that I use to base my training off. The use of the book to design training plans was extremely intimidating and too much for me at the last time I read the book over a year ago. However, we do have one disagreement and it is a significant player in his book. He believes in the Central Governor model for the psychological explanation of running, whereas I am a believer in Samuele Marcora's Psychobiological model (youtube video of his theory). While I am not an expert in either, I believe the inherent difference in the two models lies in the reason why they work. Central Governor states that you stop running because of survival (you'll die if you continue). Psychobiological states that you stop running because of motivation (you're not willing to put in the extra effort because it's too hard). This is an EXTREMELY simplistic explanation of both, but a good broad statement. Personally, I believe if you read Magness's book, Marcora's scientific journal articles (which this one is free), and the Runner's Connect Blog, you will see where I get MANY of my theories and basis of opinion from.

 

[surfde22]

Forgot to add that I recently got two new running outfits. And yes... I'm aware my shorts are women's... The men's was a 7 inch inseam which to me is crazy long for men's shorts. Yea so whatever get over it. I like my shorts short and split for range of flexibility.

View attachment 184350

View attachment 184351

What are those ugly things? Wisconsin, that's just terrible. While I don't mind a 7" inseam, I hate how so many, especially UA, have regular side pockets. They make me go up a size because the pockets lay weird on my normal size, but then the waist gets to big and isn't easily tightened enough. Though I do have to ask, where'd you buy those, and do they have Maryland gear?

 

[DopeyBadger]

What are those ugly things? Wisconsin, that's just terrible. While I don't mind a 7" inseam, I hate how so many, especially UA, have regular side pockets. They make me go up a size because the pockets lay weird on my normal size, but then the waist gets to big and isn't easily tightened enough. Though I do have to ask, where'd you buy those, and do they have Maryland gear?

LOL! I got them where my wife works (local University book store (although not affiliated with the university)). My wife is the associate buyer so when Wisconsin switched to UA in July, she might have requested that UA make Wisconsin some running shorts.

Maryland running shorts
Under Armour!!!
Fanatics
Annapolis Running
Maryland Book Store

Maryland running singlet

 

[DopeyBadger]

What are those ugly things? Wisconsin, that's just terrible. While I don't mind a 7" inseam, I hate how so many, especially UA, have regular side pockets. They make me go up a size because the pockets lay weird on my normal size, but then the waist gets to big and isn't easily tightened enough. Though I do have to ask, where'd you buy those, and do they have Maryland gear?

I should mention these look like the exact same pair I have (link). I have them in a large (same as all other mens running shorts). I typically wear a size 32-34 waist pants.

 

[dmross]

No dire wolf this morning, instead I got a dark tall slender figure standing at the park at 3:50am. I decided it was in my best interest to run the other direction. Could it have been an "other"? ...

Well, Tyrion would say "It's just your shadow", old Nan would say "It's a grumpkin," and Hodor would say "Hodor!" Definitely avoidance is a good idea.

Thanks for the book and author recommendations.