I Live in Iowa: Week 62

Life is nonlinear. (On a tangent, nonlinear is well described by the theories of general relativity. Basically, the faster you are going relative to the speed of light the slower time will be for you. The best evidence of this is from particle accelerators.) This week was not a clear step forward professionally, athletically, and I don't feel socially, although that probably had the greatest increase.

Some weeks at work I work through more difficult problems. Well, I'm stuck at the end of one difficult problem, the middle of a second difficult problem and the start of a third problem, which is already showing significant hurdles. I like hard work. What is the point if it is not challenging? Yet, complexities with finite element analysis seem to multiply rather than add sometimes. In other words, I spent quite a bit of time getting a three body simulation to run accurately, the nine body simulation I am working on requires depth that the three body project did not.

It is actually a really good situation. I am learning about several features that I have never used before. I am well on my way to becoming a satisfactory (by my view) analyst. The problem is that progress is harder to see on larger projects.

I did run this week, for five minutes. About one kilometer. My foot has been feeling better and better so Saturday morning I figured I would give it a test run. The run went well. I'm not 100% yet, but much much better than two weeks ago when I racked up a DNF. I went to the doctor this week and had a very positive experience. He understood what I was trying to communicate very well and was very amicable. They took new x-rays and low and behold, they found something! There was a little blip of slightly more white than normal flesh on my third metatarsal on the second metatarsal side, exactly where it hurt. Apparently when you get tendonitis by tearing a tendon the body sends extra calcium to the area to heal the tendon. If you could see the x-ray you would understand what I mean. The tendon is just slightly more white than flesh but not nearly as white as actual bone so there is no mistaking it as a bone spur. Plus, It was at an irregular shape roughly the size of half a dime, which is again clearly not a normal shape for a bone in the foot. So I started walking again. Maybe 30-60 minutes per day.

Saturday I went rock climbing at Devil's lake. We climbed a couple routes in the same place. I would tell you what they are, but we didn't have a guidebook and while I bought one after we left, I don't have it in front of me now.

I have been more scared on lead this summer than I have typically been in the past. I think it is a reflex to my perceived failure on El Cap in 2010 that is still ruminating within me. Leading a couple of pitches Saturday was a pleasant joy! Rock climbing goal of the summer: Devil's Tower (yes, the one in Wyoming).

Socially the week was good. I spent some time with friends and new friends. We laughed, we watched the Olympic Trials 10ks. The women's race was great! There was a fall, a huge personal record, college kids getting in the mix, Shalane keeping it honest, and Amy Hastings pulling out the win! The men's race was somewhat more clear cut. The three guys for the United States that are going to the Olympics in the 10,000 meter run Matt Tegenkamp, Galen Rupp, and Dathan Ritzenhein are 12:56, 12:58, and 12:58 5k runners, respectively. In other words, if you can't run a 5k in less than 13 minutes you are too slow to even run the 10k for the US at the Olympics. Kind of like Kenya. A 62 minute half marathoner switches to bicycling because he was too slow to run in Kenya. No American or European bicyclist will (can?) run a 62 minute half marathon. For example, Lance Armstrong's best of three marathons was 2:46, granted it was in retirement off of inconsistent training. I'm just theorizing, if we get some of those second tier African runners on the bicycle, they will win races.

Finally, if you have not visited Dave Ohlson's Kickstarter page for his K2 documentary, go take a look. I feel it is worth your time.