I Live in Iowa: Week 209

This past week was a good one. Slowly but surely I'm headed in the right direction. Sunday I went to church and then rock climbing at Backbone State Park in Iowa, a good start to the week.

Work was educational, which I like. I'm taking a class on gear failures, which is definitely interesting, and I learned about torque converters, which are so cool I can't believe I didn't know what they are until last week. Basically, a torque converter is between the engine and transmission in an automatic transmission car. It is a cylindrical pump inside of a turbine, and a closed system that had a fluid (oil) that flows from the one to the other. It converts torque from your engine to the transmission. However, it does lose some efficiency, but it protects the engine, or transmission, from spikes going up and down the power train system. A torque converter is why your engine can idle in drive, because the engine is still spinning, but at those low rpms, it takes very little brake force to keep the transmission from spinning and your car from moving.

Running was good, another 20 mile week, just .5 miles farther than last week. While my left leg is all healed my right Achilles is still tight, but not painful anymore. I'm not 100% healthy, but I'm close. We (my coach and I) are still taking it slower that I would on my own, which is part of why I hired a coach. This week looks to be 25ish miles and some strides.

I will not be running Nolan's 14 over July 4th weekend, I'm not in shape to do 100 mountainous miles.

Saturday I was home at my parents in Wisconsin to watch my mom and sister run a 5k. For my mom I think it was her first organized athletic event in decades, and for my sister it marked a return to running, which she did when she was younger. It was awesome to see my mom and my sister train the last few months doing a couch to 5k program. I know that starting to run is harder than running when in shape. Also, seeing my mom get into exercising, and her slow progression, it confirms that I have to stay active my whole life, because it gets harder to ramp up training as one gets older. We'll see... my dad even talked about starting to run.

Thank you to my dad, for exposing me to so much growing up that set me on the path in life I am on. I think I had more diverse experiences and support growing up than the vast majority of people. My dad always came to my middle school basketball games, I'm not sure why, I didn't play much and I wasn't that good. Several times he was one of the only fathers in the audience. Changing subjects I would like to point out that I am not a father, and yes I can guarantee that, and for an unmarried man like myself that's something worth advertising.