Random snippets thoughts and aspirations

Last night I only had time for a quick run so I did a short flat 5 miler or two laps around the Chip Trail. It was fun to work on a faster pace. The temps were perfect and my pace came naturally after about 4k.

I would really like to start running twice a day. First I would like to bust out 10-15 clicks on technical trails in the morning. In the evening I would like to run 5 miles on Chip just to practice keeping a fast pace on the flats. That would end up being 11-15 miles a day which seems pretty reasonable, it is just the challenge of getting in the habit.

I am trying to build some momentum towards consistency. My spotty spring/early summer has been a major downer on my psyche and the only way to ward that off is to bring on the consistent weekly miles. I finally feel the slow wheels of momentum building, where I get those butterfly's in my basket when I begin to think about my next run. This is good I can see a seriously strong buildup that swings me into some great fitness come August, at which point I hope to nail a couple of big runs around the Island and or the Olympic Peninsula.

I submitted my predictions to the iRunFar contest for the "Big Dance" at this years Western States 100 miler. They have some great prizes from Mountain Hardware's running line and also Montrail's Sabino Trail Shoe . I think I submitted a very competitive list and stand just as good a chance of anyone for winning. I am not divulging my secret sauce in this post but will after the Big Dance. What a cool contest, kind of a chance for us non-traditional sports enthusiasts to test our knowledge and predictive powers against other running geeks. I did quite a bit of background reading, reviewing past results from all the racers, and blog prowling to come up with my best guess. It was actually a ton of fun to get acquainted with some runner's who have had outstanding careers.

My research has been challenging at best. I find myself in the middle of what I call the "copper conundrum" and I find that controlling the behaviour of copper under conditions that simulate conditions beneath our volcanic systems (like the cascades) is a truly fickle beast. I have bounced from one idea to another and yet my analysis of copper alludes me. It is a metal that likes to move around and exit the melt, whether it is into the volatile phase or into my platinum or gold-palladium metals I use to contain it. I just can't seem to get it to reach equilibrium in my melts. I am also trying to write up the parts of my thesis that I can, and that is fun but challenging for a perfectionist. I have written my long introduction 3 different times and I am currently rewriting it for the fourth time, I am just never satisfied. That is where I am at in terms of my thesis work.

I think I am going to go run 7 miles for lunch right now to release some research-related frustration. I will finish this post with a 1999 ATB and a 1999 Ferry Corsten remix of Moby's "Why does my heart feel so bad". Two awesome takes on an awesome track. Cheers!