I’m going to be starting some new training soon and thought I would revisit this blog as a way of tracking my progress.
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November 16th, 2011
kevinkelly
I began race day morning with a full night of sleep. I got up at 4:45 am, and began preparing for running the first half of the marathon (13.1) miles. The race started at 5:30 am, but my wave was not scheduled until 6:15 am. I arrived at the near the starting line. The people around me all seemed to be in an upbeat mood given the time of morning. We had a very enthusiastic announcer this year getting everyone revved up. The race appeared to be off to a bad start when I realized I was in the wrong starting wave according to my pace. I had planned to start in wave 7, but ended up starting in wave 8. This had an interesting delusional effect as I ended up running ahead of many people, giving me the mistaken impression that I was going faster then I really was. In addition to the beautiful views of the bay, as well as running across the Golden Gate Bridge, I was finding a lot of humor in the trivia signs they had posted along the race course. Coming back across the Golden Gate bridge marked about the half way point for the half marathon. I made my way through the Presidio and eventually to the finish line in Golden Gate Park. One of the changes they made this year is that they printed out my first name just above my Bib number. So, as I was running by people on the sidelines, they were yelling out my name, “Go Kevin!”. I was initially confused, but then found it to be a unexpected motivator. Then came the biggest surprise of all. I had indeed beat my time from the other two times I had run this race. Compared to last year, I actually finished in about 9 minutes less then before!
Four things that were different this year: I did a completely different training program then I have in the past, started a training blog to track my progress, didn’t have music to listen to while training (due to a technical problem), and started to train earlier then I have in the past. There is an article in the local paper about the race here. I had no idea that “athletic tourism” was so popular. In addition to being around people who traveled from out of state, there were people who were running from other countries. I was running along side people speaking in German, Italian, and Portuguese.
| Place Overall: | 1524 | out of 6679 |
| Men: | 1038 | out of 2983 |
| M 30-39: | 385 | out of 1083 |
| AgeGrade: | 49.55% | Place: 1524 |
| FINISH: | 1:59:31 | pace: 9:08 |
| 7.5 Mi: | 1:09:08 | pace: 9:13 |
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August 3rd, 2008
kevinkelly
One man’s art is another man’s track team: The newest work by acclaimed performance artist Martin Creed is runners sprinting every 30 seconds through the London Tate Britain’s neoclassical sculpture galleries. The “installation” plans a four-month run.
Here’s a description:
The artist’s new installation, Work No 850, consists of a runner sprinting the length of Tate Britain’s neo-classical sculpture galleries.
Every 30 seconds between 10am and 6pm, an athlete will make the 86-metre dash from one end to the other - for four months.
Tate visitors are strongly advised to look both ways before crossing the hall, although a high speed collision between a runner and a member of the public could perhaps constitute an artwork all of its own.
For anyone struggling to see the artistic significance of the work, Creed was on hand at the unveiling to explain all.
Running, he said sagely, “is an example of not standing still”.
He went on: “I like running. I like seeing people run and I like running myself. Running is the opposite of being still. If you think about death as being completely still and movement as a sign of life, then the fastest movement possible is the biggest sign of life. So running fast is like the exact opposite of death - it’s an example of aliveness.”
Here’s a link to a video here.
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August 1st, 2008
kevinkelly
A beautiful 5 mile run this morning with perfect weather conditions. There were a few other runners out as well. There is a good article by Kirk LaPointe about the final days before a race that can be found here for all those interested.
Although this will be my 3rd half marathon, this year I tried a completely different training regiment, so I’m not sure if that will have a positive impact on my race or not.
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July 31st, 2008
kevinkelly
Kenyans are by far the fastest runners in the world. In particular, the Masai tribe make their shoes from old tires. Having spent time in Kenya back in 2007 with a Masai tribe, I find this concept to be quite a novel idea. A Swiss engineer decided to study the the foot ware of the Masai tribe and also walking experiences in Korea and apply that to western shoes. I have yet to try the shoes myself, but I would be interested at some point in doing so now that they have made their way to the states.
A brief excerpt from their site:
MBT, Masai Barefoot Technology, was invented by Swiss engineer Karl Müller. During a visit to Korea he made the startling discovery that walking barefoot over paddy fields alleviated his back pain. Back in Switzerland, Müller began to develop a footwear technology that would make the natural instability of soft ground such as Korean paddy fields or the East African savannah accessible also to those, who have to walk on hard surfaces. In 1996, after years spent on research and development, Masai Barefoot Technology was mature enough to be launched on the market. MBTs are now available in over twenty countries, and approximately one million pairs of this revolutionary footwear technology are sold every year.
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July 30th, 2008
kevinkelly
I was visiting the Pasadena area and decided to take a run when I discovered the campus of Cal Tech. It was a surprisingly beautiful campus with many interesting building, sculptures, and landscaping. I ran through the main campus and then discovered a running track. I ran the track for about two miles. It was this special cushion material and I’m sure is has a healthy affect on the knees. As usual, the heart rate monitor kept my speed in check so that I didn’t use all my energy before the end of the run.
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July 27th, 2008
kevinkelly
I found this a provocative piece from a blog and thought I would post it here. Since I do take vitamins and practice a little meditation, I was taken a back by the findings. But I also find running to be a really great way of reducing stress in my life an helping me stay focused.
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Forgo the Brain Training, Drugs, Vitamins, Meditation and Just Get Some Exercise
Earlier this month, PsyBlog wrote a brief summary and synopsis of the current research findings for cognitive enhancers — you know, those things that are supposed to help us improve our minds and our memories. He looked at the commonly cited brain aids: brain training games, drugs, vitamins, medication and physical exercise.
And his conclusion isn’t all that surprising if you’ve kept up in this area over the past few years. Physical exercise is by far the most evidence-based intervention you can engage in (and it also happens to be the easiest and cheapest method).
That didn’t sit well with Alvaro Fernandez, a businessman who runs a site called “Sharp Brains” who took Jeremy to task for his post, but mainly for Jeremy’s audacity for suggesting that one method might have better research backing than another. Alvaro, of course, makes his living selling the idea of “cognitive enhancement” through his brain fitness consulting, research reports, and speaking services to big business and other organizations. So anything that might step on his toes suggesting there isn’t a whole lot of science or research backing to such services is bound to get his attention (and a lengthy, rambling entry that doesn’t cite any research so much as testimonials, a marketer’s failsafe).
Mind Tweaks weighed in more on the side of Sharp Brains basically suggesting different strokes for different folks. Mind Tweaks is also focused on helping people cognitively enhance their brain, so again, the unspoken conflict of interest remains. (Tori Deaux, the author of Mind Tweaks, is also not a researcher nor psychologist.)
So while the idea of “tweaking” our minds to cognitive enhance ourselves to better, faster, stronger and such is appealing, PsyBlog hit the nail on the head in terms of putting these enhancements into proper research context. It’s all fine and good to talk about the “4 main pillars of cognitive health” or “finding the right balance” approach to one’s mind. But people should be clear they’re talking from a marketing or theoretical perspective — not a research-based one (where psychology and neuropsychology typically operate from).
Faith is a powerful thing. So while it’s fine to suggest the industry is moving faster than the research to back it up is, it’s quite a leap to suggest that an industry (and indeed it is an industry — a growing $225 million/year one at that) knows better than actual researchers with actual data. That’s precisely why history is littered with the remnants of inventions meant to “improve your mind” or “grow your memory” that did no such thing. Faith — or the “placebo effect,” if you will — can help people believe they are doing something to help themselves, and therefore they will feel helped. But until the research foundation has multiple, large-scale controlled studies in its pocket, many of these cognitive enhancement techniques are nothing more than faith-based beliefs in brain enhancement.
Jeremy’s conclusions at PsyBlog are right on:
Even though exercise is the current winner for enhancing cognition, this might change in the future. Maybe better drugs for enhancing brain function will be developed - possibly en route to improved treatments for conditions like Alzheimer’s. Or maybe studies on nutritional supplements, brain training software or particular forms of meditation may provide firmer evidence.
Maybe.
On current evidence exercise is clearly the best method for increasing useful everyday cognitive functioning. And in the future we may even have exercise regimes that are specifically targeted at enhancing cognitive function.
Indeed. Want to help yourself now for free? Take some advice from Michael Marsiske, an associate professor of clinical and health psychology at the University of Florida and a principal investigator in the ACTIVE study in this NPR interview:
“The advice that I think people could comfortably take from this,” Marsiske says, “is that if they challenge themselves to learn new things, including things that they might perceive as difficult in their later years, many older adults will not only achieve benefits from those challenges but those benefits will be long lasting.”
But other researchers say there’s a better way to look at brain health.
“One of the thoughts is that what’s good is to enter old age with as good a brain as possible,” says Margaret Gatz, a professor of psychology, gerontology and preventive medicine at the University of Southern California.
Scientists use the term “cognitive reserve.”
“This is a term that’s being used a lot now by dementia researchers,” says Gatz. “And this is referring to the idea that, as one becomes older and there’s inevitable biological changes to the brain — not just Alzheimer’s processes, but other biological changes — is there enough of a cushion that one can keep functioning just fine?”
In other words, do you already have enough brain power — or cognitive ability — in reserve to keep dementia at bay longer?
Gatz believes that you should start challenging yourself mentally when you’re younger, rather than waiting for old age to take Italian or piano lessons.
Exercise, keep your body healthy (which in turn keeps your brain healthy), and keep yourself challenged with doing something new or different regularly. It doesn’t have to be with special brain exercises or cognitive seminars or training. It’s simply doing the daily crossword or Soduko. It’s taking a walk every day, or bicycling, or going to the gym. It’s trying to figure out a different way to do something at work or in your life that will make things better or easier. It’s taking the longer, more arduous path in your journey, rather than the easy, expected one.
But at the end of the day, it’s really about simple, cheap exercise, as Sandra Aamodt, the editor in chief of Nature Neuroscience writes:
How might exercise help the brain? In people, fitness training slows the age-related shrinkage of the frontal cortex, which is important for executive function. In rodents, exercise increases the number of capillaries in the brain, which should improve blood flow, and therefore the availability of energy, to neurons. Exercise may also help the brain by improving cardiovascular health, preventing heart attacks and strokes that can cause brain damage. Finally, exercise causes the release of growth factors, proteins that increase the number of connections between neurons, and the birth of neurons in the hippocampus, a brain region important for memory. Any of these effects might improve cognitive performance, though it’s not known which ones are most important.
So instead of spending money on computer games or puzzles to improve your brain’s health, invest in a gym membership. Or just turn off the computer and go for a brisk walk.
I’m going for that walk!
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July 24th, 2008
kevinkelly
I
It was a beautiful morning to run with clear skies and cool weather. I kept running out of road for this long of a run, so I did two loops. When I’m running though the back roads of San Geronimo Valley, I will run by this golf course. There are moments where it looks almost exactly like the default background for Windows XP, but with a few trees. I guess it’s a sign I spend too much time in front of a computer. Anyway, XP will not probably go away anytime soon, despite no longer being on sale.
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July 24th, 2008
kevinkelly
I recently returned from Santa Fe, New Mexico. I had planned to continue training while I was there, but due to a combination of adjusting to the high elevation, a busy schedule, and the monsoon season there in full motion, I ended up missing two training runs. Having returned to sea level though, I found I had more energy to run. So, I decided to try breaking in new shoes and hit the road. The run felt like my body was filled with all this pensive energy waiting to get released. I finished the run feeling a strong endorphin rush and a sense of deep calm.
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July 20th, 2008
kevinkelly
Enjoyed a casual stroll at elevation 7000 ft. through downtown Santa Fe as a tourist. The local Indian crafts people were selling their beautiful jewelry. Many people were out and about despite the monsoon season which normally would hit daily in the afternoon or evening. The tourists appeared to come from all over the world, including Germany and England.
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July 14th, 2008
kevinkelly
Location:Woodacre CA United States 94973
My goals are: To complete a half-marathon.
My favorite sports include: running yoga walking hiking
