2022 Advanced Racing Thread (Read 497 times)

Fishyone


    Keen - I agree, if by people you mean idiot politicians, especially from Germany, who take advice from a teenager...(I know you didn't ask me JMac but that's my hot take )

     

    People walking 4 abreast on a path, grrr.  One of my pet peeves.  It's bad enough when they're walking away from you and can't see you (they know it's a place where people run) but when they clearly see you and don't move it really grinds my gears.  Add in a dog on a long leash that makes it harder to go round, and the dog also chases me and you (literally) have all my pet peeves in one go.

     

    darkwave - That's a fair point.  No excuse for using lane 1 though.

     

    When is this site going to install a "like" or thumbs up button!!  You would have 2 from me.

    5K 18:36 (2023), 10K 39:40 (2022), 1/2 1:24:37 (2023), full 2:58:36 (2015) 

    JMac11


    RIP Milkman

       Personally I am not a big fan of Japan in general

       

      Now that keen provided his hot take on energy, it's your turn to elaborate on this.

       

      Keen - love the rant, thanks for that. A couple of things: 1) doesn't solar work well in the desert or other very sunny locations? I realize that's a small area of the US, but it doesn't seem unfeasible. I had also thought the problem with solar that they're trying to address is actually batteries. 2) It sounds like nuclear is your solution. I had heard somewhere that Bill Gates's foundation was trying to work on solving something with nuclear (maybe the waste?), but that it hasn't found a solution. Anything on that? Also good luck with nuclear: if there's anything I've learned in NYC, it's that NIMBYism is alive and well, no matter how liberal folks are about certain topics.

       

      Steve - during COVID, I would start coughing loudly before this groups. That always got them out of the way. But I agree with what you said: I don't mind people making a genuine mistake of walking 4 wide and having fun with their friends. It's when they make eye contact you and go back to do what they're doing in a "fuck you, I'm not moving out of your way" moment, that's when I get mad. I'm willing to forgive people for honest mistakes (like the track etiquette stuff). I'm not when they are being a deliberate asshole.

       

      Ian - I didn't realize it was that cheap. Hell, with the really strong USD right now, it's probably pretty cheap! Too bad Japan is slowly opening. If there's one marathon I'd happily just hobby jog without really training, it's Tokyo.

      5K: 16:37 (11/20)  |  10K: 34:49 (10/19)  |  HM: 1:14:57 (5/22)  |  FM: 2:36:31 (12/19) 

       

       

      CommanderKeen


      Cobra Commander Keen

         

        Bwah-ha-ha!!! Can you name the price for the KWh for this sustainable supply? Starting from the paying to the workers here to prepare wood in transportable form, transporting and loading to the coast (remember - there are no tubes to transport wood), transporting through the ocean, unloading and transporting to all the right places? Does Europe has plants to burn wood and produce electricity? OMG!!!

         

        I would say it will be easier to go to Kremlin and apologize there and get that gas they are not (and will not) getting now...

         

        "a lot" is all I could say on the $/KWh. And that's just up to the generation side. The cost to  consumers would naturally be considerably worse, and energy costs in Europe are already much higher than in the US.

        Honestly, I'm a bit worried for most/all of Europe this winter, and not just for reasons I've already mentioned. There are also situations like England <> France - both of those countries are counting on energy IMPORTS from the other as part of their supply for this winter. How the heck does that work??

         

         

        JMac - Solar works better in those areas, certainly, but as with all "green" or "renewable" energy sources its biggest problem is that it's not consistent or dense enough. It doesn't work at all at night, power generation even when it's cloudy drops a good deal, and it needs absolutely MASSIVE fields of panels to generate enough power for anything (typically land that is best purposed to grassland and grazing ruminants).


        Energy transport is another issue I didn't address at all. All of these various sources of energy production are almost inevitably put out in more rural areas, but consumed primarily by urban centers. There's a non-trivial amount of energy loss in transporting this energy, and storage isn't feasible either.


        There's literally not enough lithium on the planet to support all the electric vehicles companies want to build, let alone create batteries for storing utility-scale power. And even if there wasn't supply issues here and these batteries wouldn't need replacing every handful of years or so, how do we get it? Strip mining. Of which some of these mines can literally be seen from orbit.

        Nuclear gets around the energy storage thing quite nicely (as does natural gas, coal, and even wood) because so long as you've built enough generation capacity you just turn up production when it's needed, then turn it down when demand isn't as high. No need to store it at all.

         

        The NIMBY thing is real - and why on my pre-dawn runs I can see 180* worth of synchronized, flashing red lights on top of all the wind turbines around. These are all outside of OKC - as I said earlier "city people" sure want to use that energy but certainly don't want to have the means of production anywhere near them even when it is feasible.


        Most people's issues with nuclear simply aren't valid any longer as they're based on issues with gen 1-2 technology from the 40s-50s that aren't relevant with current gen 4-5 reactors. It's kind of like a cancer patient saying "no, I don't want this bleeding edge treatment because cancer treatments sucked in the 1940s".

        5k: 17:58 11/22 │ 10k: 37:55 9/21 │ HM: 1:23:22 4/22 │ M: 2:56:05 12/22

         

        Upcoming Races:

         

         

        JMac11


        RIP Milkman

          Thanks for that. I was actually just reading something yesterday about how some places are just tearing down forests to build solar farms, which seems like the exact opposite problem we want. Throw them up on box box stores, or old buildings, or something else if you're going to do it. Tearing down a forest to build a solar farm seems insane!

           

          For us in NYC, it's all about housing and NIMBYism. Everyone complains about how insanely expensive NYC is for housing, but then you see we haven't build nearly enough units given the amount the population has grown in the last 30 years (which frankly is true for the entire US, we're millions of homes short). Everyone has learned that community boards and "environmental reviews" is the way to stop anything that could impact you personally.

          5K: 16:37 (11/20)  |  10K: 34:49 (10/19)  |  HM: 1:14:57 (5/22)  |  FM: 2:36:31 (12/19) 

           

           

          mmerkle


            CommanderKeen: Interesting, thanks for the insight. I'm aware people's issues with nuclear are more or less outdated, but I do recall reading that the cost of building a lot of plants and trying to use nuclear for most of our energy wouldn't really justify the amount of CO2 emissions we would save in the long run. But that article could have been inaccurate? I'm trying to learn more about all this so I can be a more informed voter.  And also so I can spread correct information hopefully.

            Running Problem


            Problem Child

              JMac Tokyo is general entry. If you are SUB ELITE AND CAN RUN A 2:32 they have a special section for you. wink wink.

              https://www.marathon.tokyo/en/participants/guideline/

              Run as ONE program.

              https://www.marathon.tokyo/en/news/detail/news_002582.html#:~:text=The%20RUN%20as%20ONE%20-%20Tokyo%20Marathon%202023,Time%20Men%27s%20Full%20Marathon%3A%20Under%202hrs%2032min%2000sec

              3:19 for women overseas sub elite.

               

              entry is August 1 FOR GENERAL entry

               

              RP -- Traveling a few time zones west is definitely easier than the same going east. But fore Tokyo, did you mean "...going west to gain lose a day..."? (crossing the International Date Line)

               

               

              Yes. Losing an entire day SOUNDS easier than losing half or 1/3 of a day traveling East. Perhaps if NYC did the whole "COVID 19 Rolling Start" thing it would be logistically easier for me. Since I can start a run at 5am I could be at the start of the NYC marathon at East Coast 9am which gives JMac enough time to roll out of bed and make it to the halfway point to cheer me on for a PR.

               

              energy talks? eh, put up a federal requirement all residential, institutional, and commercial buildings have a minimum of 500 watts of solar power and send it to the national grid. Fuck your feelings and go bitch about track workouts the latest episode of the tv show the internet says is popular instead. 

              Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.

              VDOT 53.37 

              5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22

              Running Problem


              Problem Child

                 There's literally not enough lithium on the planet to support all the electric vehicles companies want to build, let alone create batteries for storing utility-scale power. And even if there wasn't supply issues here and these batteries wouldn't need replacing every handful of years or so, how do we get it? Strip mining. Of which some of these mines can literally be seen from orbit.

                Nuclear gets around the energy storage thing quite nicely (as does natural gas, coal, and even wood) because so long as you've built enough generation capacity you just turn up production when it's needed, then turn it down when demand isn't as high. No need to store it at all.

                 

                The NIMBY thing is real - and why on my pre-dawn runs I can see 180* worth of synchronized, flashing red lights on top of all the wind turbines around. These are all outside of OKC - as I said earlier "city people" sure want to use that energy but certainly don't want to have the means of production anywhere near them even when it is feasible.


                Most people's issues with nuclear simply aren't valid any longer as they're based on issues with gen 1-2 technology from the 40s-50s that aren't relevant with current gen 4-5 reactors. It's kind of like a cancer patient saying "no, I don't want this bleeding edge treatment because cancer treatments sucked in the 1940s".

                Did someone say Lithium Mining?

                 

                https://ndep.nv.gov/land/thacker-pass-project

                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thacker_Pass_Lithium_Mine

                "Thacker Pass is the traditional homeland of several related Indigenous nations, including the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation, the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone TribeLovelock Paiute TribeFallon Paiute Shoshone TribePyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony.[19] Local Indigenous communities harvest traditional foods, medicines and supplies for sacred ceremonies in the region.[3] Members of the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe have stated that their tribe, "descends from essentially two families who, hiding in Thacker Pass, managed to avoid being sent to reservations farther away from our ancestral lands" and hence that this tribe owes its existence to the shelter provided by the Pass.[36]"

                 

                 

                 

                Part of this includes using millions of gallons of water.. In the high desert. About 8-12 hours away from Lake Mead. Which is currently at record low levels. yeah.....lithium power is fucking AWESOME! Double A, Triple A, 18v, 20v, 36v, race cars, RC cars, cell phones, power tools, and now electric vehicles. Just remember you can reuse the lithium once the finite amount is removed from the earth and placed into circulation. This won't be ANYTHING like oil. Just make sure those potential railroad strikes don't interfere with anything like transportation.

                Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.

                VDOT 53.37 

                5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22

                CommanderKeen


                Cobra Commander Keen

                  Merkle - I'm not sure how even looking at reducing co2 emissions alone couldn't be a win. Those emissions from a nuclear plant are literally zero, and the overwhelming majority of energy currently produced worldwide is done via sources with co2 emissions.

                   

                  One could argue zero emissions for solar, wind, etc., but those take up massively more physical space for less energy production overall and also aren't consistent enough to produce all the power needed - and it also ignores the absolute ecological disaster that is getting the base materials needed for those as well. When the power production from these falls short (for any of the multitude of reasons it does), those producing power must either 1) go without power in places (brown or blackouts), or 2) spin up some other production method (typically coal or natural gas) that does generate co2 emissions.


                  When using more typical production methods like this it makes the entire energy production system far less efficient and costly than it would have been without the "renewables" to begin with. In order to cover the shortcomings of production from solar/hydro/wind you really need a carbon-based backup that can provide 100% of total energy demand, but have most of it on standby. But if you have that, why not just use the consistent power to begin with until there's something better that can produce all the power needed without the emissions? *cough* nuclear *cough*

                   

                  Bringing this back to running:

                   

                  How long would it take a person to run around Three Mile Island during a reactor meltdown while crews using electric vehicles try pumping water from the Susquehanna River using solar powered pumps in order to cool the reactor?

                  5k: 17:58 11/22 │ 10k: 37:55 9/21 │ HM: 1:23:22 4/22 │ M: 2:56:05 12/22

                   

                  Upcoming Races:

                   

                   

                  Running Problem


                  Problem Child

                    *works hard to achieve goal*

                    https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/more-sports/runners-can-exhale-no-cutoff-for-2023-boston-marathon/ar-AA125vKx

                    • For the second year in a row, all runners who applied to run the Boston Marathon will be accepted into the race, as long as they have a valid qualifying time.

                     

                    Congratulations to all who applied on your success.

                    See the source image

                    Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.

                    VDOT 53.37 

                    5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22

                      It's hard to imagine nuclear gaining much traction, at least in the US. Rational or not, the fear will always be there.

                       

                       

                      Now that keen provided his hot take on energy, it's your turn to elaborate on this.

                       

                       

                      My beef with Japan is completely of a professional nature. I worked for a Japanese-owned company for a long time, and made about 10 trips over there. It was all business and I never took any extra touring/sightseeing time (other than a little bit around Tokyo). So that's on me, but the trips were so exhausting I really just wanted to get back home. I found the business culture so hard to deal with. Everything was very formal, conformist, and hierarchical; no one spoke in meetings other than the highest level managers in the room. Any decisions were typically made by them in advance, even if it seemed like there was an open discussion - trying to make a case for an alternate position was like banging your head against the wall. The environment was very much "us" (Japanese) vs. "them" (all westerners plus non-Japanese Asians), including the pre-set seating arrangements in the conference room. And at least to the western mind, the decisions often did not seem to make any sense. It was very frustrating, even after continually telling yourself not to be frustrated because there was nothing you could do about it. On top of that the whole trip was filled with discomfort. Jet-lagged, sitting in all-day meetings in a hot, smoky room wearing a suit & tie, listening to long stretches of people talking in Japanese and waiting for the translation, which may or may not have reflected what was actually said. Then go out, eat & drink, try to sleep in your tiny hotel room, and come back to it again the next day. I really dreaded those trips.

                      Dave

                      Running Problem


                      Problem Child

                        dave sounds like government work.

                         

                        Keen are the roads open on 3 mile island, or are they closed because vehicles are trying to pump water? It looks like there are multiple options for a course and it could include 1" gravel roads so I'm going with an even 24 minutes in full PPE gear for someone in this group.

                        Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.

                        VDOT 53.37 

                        5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22

                        JMac11


                        RIP Milkman

                          Dave - that makes a lot of sense. The thing I've always thought about Japan is "this would be the best country in the world to live in: as long as you don't have to work." You basically always saw the worst part of the country, and none of the good stuff. I've always thought Tokyo has everything I like about NY, and avoids all of the stuff I hate about NY. Maybe one day in retirement you can spend 2 weeks in the country and get to enjoy it for what it is rather than in a work context. Also, having dealt with that jet lag on vacation, I can't imagine having to operate on a clear mind within 24 hours of arriving.

                          5K: 16:37 (11/20)  |  10K: 34:49 (10/19)  |  HM: 1:14:57 (5/22)  |  FM: 2:36:31 (12/19) 

                           

                           

                             Most people's issues with nuclear simply aren't valid any longer as they're based on issues with gen 1-2 technology from the 40s-50s that aren't relevant with current gen 4-5 reactors. It's kind of like a cancer patient saying "no, I don't want this bleeding edge treatment because cancer treatments sucked in the 1940s".

                             

                            Keen - Interesting observation. My views are tainted by the fact that my country had strong anti-nuclear views and became a nuclear-free zone in the 80s. Subsequently, there is very little talk about nuclear-power options. Perhaps also not needed, given 40% of our energy comes from renewable sources.

                             

                            Dave - Given that experience, you have every right to not see Japan in a favourable light. My least enjoyable parts of spending 12 years living in Japan was dealing with salary men and Japanese red-tape - both of which there are a lot of! My most enjoyable parts were all-you-can-drink Karaoke bars, Beer vending machines, and a public transport system that can get you anywhere you want to go. Oh, and a favourable Yen to NZ$ exchange rate!

                            50+ age-group PBs:  Half Perish 1:24:24 (June '23 Road Race) - 10km 37:52 (2022 Local Road Champs) - Track 5km 18:49 (Aug '22) - Perish Run 3:17:42

                            2024 Goals: Boston Perish Run Sub 3:15 - Road/Track 10km Sub 37:30 - 5km Sub 18:20

                             

                             

                            mmerkle


                              Thanks for the info there Keen. I'm always happy to hear about/discuss that kind of thing.

                              flavio80


                              Intl. correspondent

                                Dave - you aptly described working for a foreign company 😁, though I do know Japan and South Korean are very famous for insanely long work weeks.

                                 

                                me - I had my açaí today to ensure glory and success on Sunday's race. Pizza was not a possibility as the pizza place I used to go now only opens in the evenings. I had a lighter strength training session today and I'm feeling well recovered.

                                45 easy minutes tomorrow and then it's race day.

                                PRs: 1500 4:54.1 2019 - 5K 17:53 2023 - 10K 37:55 2023 - HM 1:21:59 2021

                                Up next: no idea

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