cardano Training Blog

Okay, I confess to going to see The Golden Compass with some friends last night (yeah, yeah- I’m behind the times)… and enjoying it. I enjoyed Philip Pullman’s books quite a bit, and I would say the movie did a solid job of adapting the idea of the book to the screen. There were some changes to the plot (some of which I didn’t like- well, you can’t have everything) that resulted in a massive simplification of the book (reducing the scope of adventure, sort of), and the screenplay made me wince at times, but the casting was outstanding, with the exception of the most recent James Bond as Lord Asriel- just a bit too frenetic. I was especially impressed with the young girl who played the lead- she did a great job; Ian McKellen as an enormous polar bear was great as well; and in a movie full of english accents, the lone texan was actually refreshing.
I would recommend giving it a try, if you’ve got a little extra time.
One final note: the criticism of this movie by certain religious organizations seems a little silly. I would hardly call it atheistic entertainment, and even if it is meant to be it’s hardly something to get excited about.

Well, finals are over, I ran a bunch, and I bought a new bike… all great things as far as I’m concerned.
I’m lovin’ the new bike, though I haven’t had a chance to ride it outdoors yet- it’s still pretty nice on the trainer. I’m really anticipating racing on it in a few months. Now I just have to get into good enough cycling shape to be worthy of it.
I lost track of my run training for a few days during finals week- probably a good thing in the long run; the ice melted off the roads (for the most part), and I’m well rested.
Here’s one product of my coolest project of the semester- a fractal generator:

That image is what you get when you cycle through a particular color palette while coloring the Mandelbrot set- probably doesn’t make much sense, but alas. It would be worse if I tried to explain the Mandelbrot set, given my limited understanding.

In other news, I’m trying to decide if I should register for a Half-Ironman now- in the middle of winter, before I know how well my swim training will go. That’s the thing I’m most worried about- will I be able to learn free-style well enough to do it for 1.2 miles? The bike and run I know I can do.
The advantage of registering now is that I would save $50- a fair bit of money to me.
The race I’m considering is the Spirit of Racine Half- anyone raced it before?

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 12/05/2007
• Time: 17:09:01
• Total Time: 00:01:00.00
• Distance: 7.25 miles
• Average Pace: 0:08.28/mile
• Max Pace: 6:00/mile

1 mile easy
12 x (400 @ 1:30-1:35 with 2:30 rest)
1 mile easy.

I was able to find a nice place to run, free from ice for the most part.

Yessss! Finally.
I almost can’t believe I’m writing this, but… I’ve got my Tri-bike. After searching/researching/riding for quite a while, and deciding I would probably end up waiting ’til spring, I was surprised to see the very bike I was looking for plop down on Ebay- brand new and in my size and color- twice. I watched them both, and took a stab at bidding on the first one. I was outbid by someone who apparently wanted it more than I did. The next day, I nailed down my price limit, and, feeling a bit nervous placed a bid. In the end, I went up to my limit- and came away with a bike I would have had to pay $500-$1000 more for at any other time.
I can’t wait to start riding it… on a trainer for most of the next 4 months.
So, the bike:
2007 Black Kuota K-Factor
Frame- K-Factor (carbon)
Fork- Kuota Aero (carbon)
Seat post- XLAB ‘wing’ (carbon
Crank- Shimano 105
Front deraileur- Shimano 105
Casette- Shimano 105 10spd
Rear deraileur- Shimano Dura-Ace
Calipers- Shimano 5600
Levers- Profile Design QS52
Base bar- Profile AirWing
Aero-bar- Profile T2+
Bar-end shifters- Shimano Dura-Ace

All I’ve got for pics right now are some not-so-great ones from the seller (a good ebayer, but not a great photographer). I’ll take some better ones once I’ve got the bike.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 12/03/2007
• Time: 15:00:00
• Total Time: 00:54:58.00
• Distance: 6 miles
• Average Pace: 9:09.62/mile
• Max Pace: 7:30/mile

Mile 1: 10:15 (icy, downhill- fell over once)
Mile 2: 9:30 (slightly less icy- I was able to run on the road)
Mile 3: 8:08 (thank you, Arboretum staff!)
Mile 4: 7:55 (see above)
Mile 5: 10:05 (icy, uphill)
Mile 6: 9:02 (icy, flat)

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 12/02/2007
• Time: 09:00:00
• Total Time: 1:39:52.00
• Distance: 10.51 miles
• Average Pace: 9:30.52/mile

It was quite snowy and mucky- I was forced to slow way down. Running uphill through crusty 3-inch snow that breaks every step is difficult!