Running Wild

Today I ran some laps at Delano Park in Decatur with 3 other guys, Eric Schotz, http://schotz.fastrunningblog.com/, John Elmore, http://jelmo.fastrunningblog.com/, and Eric C.  They are part of a 4 man relay that have a goal of exceeding 100 miles in the Delano Park 12 hour run in 2 weeks.  We did 6 laps slow and 1 lap fast, with the fast lap being about a 6 minute mile pace.  The slow laps were closer to an 8 minute mile pace.  Not a bad day to be out for February.

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	0:54:02	8:02 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:51:43	7:41 pace
Distance (mi )	6.72
Moving Speed (mph)	7.8 avg.	14.3 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+136 / -135
Temperature (°F)	51.8°F avg.	51.8°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	WNW   6.9 avg.	WNW   6.9 max.

Tonight I ran the 3M 5k course after work.  It was a nice day for February and I listened to a podcast about scientists that have sequenced woolly mammoth DNA using fragments isolated from permafrost preserved wooly mammoth hair from 10 different mammoths.  Not the cells in the hair folicles, but trace amounts of both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA that is trapped in the hair protein matrix.  The advantage of this source is that the keratin encapsulates the DNA and the hair can be carefully cleaned and this DNA extracted in a form that is free of bacterial DNA contamination, which is present in bone and tissue sources.  The latest DNA sequencing machines can sequence 100 million base pairs per day, so getting the entire sequence is a manageable task.  The information will be used to study how related mammoths and mastadons are to each other and to current elephants.  No woolly mammoth ranches in the works.

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	0:30:09	8:24 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:30:05	8:23 pace
Distance (mi )	3.59
Moving Speed (mph)	7.2 avg.	15.3 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+393 / -394
Temperature (°F)	55.4°F avg.	55.4°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	SE   4.6 avg.	SE   4.6 max.

After a 4 day hiatis, I did a 6 mile run on the Point Mallard trail today.  It was very nice weather today, warm and sunny, after a week that was cold and/or rainy often.  The podcast I listened to was interviewing a bunch of old guys who were in the fledgling space program when Sputnik went up and shook everything up.  One of the perspectives they shared was that the US wasn't really behind the soviets at the time.  In fact, the reason that the soviets had such large launch vehicles to use was that they couldn't make ICBM warheads as small as the US could, so they had these huge million pound thrust rockets.  Neither side was expecting the publicity and attention that Sputnik got in the press and the public eye, and it ignited the space race.  It was even put forth that without Sputnik and the uproar it caused about the soviets beating the US into space, that the lunar program wouldn't have happened.  As it was, we had the technology on hand and assembled already necessary to do it ourselves within 90 days of Sputnik.    Von Braun said he could do it in 30 days, no problem, but was talked into 90 to be conservative.  A lot of the narrative described the people and this work taking place at Redstone in Huntsville AL, just 20 miles from where I was running today. 

I got a blister on my heel running today, even though I was using the shoes I've been running in with no problems for weeks.  No explanation.

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	0:44:34	7:24 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:44:35	7:24 pace
Distance (mi )	6.02
Moving Speed (mph)	8.1 avg.	11.9 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+102 / -101
Temperature (°F)	62.6°F avg.	62.6°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	WNW   5.8 avg.	WNW   8.1 max.