Seebo's Run

A running commentary on my training and whatever else emerges from that.

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Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Rhythms

I felt strong running today, which mystifies me because my running felt so feckless last week and I've been upping my mileage nonetheless. I ran the Strawberry Mansion Bridge loop with an extra mile tacked onto MLK, with the middle miles passing easy in around a 7:45 pace. I didn't look to go faster, but felt I could have effortlessly. As though my mind could just order up a quicker pace and my legs would deliver. The way life should be.

But because I am the curious sort I tried figuring out why I felt good today. The best answer I can come up with are biorhythms. Biorhythms, from what I remembered, were a fad in the 70's and, given that mood rings and Puma sneakers are back in style, I'm surprised biorhythms haven't made a comeback as well. Its based on the premise that you have physical intellectual and emotional cycles that fluctuate very predictably in cycles of about 3 weeks or so. I figured my physical biorhythmic cycle must be on high, and maybe it was low last week.

One of the problems with biorhythms in the 70s was that they were very hard to figure out, as you had to calculate the number of days you've been alive and divide by the number of days in a cycle. I should have known, but when I googled "biorhythms" a few minutes ago the first site listed had a function where all you had to do was enter your birthday and it would tell you your biorhythm status. Turns out my physical cycle is at about its lowest point. On the bright side, my emotional cycle is peaking, so hang out with me, as my "contact with other people will be positive." My mental curve is at the midpoint, which is defined as "critical" and they suggest I should "postpone activities that demand alot of concentration." Does that mean I shouldn't go into work today?

One other rhythm is not "bio" but "enviro" as in the conditions you run in. The weather was fine today, but the traffic conditions were definitely low, and must have added a good 4-5 minutes to my run. Seems like every traffic light I hit was yellow just before I approached it; if I only hadn't read the ball scores before I left and gone out a minute earlier all those lights could have been green. And since I left an hour later this morning rush hour was well on its way and weaving through traffic was not a good idea. That envirorhythm made it hard to get a steady running rhythm, especially in the last four miles.

12 miles in 99:14. A better run than the time suggests.

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