Back in grad school, I took artificial intelligence courses, one of which specialized in constraint satisfaction. Much of our lives are spent satisfying constraints, whether we think about this or not. I do, sometimes related to my running. Once identified, there are many aspects of the constraints that need to be considered: their priority, wiggle-room, relationships with other constraints, etc. But the first chore is to simply identify them.
A few running constraints that sometimes appear:
1) Distance. Getting those GVRAT miles in often means ten or more per day.
2) Speed 1. There's overall speed, usually manifesting itself in average overall pace.
3) Speed 2. Sometimes it's good to get down to tempo pace for 3 or more of the miles.
4) Speed 3. Sometimes I do intervals. Usually one-half to one-mile in length. Usually on the track or treadmill.
5) Surface. I try to avoid concrete for extended miles. Asphalt is better, rubberized tracks are better (but mind those turns), dirt is best.
6) Trail or road. I'm not much of a trail runner, but roads aren't always the greatest either. Rail-trail or towpath venues work well for me. See also 5.
7) Traffic. I try to avoid it whenever possible, but see also 6.
And so on.
Eleven today. Still moving forward, in terms of GVRAT. But I'm in 684th place - that means there are 683 people ahead of me. How is that possible? OTOH I could take solace in the fact that there are on the order of 18,000 people behind me as well.
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