Learn | Make | Fix | Run

This week’s focus has been gathering the parts to fix the head gasket on the car. The last parts arrived yesterday, and I am ready to start working on the car next week. Approximately five thousand miles ago, I needed to repair the lower intake manifold (LIM) gasket. The head gasket was not leaking externally or showing signs of leaking internally -- the car was not overheating or blowing white exhaust. There was a coolant leak, but the LIM was leaking. I was reluctant to remove the exhaust manifold; therefore, I decided only to repair the LIM. In hindsight, I wish I had tested the coolant for the presence of exhaust gases. The downside is that I must repeat the work I did last August. The upside is that I know what I am doing up to removing the head. We’ll see how next week goes. My biggest worries are removing the exhaust manifold without damaging the fasteners and thoroughly cleaning the old gasket material from the heads. If you have any advice, please share it in the comments belo

Determining my race pace is tremendously difficult for me. When I cross the finish line, I don’t want to have gas in the tank or blow up before the finish line. I know banking time is a bad idea; utilizing even effort or negative splits is better. I watched a YouTube video from GTN over the weekend and had an epiphany that I was looking at pace from the wrong angle. When I picked a pace, I took the total minutes to complete the race and divided it by the race distance. Sometimes I would add an extra tenth of a mile to the race distance to account for deviating from the measured path, but I didn’t include any other buffers. The GTN video was focused on completing a sub-4:00 marathon. They included an eight-minute buffer and used the pace for a 3:52 marathon as the suggested pace for a sub-4:00 marathon attempt. This methodology blew my mind. At the same time, it helped me connect the dots in the Run with Hal training plan I was using. From my perspective, Run with Hal gave me two differ

Today I learned I most likely have a blown head gasket. The combustion leak detector indicates combustion gasses are present in the coolant system. I suspected a blown head gasket, but the car did not exhibit some of the telltale signs. The oil did not look contaminated with coolant, the engine was not overheating, and white exhaust did not appear. However, a sloshing noise developed during acceleration after stopping, and the smell of coolant permeated the air in the cabin during stop-and-go traffic. The detector draws air from the coolant expansion tank via an aspirator (bulb) into a test chamber. If combustion gasses are present in the test chamber, the fluid changes from blue to yellow. The tester comes with instructions on how to use it. The procedure involves working with coolant on a running engine. Extreme caution must be taken with the moving parts and hot fluids. The coolant expansion tank cap must be removed when the engine is cold. The engine needs to reach the operating te

I completed my second half marathon on Sunday as part of the Oakland Running Festival. I learned numerous lessons by participating. The training program that I am using for the Ojai Marathon suggested that I run a half marathon race or a simulation run. I opted for the race, and I am glad that I did. My first marathon taught me the 18-week training block can be long. This race was scheduled halfway through the training. It broke up training nicely and would allow me to see the benefits of my current training. The other reason I ran a race was to dial in my marathon pace for May. Here are the lessons I learned: Train in all conditions, you can’t rely on pacers, memorize the elevation profile, and high fives are awesome. Train in All Conditions I signed up rather late for this half marathon on March 14. I looked ahead at the forecast and saw it was clear skies. As Friday rolled in, the forecast changed to rain on race day with 54-degree weather. In the past nin

In the last two and a half months, I have spent a lot of time reflecting on what I want to do in the next chapter of my career. It has caused me to look deep inside to come to the realization I am a learner at heart. I like to learn to make and fix things in my life, which drew me into engineering for my undergraduate degree. It brought me into technical projects at the school where I taught and was principal. I also realized I like to share this knowledge with others. I want to make others’ lives easier and better through education. I have done this by educating elementary, middle, and high school students; undergraduates; and graduates. I believe in being a life-long learner, and I am reminding myself this week, “sometimes you have to go for it.” There has been some hesitation with publicizing my newest personal project, but I am drawn back to the idea that sometimes you need to pull off the band-aid. So here you have it, my opportunity to share what I have learned for hopefully the

It is very difficult for me to know the difference between paces. Thankfully, the majority of my runs are completed at an easy pace, and my heart rate determines my pace. However, hill repeats, intervals, tempo runs, and marathon pace runs require different paces. My GPS watch displays pace, but I find it to be laggy. It feels like it takes an eighth of a mile for the watch to adjust to a pace change. My solution is to use tenth-mile splits. For quarter-mile intervals, I use twentieth-mile (0.05 mile) splits. In the picture above, you see the notes I make myself to help me with my splits. I put the time intervals in my watch as a workout. The 25 minute tempo workout consisted of: 10 minute warmup at 11:35/mile 5 minutes running at 9:35/mile 5 minutes running at 9:00/mile 5 minutes running at 9:20/mile 5 minutes running at 9:00/mile 5 minutes running at 9:35/mile 5 minute cool down at 11:35/mile. Since my paces are all close to ten minute per mile pace, I use the difference between a te

Yesterday, in advance of St. Patrick’s Day, I attempted to make my first corned beef in a pressure cooker. I loosely followed the plans at Amy + Jacky Pressure Cook Recipes ( https://www.pressurecookrecipes.com/instant-pot-corned-beef/ ). The corned beef I bought had the seasoning loose in the bag. Therefore, I used the recipe for the cooking time and as a reference for how many vegetables to make. I did not need to worry about the spices. The recipe called for two pounds of corned beef and cooking it for 70 minutes with a 15-minute natural release. My corned beef was 3.56 pounds. I cooked it for 90 minutes with a 15-minute natural release, and it came out perfectly cooked. I removed three cups of liquid as suggested. I doubled the vegetables and cooked them in two equal batches under high pressure for three minutes with quick release. The vegetables also came out perfectly cooked. My biggest mistake in this meal preparation was forgetting to take a picture of the final product. Are yo

Marathon training teaches “you can do hard things”. I was reminded of this lesson during my 16-mile long run last week. I was six miles from the house and needed to go out another two miles for my out-and-back route. I could have turned around at that point. I could have turned around at the five-mile mark when the drizzle started, but I kept going. While the weather wasn’t pleasant, it was not unbearable. It served as a reminder that I can do difficult things. Running 26.2 miles is not easy, and this short period in the rain was preparation for the big race. Another memory came back as I was running. The trail had wide-open views of the horizon. As I ran my fourth mile, I could see the dark rain cloud rolling closer to me. It brought me back to the days on vacation as a youth on a lake. We would be out fishing; sometimes, you could see inclement weather move in. This past week I have spent a lot of time checking the weather apps on my phone to predict the perfect time to run. After se

I pride myself in learning and fixing, but sometimes you need to call in the professionals. We had a slow drain line that connects our kitchen sink, washing machine, and mud sink. It was not a complete blockage, but it did cause us to wait for the water to recede in the mud sink before starting another load of laundry. I snaked the drain twice with no improvement. It was time to call in a professional. The plumber cleared the line with a power auger, which led to the questions. Did the heavier gauge cable do a better job of clearing the drain? Did the longer cable length hit the trouble spots I couldn’t reach with my hand auger? Was the mechanical agitation from the machine superior to my hand-powered spinning? Did the running water help flush the debris down the line? I opted not to run water when I snaked the line because I did not want to deal with the cleanup. I am not sure of the answer; share your thoughts below. The next time this happens, I will run water when I snake the line