Learn | Make | Fix | Run

  My two biggest takeaways from running last week were related to listening to podcasts and running posture. I have talked about podcasts slowing me down in the past. (" Are Podcasts Slowing Me Down or Do I Just Need the Rest? " and " Podcast Experiment Results and Marathon Prep Week ") On Saturday, I scheduled a 13-mile long. I have not listened to music or podcasts while running for the past three months and was looking forward to catching up on some of my podcasts. My headphones were only partially charged and stopped working about eight miles into my run. When I looked back at the data from my run, I saw that I was faster and more into Z2 running the last five miles of my run. The last five miles were net uphill and should have been my slowest. I need to relegate podcasts for my recovery runs. During the long run, I continued to work on running with good form – running tall, with hips up and forward. At the end of the run, I could feel the burn in my lower abdom

  This week, I have finished creating my flagship Articulate Storyline 360 project. It’s based on using heart rate training to prepare for a marathon. I still need to create a write-up to include with my portfolio and clean up some loose items, but the hay is in the barn. I’ll share more once my portfolio website is ready for public consumption. I have learned a lot in creating the project, but I am most proud of the JavaScript I implemented. I took a required C programming class in college. I made webpages in the late 90’s, just as Microsoft FrontPage became mainstream. In the late 2000’s, I learned PHP and MySQL for creating web pages. I may have used JavaScript for a clock on a late 1990’s website. While I have been successful in these endeavors, I don’t consider myself a programmer. In creating my flagship project, I thought it would be nice to include a Karvonen target heart rate calculator based on the user’s maximum and resting heart rates. I knew that Storyline could execute Ja

I affirmed my choice for my current training plan this week. When I started this training block, I vacillated between Hal Higdon’s Advanced 1 program, which I used for the Mountains 2 Beach Marathon, and Hal Higdon’s Advanced 2 program. I liked the idea of running more pace runs and speed sections in Advanced 2. However, I was coming off a 10K training plan and sick of doing speed work. Intuition told me that concentrating on slow miles would be better for me. I compared the mileage in both plans, and Advanced 1 appeared to have more miles. Therefore, I chose the Advanced 1 program for CIM. This week, I realized I could compare my current training block to my last one since the workouts are the same. I can see that my base runs are faster while staying in heart rate zone 2. I can compare my long runs and my interval runs. I have read a lot about marathon training that it isn’t one workout that gives you a Boston marathon qualifying time. Instead, showing up daily and laying one brick o

In preparing to be an instructional designer, I have learned that there are a few ways to source graphics for your eLearning projects. Considering I lack the skill and time to make the graphics myself and don’t have a budget for a graphic artist, I am left with two options – image bank websites or AI-generated bots. Instructional designers can source vector graphics from an image bank website like Freepix. The upside to this approach is that the graphics are already created. You don’t need to wait for them to be created. Designers need to know the correct keywords to search for content successfully. The downside is that the artwork the instructional designer has in mind may not be in the image bank. Image generating AI tools like Midjourney and Blue Willow can also be used to create content. The advantage is that the tools can generate graphics not in the image repository websites. Like image bank sites, designers need to know how to prompt the bot to generate the content. The downside

While the heat has not been oppressive, it has hampered my efforts to run when I wanted to run this last week. I am using heart rate training as part of my preparation for CIM. Many factors affect heart rate, such as sleep, caffeine, stress, heat, humidity, time of day, hills, and the list goes on. This past week I concentrated on mitigating heat. My recovery runs are meant to be run in Z1. They are supposed to be slow, so I wasn’t as worried about getting these runs in during the heat. However, my first recovery run was at 7:58 a.m. on Tuesday, with a 68°F start. My second recovery run was at 1:44 p.m. on Sunday in 83-86°F heat. I bounced like a pinball between the shady spots in the streets on this run and walked the last quarter-mile while staying in Z1. My personal heat index when running is to add 10°F to the ambient air temperature. Anything over 72°F ambient takes its toll on me. My base runs are meant to be run in Z2. They are intended to be easy. My first base run was at 8:18

I have completed most of my Storyline training and am ready to start my first project. The best option for accessing images for use in the project is through subscription-based services. The monthly cost is modest, but to keep spending down and get all of my image needs addressed in one fell swoop, I decided to jump over to Articulate Rise 360 to create my first Rise project. I still need to finish my microlearning lesson about food scrap recycling for a local elementary school.  Once my portfolio site is available, I will share it with you, and you can experience it yourself. In the meantime, I have included a screenshot of my project. What have you learned this week? I would love to hear about it in the comments below.

I have started my next training block. My goal is to run a sub 4:15 marathon at the California International Marathon (CIM) on December 3, 2023. I will run a tune-up half marathon in San Jose at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon nine weeks out on October 1, 2023. This time I will be using Hal Higdon’s Advanced Marathon 1 plan. I thought about using his Advanced 2 plan, but I rather have endurance over speed. This time I'm concentrating on running tall, hips up and forward. I felt it in my glutes during the last four miles of last week’s ten-mile long run. I added clamshells to my core routine. I might add in a dynamic warm-up and foam rolling this block. What are you training for? I would love to hear about it in the comments below.

This week I have taken the plunge and signed up for my 30-day trial of Articulate 360. I have spent the last six months learning the theory and terminology of instructional design. I have been learning Storyline and Rise by watching videos without having the software available. Articulate’s retail price is $1,099 per year. There is no monthly option. Knowing that the trial for the Articulate software is only 30 days, I have spent time planning some projects for my portfolio. Now that I have some ideas in mind, it’s time to learn the program. I am working through the online user guide on the Articulate website. I am making good progress, and I should be starting on my portfolio project next week. It’s exciting to put something together to show a future employer I have the skills to be an instructional designer. I hope to finish before the trial expires, but I have learned that I might be able to get an extension for the trial if I explain my current situation. What have you learned this

I learned many different lessons during my latest block of 10K training. The biggest lesson I learned is related to running form. I am a “taller” runner these days. My hips are up and forward. I am equipped to take on my next marathon with this in mind. This past week, I have learned a lot about pacing and have been reminded that GPS is not always 100% reliable. In my second 10K time trial attempt, the GPS failed me. I kept speeding up in mile 2 to keep pace, and it felt too fast. Since I knew roughly where I was on my course, I estimated that 1/10 of a mile was missing on my watch. After my run, I discovered GPS was only available for about one mile, and the remaining eight-tenths (0.7 mile, according to the watch) did not have GPS sync. I cut my third attempt for a 10K PB short. GPS was on point, but my HR wasn't. Chasing a PB from November 2021 might be too big of a leap. PR'ing my 5K (from December 2021) and race predictor calculators are confounding the issue. The reality