About

Welcome to Learn | Make | Fix | Run an opportunity to share what I have learned by making, fixing, or running.  Over the past couple of years, I have realized that I am a learner at heart. I like to learn how things work and find out how to optimize a design or a process. I like to make things, typically out of wood and sometimes out of food. I like to learn how to fix household items, like appliances and automobiles. For my health, I like to run. Most importantly, I like to share my knowledge with others once I learn.

I plan to use Learn | Make | Fix | Run to share what I have learned with others. Even if no one reads these posts, it will allow me to record my thoughts, so I believe it’s worth doing. I’m grateful for those of you who come along for the ride. You can follow what life has taught me, and hopefully, my experiences can give you a jump start on whatever you are trying to figure out.

Popular posts from this blog

I Received a Job Offer!

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This is my 100th blog post. I have gone from a student who did not like to write in elementary school, middle school, high school, and undergraduate school, to a graduate student who tolerated writing a thesis, to a principal who needed to write at least once a week, to someone who writes when he has something to say for fun. I started this blog to share what I have learned and to demonstrate to a future employer that I know how to communicate. I guess it’s appropriate that my 100th article is job-related. I was offered a job! It was a remote job with flexible hours and a six-figure salary in instructional design. Unfortunately, it was a scam. Something felt off from the initial email, but given how AI is used these days, I chalked it up to someone using AI poorly to communicate with potential applicants. Below, I will share the red flags I saw and explain how the scam works so you can protect yourself and your friends and family. Something Was off
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“Let’s go!” vs. “No way!”

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I didn’t plan well for my planned pace run. I have learned I am a better runner when training for a race or time trial because I have a plan. Since recovering from injury, I have been running every other day, so 3 to 4 times per week, which roughly constitutes a plan. Last week, I wanted to transition back to running 5 to 6 days a week. I had the following plan in mind. Sun: Recovery Mon: Base Tue: Recovery Wed: Speed Thu: Rest Fri: Pace Sat: Long However, I wasn’t able to get my run in on Wednesday. At the time, I thought it was okay and could flip-flop it with my Thursday rest day. However, on Thursday, I was extremely busy with housework and could not pull myself away for a run. When Friday came, I thought I was ready for a pace run. I figured I hadn’t run for two days; my body must be prepared. I did not account for the fact that I was under-fueled on Thursday and Friday. I failed to comprehend that the housework I did on Thursday was a full-body workout. Friday was also one of the
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Don’t Let Strava Steal Your Low Heart Rate Training Mojo

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This is a friendly reminder that what you value might differ from Strava. I have been on the low heart rate bandwagon for a while. By keeping my heart rate low for 80% of my runs, I can develop my aerobic system and allow my body to do more at a lower heart rate. For example, last week, I had my best base run of 2024. I ran 5.2 miles and averaged 10:24/mi. My heart rate average was 138 BPM, and I spent 99% of my time in Z2 or lower. I was stoked to see these statistics at levels I had not seen since training for my last marathon. After I loaded the run into Strava, I scrolled down to the section that indicates when your fitness has increased. I looked, but this run did not trigger the criteria for Strava to show that I improved my fitness. Then, I looked at the relative effort section, and Strava reported that my effort was lighter than my three-week average. I ran further and faster with a lower heart rate, and my effort was lighter; what? I felt great, as if I had improved! I thought
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