Stritar's chronolog

How I managed to train myself for a half-marathon in six months

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 21:42:33 GMT

I'm not that fit of a person, about half a year ago I had well over 100 kg. That's when I decided to start running to get in shape. I began with workouts of around 2km, I couldn't do more, I ran out of breath. But each time I went running again, the easier it was. Supposedly you need to exercise at least 30 minutes to start losing weight, which is about 5 km of running. I clearly remember the first time I managed to run that distance, the feeling was overwhelming, and I sensed the ecstasy - when you get the impression you could run until exhaustion. After you hit that half hour mark, you start progressing faster, which made me think about doing a 10 km or even a 21 km run this October on Ljubljana Marathon.

Which I did, and it was awesome! And I think you can do it too, because it's really not that hard. After running a 21 km half-marathon (with the time of 2:14:02, which is not that great, but still), I did a bit of contemplation on my workouts, and I can tell you a bit about it. The half-marathon was my 40th run this year, not as big a number as you would expect. The whole "training" took me half a year. I say training, but I didn't stick to any methodologies, I just went out two or three times a week. The more you run, the easier it becomes, and I noticed I run best after work, specially if I'm stressed or pissed off at someone / something. Running clears your head.

My longest run ever - October 28th, 2012: the Ljubljana half-marathon.

The exercises took me through three different conquests. At the beginning, running out of breath was my biggest problem, but you overpower that after ten runs or so. Later, the physical pain set the limits (sore muscles, side stitch, etc.), but you triumph that too, mile by mile. The last phase is the blood circulation problem, which makes you dizzy after long runs, preventing you from thinking straight. If you manage to survive that, you're good to go. My longest run before the half-marathon was about 17 km.

The list of my runs in from April to October 2012. Click for a larger version.

Needless to say the half-marathon is a major test, both physically and mentally. The first three quarters were easy, but I became totally exhausted the last few kilometers, stuck with my messed up malnourished brain who was asking me "why the hell did you have to do this shit?". But I managed to somehow run to the end, counting minute by minute - the kilometer signs were too far apart. The physical pain was immense, you notice it when you stop for a few seconds to drink and your legs start to shake, but you keep on going, like the others, your body can do much more than you expect from it. When you come to the finish line, everything is paid for and forgotten, and knowing you did something so extreme fills you with pride.

I would like to thank everybody that cheered for us in that cold weather, specially my support team that gave me the final bits of energy I needed to complete the race. You guys rock!

Closing in on the finish line. Your support group is invaluable at those critical moments. (photo by Iva Pirc Šepec)

You can barely walk for the next few days, but that's simply a part of it. Like thinking of what your challenge for the next year will be. Doing a 21 under 2 hours or going for the big one? Everything's possible, even if you are an overweight geek who smokes too much. Believe me.

This makes it worth it. Take that, bucket list.

The great aquarium cleaning dilemma: should you be removing or replacing water?

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:44:18 GMT

Everybody that owns an aquarium probably came across this decision at one point. The water is filthy and needs to be replaced. All you have is a jar. And you ask yourself: should you be emptying the aquarium first, adding new water later on, or should you be replacing filthy water with clean water? The first choice seems more rational, but sometimes you can't fully empty the aquarium (e.g. you have fish), and you need to do more runs since you're not taking water both ways. The other option seems interesting since you're efficient both ways, but at the same time you're taking back fresh water mixed in the aquarium. So, what should you do?

The situation

In reality, you do have other options. A water pump, a larger intermediate basin or other things that can make this task easier. But believe me, sometimes you don't have the time to do it properly and you just want to clean the water a bit. And that's when you'll wonder what to do. It happened to me, and that's why I've made myself a model that would answer this question, a model that would determine the breaking point (where both options are equally effective) between the two techniques.

The model described contains the following parameters:

the aquarium volume (V - volume)
the jar volume (d - change)
number of two-way runs (x)

And it looks something like this:

The aquarium cleaning situation

The initial model

The original view I made in Excel is based on simple mathematics, where each one-way run is represented by one line in the table. Adding and removing water both-ways constantly reduces filthiness, but makes each additional run less effective. On the other hand, removing water first and adding fresh water later takes more runs (since your jar is empty in one direction, you require four one-way runs to replace an additional unit), but you're not removing clean water. Here's a preview of how this looks:

The basic calculation

The advanced model

The basic model is more understandable, but not appropriate to make a full mathematical equation. That's why I made a second model, which is based on two-way runs and exponential functions. Here's what I got:

The advanced calculation

The results

The results show that if you don't have much time, it's better if you're replacing water, taking it both ways. This accounts for faster cleaning, which is slowing down in the long run. But the point is that no matter what the parameters are (aquarium and jar size), the breaking point happens more to the end of the cleaning. So, if you're not prepared to fully empty the aquarium, it's generally better if you use the the first option, removing and adding water at the same time.

The graphical results displaying water filthiness based on number of two-way runs for different jar and aquarium sizes

The breaking point equation

The results are there, and I managed to make the following equation which would calculate where both ways are the equally effective:

This makes calculating the number of runs so complex it can't be calculated in basic Excel (because of the Lambert W or product log function).

But luckily, you can use Wolfram Alpha to calculate the breaking point of two-way runs by entering the aquarium and jar size in the boxes below. If you're prepared to make less two-way runs than the result, take water both-ways, otherwise, one-way.

Aquarium: Jar:

If you want to play around a bit, you can even download the complete model in Excel format.

Conclusion

Perhaps there's an easier way to calculate the great aquarium cleaning dilemma, which speaks in favor of water replacement (taking water both ways). There's also a chance I've made an error somewhere (please let me know!). But the results seem correct, and I hope you find all of this amusing and / or helpful when you need to update your water. Aquarium cleaning will never be the same again.

Update (26.11.2011): While this may have been a fun experiment, I've just read it's not that smart to fully remove water in the aquarium, since it disrupts the balance of bacteria.

Working in Cape Town - Part 3: The cool stuff

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 08:20:56 GMT

My month of working in Cape Town is over, and I'm fully back to the cold and wet reality of Slovenia. Needless to say it was an amazing ride, packed with ups and downs, and after writing about my first impressions about a month ago I'm slowly ready to present the final objective review, together with the highlights of my trip. The first week I was there was a bit of a struggle, as I was slightly overwhelmed by the culture shock. But after that I managed to adopt the situation and have grown to admire and love Cape Town. Today, sitting at home, I can say that South Africa is a beautiful country with amazing landscape and nature, but at the same time full of cultural contrast and racial inequality, a constant reminder of the things that happened in the past.

My trip in Cape Town revolved mostly around two groups of people. One of them were my coworkers and their friends, almost all of them South African. The other group were my roommates and their friends, most of them Europeans working or studying in Cape Town. This enabled a diversified collection of interesting experiences that happened to me while I was around.

The city

The city of Cape Town is an amazing place. I haven't visited the suburbs enough to make a judgment, but the city center (City Bowl) is a place filled with interesting stuff and cool things to do. The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront is a great place to hang out – a living harbor, full of bars, restaurants and shops. The sandy beaches on the other side of the mountain, a few minutes drive away, resemble a tropical paradise, and there are many of them to suit different tastes. The nightlife is lively, with great pubs and awesome clubs, packed with interesting and diverse people. Not to mention other interesting things you can see while you're there.

The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, with the Table mountain covered with clouds

Camps Bay Beach, with a view over Lion's head

Long Street, a diversified and popular party destination

The jungle inside Company's Garden

The nature

The nature around Cape Town is simply beautiful. The landscape, the scenery, the wildlife and the vegetation are a magnificent addition to the broader region of Cape Town, which makes it a perfect location for short travels for a half-tourist such as myself. The Atlantic is cold and wavy, it's temperature is around 15°C, but people still swim or simply take a short dip. It's been more than 500 years after the Portuguese explorers finally found a way around Africa to India, slowly settling in this remarkable land.

Local flora and fauna (a Kudu antelope)

Cape Point by The Cape of Good Hope

The waves of the Atlantic. Its roar is majestic.

The adventure

There are many things you can do around Cape Town. I visited Aquila Safari, which resembles a reservation park a bit, bit still does the trick, since Kruger Park is more than 1000 km away. I wanted to see the Big 5 (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, buffalo), but missed the leopard. The trip was still well worth it, the lion family on top of the cliff was simply epic. Otherwise, I also managed to go scuba diving with Cow sharks, and I was lucky enough another diver recorded the whole thing and put it on YouTube (look for the "strong" guy with the black fins, movie courtesy of bartfilms). This dive was without a cage, and the sharks were so close I could touch them. The experience felt so unique and authentic I canceled my cage diving trip with the Great white sharks, since it's without scuba gear and it simply felt lame after this extraordinary sensation.

A lion family sitting on top of the hill

Diving with the Seven-gill Cow sharks, image courtesy of Animal Ocean

Sadly I wasn't able to do more stuff, since my primary function there was to work, and I only had the weekends off. One thing I do regret not doing is the wine tasting tour, because the wine there is simply amazing. But on the other hand, you have to leave a few things for the time you come back, which I probably will. Cape Town is the place to be, and I really enjoyed it to the fullest. Thank you guys!

Check out the complete Working in Cape Town series.