Law and Society

Went for a nice easy 5 k, but got lost and did 5 miles.  We started with the law and society group run. Hung with the group at an 840 pace for two miles and then S and J and I decided to chat at a more reasonable pace.  Beautiful day, ran over the Hennepin Bridge, then along the Mississippi. I'm trying to recruit J and S who do consumer credit to the runningprofs fold.  Oh, and most importantly, the calf held up!!

DC

Max, Becky, I'll be in DC arriving 6/7 leaving 6/11. Should be recovered and running again by then.

3 shoes, one painful massage, and a 10 miler

  I went to Fleet Fleet the other day to buy some socks and body glide and tried a bunch of shoes without actually buying any for a change.  First up was the New Balance 980 which I think Ted blogged about.  They bill it as a minimalist maximalist shoe.  Which make no real sense but I get what they are driving at.  It weighs 8.8 ounces but has a ton of cushion in the sole and the 4 mm drop that I prefer.  Not too mushy a feel, good support, but definitely a notch more structure and weight than Saucony Kinvaras which I have used for the past couple of years.  I would consider this for a training show but not for racing.  Only real objection was that the tow box was a little narrow for me.

Next up was the Saucony Virata zero drop true minimalist show.  This is basically the completely flat slightly lighter version of the Kinvara.  They had a pair in my size at half price which would have been $45.  Nearly bought this one but figured I wasn't going to get around to really this out for another three weeks until after my next half on June 7th so tried it on the tread mill.  I know the difference between a 4 mm drop and a flat shoe is trivial but it felt weird even if entirely in my head.

Finally took the Kinvara 5 out for a spin on the store tread mill.  The odd number models of the Kinvara have always given me trouble but this one looked good.  They kept the basic design the same as the 4 and replaced some of the sides with mesh instead of regular material and plastic saving a little weight and making a little more breathable.  Felt the same as the pair of 4s I wore into the store so put it on my birthday list with my in-laws.

Two days later I was on the massage therapist hoping for some relief for my super tight calves with a new massage guy who is also a running coach.  We had a nice talk and he beat the carp out of me for a solid hour leaving me actually bruised in a few spots.  This is the first time I ever needed an off day following a massage.  I am sure he did some good but I got the sense that he wasn't really listening and had kind of one speed for all comers. 

2 days later I did a slow 10 miler as I enter a 2 week taper for the spring 13.1.  This is my second half of the year after the Polar half in January.  Last September did a 2:03 half and then was laid low by kidney stones.  The Polar half was just an endurance contest so June 7th is my first real race of the year and the launching pad for my farewell Chicago marathon this October.  In the event of disaster will consider running 5-6 halves as an alternative to continuing to beat myself trying to get to the starting line of a full marathon.

Hoping for a not hot early June run on a great course that starts at the South Shore Cultural Center a few blocks from where my grandparents used to live on the south side and heading through Jackson Park, Hyde Park and north on the Outer Drive to 35th street and back.

The 7-Minute Workout

A year ago Gretchen Reynolds reported for the NY Times on a "scientific" workout program that can be completed in 7 minutes.  Brett Klika et al. studied  the effects of high intensity circuit training as a substitute for the normally prescribed 150 minutes/week of moderate -- or 75 minutes/week of high --  intensity exercise.

The rationale for the study is that busy adults may not be able to fit the prescribed weekly workouts into their schedules.  Klika et al. sought a program that would replace the prescribed weekly minimums while accomplishing the same goal.

Here is the 7-minute workout.  (Note: it takes 8 minutes if done as prescribed.)

HICT SAMPLE PROGRAM

The following is an example of a 12-station HICT program. All exercises can be done with body weight and implements easily acquired in almost any setting (e.g., home, office, hotel room, etc.). The exercise order allows for a total body exercise to significantly increase the heart rate while the lower, upper, and core exercises function to maintain the increased heart rate while developing strength.

Exercises are performed for 30 seconds, with 10 seconds of transition time between bouts. Total time for the entire circuit workout is approximately 7 minutes. The circuit can be repeated 2 to 3 times.

1. Jumping jacks Total body

2. Wall sit Lower body

3. Push-up Upper body

4. Abdominal crunch Core

5. Step-up onto chair Total body

6. Squat Lower body

7. Triceps dip on chair Upper body

8. Plank Core

9. High knees/running in place Total body

10. Lunge Lower body

11. Push-up and rotation Upper body

12. Side plank Core

(Quoting Klika et al.)

The Reynolds summary in the Times gives pictorial illustrations of the various exercises, though most are well known to all of us here at RP.

P__ found this program a few weeks back and shared it with me.  I've been on a 7-minute workout frenzy for the past 14 days and P__ has found it sufficiently convenient to make her a daily practitioner.

My assessment is as follows:  this is a kick in the pants.  Doing it two or three times (I take ~90"-2' rest in between) is a 20- or 30-minute blast similar to a good day at the track.  And the creators accomplished their goal of making something that fits into a busy schedule:  since finding this P__ has been on a 6-day-per-week frenzy that seemed impossible when the workout was "run for 30 minutes."

But it's not a magic bullet, either.  Note the fairly modest goal -- create a workout that serves most purposes but still fits with busy schedules.  Like any new program, this one to me feels hard because it is new; when it starts getting easier it will probably be time to move on.

Don't Understand Why Smart Students Can Be So Dumb on Finals

Almost done grading my antitrust finals.  While there are a couple of spectacular ones, I don't understand how every single student thought Section 3 of the Clayton Act applied to a tying arrangement involving services rather than goods.  This was a 24 hour take home open book final  so there is no reason not to actually read the statute before writing about it. 

The other thing that drives me crazy is the tendency to quote some black letter law and then simply state some conclusion when most of the points are gained through actually analyzing why the student thought something was or was not per se unlawful, why the relevant market was or not web based restaurant reservation systems, or why an exclusive dealing contract violated the rule of reason.

The final thing that drives me crazy is the failure to be complete.  So you think something is per se unlawful and explain why.  Good for you.  But the even better answer would go on to analyze the same agreement under some form of the rule of reason as well just in case the court or prof happens to disagree with your first argument..

Since these things drive me crazy, I explain them at length during the semester, the review session, and on the instructions to the final (which they have in advance).  And absolutely nothing changes.

I don't think I am just being cranky or idiosyncratic.  To state black letter law and state a bald conclusion as if you have accomplished something special is just bad lawyering.  So is failing to analyze alternative ways to solve the same problem.

Besides whining, I would welcome any suggestions on how to achieve a higher percentage of answers that actualy reflect something more than regurgitation of canned outlines.  Do I really have to be as literal as post some kind of power point on how to answer an exam question?

Busy Week

Friday                     J's prom.
Saturday                  Loyola Graduation.
Sunday                    Sag runs 1:36 half on his birthday. 
                               Waller gives Sag signed copy of George Will's book on Wrigley Field.
                               Waller lumbers 11 in tune up for June 7th half.
Monday                   Waller takes first long bike ride of the year.
                                Waller eats with colleague at Hot Doug's which is closing in the fall
                                Waller begins grading.
 Tuesday                   Besides running how will I procrastinate tomorrow?

Well, That was Slow . . .

So here is the requested report on the Brooklyn Half.  The day was a mixed bag.  On the plus side, it  was a gorgeous day on one of my favorite courses.  I finished, found the SBRC and Brooklyn Tri folks camped out next to each other at the pub, and had two celebratory beers before lunchtime.  And, most importantly, my left heel behaved and did not cause any distress.  Considering I didn't run a mile from December through most of March, this is a victory.  On the minus side, it was my slowest half ever, by a lot, and still wiped me out.  The only time I've run a slower half was at the end of a half-iron man. I got off to a decent start pace, until mile 1.5 when my right calf cramped.  I backed it down and resolved to watch the entire first wave go by.  The calf let go after another mile or two, and I settled in.  At about mile 9, I started feeling more confident, so I started to raise my cadence only to have the calf tweak again in a different spot.  I settled back down and reminded myself that this was just supposed to be  a training run . . .  Still, who knew that 10 minute miles could be so, um, rugged.  I'm trying not to read too much into the day, and reminding myself that it's May, and I have a whole summer ahead.    I'm not too worried about the calf.  The cramps were in the big part of the muscle and will heal soon enough, I think.