I have been studying genetic abnormalities in depth recently and the fear of such destructive preventable diseases instigated my curiosity to find the ideal age range to have a child. This is kind of deviating from my usual rant but something I have been thinking about a lot recently. Obviously there is no perfect age for everyone but I figured I’d at least try to quantify the balance between nature and nurture.
I was rereading the Wikipedia page “Interstellar Travel” earlier today and was very frustrated about their discussion of impossibility. I guess this could be a recurring theme in my life. The only thing that is impossible is that something could be impossible. Everything instead can be discussed in the range of probabilities. It is possible for me to walk through a wall. Seriously I can do it, it just is highly improbable. But the writers of this article talk about interstellar travel as if it should be relegated to science fiction. Why then are hundreds if not thousands of physicists and engineers around the world searching for better methods to accomplish such travel? Someone has hope and at the expense of increasing my rank of nerd, I am one of them. I almost wish Wikipedia was not ever changing so that we could reflect like a textbook on the progression from impossible to reality. Impossible has become a word that is illogical to use. Everything is a theory. At one point in time there was a theory that it was impossible for a human to pass the sound barrier. Since that belief we have created a commercial airliner that could travel faster than that. And now there are physicists (who may truly be insane) that believe that the “light barrier” is only fictional.
I just got back from another 100 mile adventure through the woods. When my professors cancelled my Monday classes, that opened up the door for me to turn what could have been a simple walk into an epic trek through southwest Virginia.
On Friday, my friends were going backpacking in Grayson highlands near the Tennessee-Virginia state line. I rode down with them but instead of travelling south with them into the familiar, beautiful Grayson Highlands, I decided to head north to cover some new Appalachian Trail territory. On Friday morning at 11 AM I turned north and with a simple “See ya broskies,” I was off walking. I had abandoned my rain gear, my tent, and all extra clothing. I exchanged waterproof, thick boots for running shoes. The physical goal was simple: go as far as possible in 72 hours.
I was supposed to take a week off from triathlon at the end of this season. My last race was yesterday. But what I am “supposed” to do did not exactly line up with what I want to do. So I am going to start training again tomorrow. I will have taken a day off and that is plenty for me.
This sport is not a mathematical equation to me. What I am supposed to do has rarely lined up with what feels right. So I am trying something new now. I am going to do what I want to do or what feels right to do. It is going to be a simpler method, one without specific periodization or a daily routine planned out weeks in advance.
Training is part of my life. It is not something to toy with and tweak with.