Faster Than Light

Faster Than The Speed of Light
No not my running - obviously. Neutrinos - allegedly.

Well that is what the scientists at INFN - Gran Sasso Labs say they measured. Neutrinos fired off from CERN in Switzerland travelling 732Km (or through “700Km of rock“ depending on which report you read) have been measured arriving at INFN at 60 nanoseconds faster than the speed of light.

The exact measurement is 57.8 nanoseconds plus or minus 7.8. Close enough for government work and far more accurate than my Garmin is or needs to be.

So What?
If proved to be the case the faster-than-light neutrinos would demolish modern physics. Mind you - some scientists are expecting the existing theories to be overthrown sometime soon. But not in quite such a radical way. See also the Higgs Boson.

Back to square 1.

Experiment Replicated
Not exactly but it has been repeated by the same team.
To be replicated an experiment needs to be repeated by different teams who arrive consistently at the same results as the original.
So far all that has happened is that the INFN team, who published the original findings, have adjusted the pulses of neutrinos to avoid one of the possible system errors.

Pulse Bursts
It had been suggested that in the long pulses of neutrinos the instruments were measuring the last particles to be fired as the first to arrive. The repeat experiment used shorter pulses to counter this - and still measured the 57.8 nanosecond breaking of the speed limit.

Supernovae Observed
These have been observed for many years. Most of the energy emitted is neutrinos. And these are not measured arriving at earth ahead of the light. So how can it be that when travelling over billions of light years across space the neutrinos arrive after the light images - but over a mere 700Km through rock they arrive nearly 60 nanoseconds ahead?

Alternatives

1. Error in the instruments - unlikely as they have been checked and double-checked
2. Conceptual error - the results measure something different from what the scientists think they are measuring
3. Unknown Unknowns - something not yet discovered that affects the results in an unexpected way
4. Existing Theory Wrong - particles can travel faster than light
5. Interference with the Results by Aliens or Gods.

The paper has been published for peer review - to see if someone can spot the error or come up with a theory to explain the unexpected results.
 
Outcomes
Possible outcomes are:-

1. Error in measurement identified
2. Error in concept of experiment identified
3. Something new discovered - but which does not overturn the current theories
4. Existing theory replaced by a new paradigm
5. INFN running out of funds before the experiment is concluded due to the sovereign default of Italy, implosion of the Euro and economic collapse of western Europe.

 
But will it affect the man on the Clapham omnibus?
 
 

Rhymes with Tune

Light - God’s eldest daughter - is a principal beauty in building. - Thomas Fuller 1608-1661

Swindon 10Km - 2011

New PB
My personal best time 10K is now 0:54:13 - official time for Swindon 10K race on Sunday 20-11-2011.

Late
Arrived late - fog on M4 - only just in time to take part.

Delayed Start
Had to run towards the faces at the start line - to the cheers of the other runners. Sorry to keep you waiting folks!

I told them I was just finishing last year’s race - which got a laugh. Fastest warm-up I have ever done.

Got to back of queue just as race started. Garmin not ready either - still searching for satellites after start.

Strategy
Keep It Simple Sunshine (KISS) - just to push myself a little harder than I do in training and to keep this pressure on for the whole distance.

As 6.5 miles within an hour is now a normal training run the 10k distance held no fears for me on Sunday.

Narrative
From last year I knew that the first K or so was flat along a broad largely traffic-free road and so there was space to overtake even within the large crowd without getting in anyone else’s way. Being already well warmed up meant that I could make the most of this broad avenue of opportunity.

At around 2K had to stop to retie shoelace. Note to self - double bow needed.

The K markers seemed to come up with rapid regularity and it was reassuring to recognise landmarks. One surprise was the hills - or rather lack of them. The course is mostly level with some slight gradients up and down. Last year these gradients felt like hills. This year not.

On my training runs I do not carry water and re-hydrate when I get home. The Swindon 10k provides a watering point on the repeat loop where it can be accessed on either lap. I decided not to stop or collect any this year on the basis that I would lose time picking up water and I did not need it as I am used to running the distance without.

From the 8k marker I pushed myself a bit harder for the penultimate K. Back on the flat for the last one I concentrated on a smooth action and steady breathing and pace until the last 100m where I extended into a bit of a sprint to pass the 3 people ahead of me.

Weather & Clothing
Less cold and wet than last year. Wore short-sleeve top but new tights rather than shorts. Comfortable.

Result
296th out of 494 runners. In 3rd Quartile.

Time - 54 minutes 13 seconds.

Improvement on last year - 4 minutes 26 seconds. 26.6 seconds per Kilometre. 7.5%.

Winner’s time 0:32:21.

Rewards
New PB. New Medal. Tea & Bacon Baps.

Oh, and did I mention a new PB?

Blog On Other Blogs (BOOBs)

Other People’s Blogs

This post is about some Running Blogs that I like.
If you have been following this blog you will not be surprised to see that I have selected 5.

In no particular order they are:-

• Run For Your Life - by Old Running Fox
• Skeddadle - by The Knickernator
• Confessions of a Virgin Half Marathon Runner - by Kelly
• Hruns Random Ramblings - By Hrun
• He who trains trains.- by I Am Leg End aka Taffy

Why These?
Of all the millions of blogs out there in the bloggersphere why these five?

In outline:-

• Four of them cover other issues too - they are not just about running
• Three of them are “blokeish” (That is sort of the opposite of “Elvish” as in Lord Of The Rings)
• Two of them are particularly inspirational for me - either due to the age of the runner or the distances covered
• None are the same - all are different.

Run For Your Life
This guy is an inspiration. He only took up running in his fifties and is now in his seventies. He runs farther, faster, more often, and over hillier terrain, than me.

The quality of the writing as well as the content, the pictures and layout, make this a great blog to follow. The writer’s love of life and landscape shine through. Of Fox’s pithy comments I particularly enjoy “The older I get the better I used to be”.

Skedaddle  

Running and life from a young female point of view. I love the many asides into other aspects of life, the universe, and everything. The universe described is a gender-gap and generation-gap away from that with which I am familiar.

In some ways this blog is also "blokish" - but in the manner of the modern woman unconsciously and assuredly exercising her equality.  Another reason why I like the blog.

When I was a lad in order to understand what women want I had to go to literature. Nowadays it is all out there on the www - and anything is possible. No wonder these days young blokes feel inadequate! (Thinks - it was ever thus.) 

Confessions of a Virgin Half Marathon Runner 
This running blog has some clever training and mileage “widgets” for those of us who like to compare data - which leaves the text free of geeky stuff and with space for the literate bits.

The running gag of this site - sorry no way of avoiding the pun - is the A to Z of “Running Terms - Good and Bad”. Hours of fun reading these imaginative definitions.

The title of the blog reveals a pitfall that I too fell into. When the half-marathon has been completed should the blog be abandoned and replaced by an entirely new one? Or get Branson as a sponsor?

Hrun’s Random Ramblings
The running blog that contains cake. Well lots of them contain references to cake but this one has recipes for cake. The author is modern metro-man able and willing to take on housework and cooking.

Bicycles, swimming, and sports injuries also get mentioned - but not necessarily in the same post. Sometimes I find he has written something that I have been thinking.

“A gadget is defined by my dad as something you didn't know you needed until you got it, with a plug on.” 

And no - I am not his dad.

He Who Trains Trains
This is the blog that will run and run. Like the author. A bloke who has been battered by life and is fighting back by running - and running. Stopped drinking and smoking - just like that. Milestones, targets, benchmarks - he has set himself the works. And doing it. 5000 miles within a year - done! Heading for 6k.

Obsessive? Maybe.  Work-life balance appears to be “Run-Work-Run. This guy does two runs a day every day. Nobody can match him for mileage and not slow either. He tops the mileage for the day/week/month/year on Runners Forum. And in due course will top the highest ever. Unless a ‘bot gets there first.

It can be catching. One Monday morning I did a 12 mile run and so topped the mileage for the week. My record lasted until the evening by which time Taff had done his second run of the day.

So - a blog that inspires awe rather than emulation.

Progress

My running started on a whim and continued on the predication of improvement.

Has this happened? Time to check progress.

Metric
Comparisons can only be made on a like-for-like basis. It was just under 12 months ago that I got my Garmin and this make it possible to compare times, distances and other data.

Except the updated software has erased my notes! Lucky I kept a log on Runners Forum.

Improvement
Taking averages of runs over similar distances I have improved over the past year by:-

1. Average Speed - up nearly 5%
2. Max Speed - up 13%
3. Distances covered - up 25%
4. Heart Rate - average and max - down by 7%
5. Half marathon PB - reduced by 5%

I have also lost 11lbs in weight over the year.

Law of Diminishing Returns
Inevitably it will become progressively harder to add to these improvements. There is also the risk that age and injury may knock back progress.

But that is tomorrow’s issue - onwards and upwards today.

As long as it remains legal.

Pic of Willls ciggies old enamel ad

"As we jog on, either laugh with me, or at me, or in short do anything - only keep your temper."
Tristram Shandy - Laurence Sterne