A scientifically sound conclusion plus a rant

For whatever reason, I didn't get my run in this morning. OK, fine, the reason was I didn't get out of bed early enough. I was tired and headachy and grumpy and it didn't happen.

That meant an afternoon run. I don't particularly enjoy running in the afternoon but I had no good reason to skip it, especially after being a baby this morning. Plus I had to try out my new shoes.

So, I ran. The program said 4 miles and that's what I set out for. I felt fairly average. Tired after a day at work, my stomach was achy (balancing eating enough to not be hungry and not so much that I couldn't run - tricky!), the path was crowded. I got to my 2 mile turn-around area and listened for the watch beep. It came and I headed back home, cursing myself for not getting up in the morning.

End of run and I look at my watch: 38:56.

Um, excuse me. I don't run sub-10:00 minute miles when I'm on an easy run (I barely run sub-10:00 when I'm trying to race). But every mile was sub-10:00.

I considered what the possible cause might be:

1. Afternoon run
2. I ate a banana today
3. New shoes
4. I've 'levelled up' in my running (you know, I've now logged enough miles that I automatically get a new running power - increased speed)
5. Lower humidity

I've concluded it must be the shoes. The other options have a lot going for them but I don't have tricky photos for them so they had to be discounted.

I think they might be jet powered

On a serious note, the adidas were comfortable to run in, have a nice bounce to them and felt good on my foot. Of course, I'll need to test them out over a longer distance too.

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Now, on an even more serious note, a quick rant.

During my run this afternoon I had another encounter on the path with disrespectful males. This time it was a graphic and personal comment made to me. It makes me so mad, frustrated and disappointed that this happens and that in many circumstances it's just accepted. That we live in a society where we just take it for granted that this is going to happen and you have to ignore it and move on.

I read an article today titled "Have a look at yourself"in the Herald Sun, a Victorian (Australia) newspaper that is on this exact issue. It was written by the Victoria Police Chief Commissioner. I think it's a great article and I'm happy that it's being widely shared around Australia. But it's also a sad reflection on the world we live in that this is such a wide spread problem.

End of rant.

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On a scale of 1 to 10, how nerdy would I be if I actually designed an experiment to see whether I'm running faster in my new shoes? I do actually have a background in science and have studied experimental design and statistics but gave it all up for the glitz and glamour of the accounting world.