High Speeds

Easy 8 miles.

Easy 8.

Easy 8.

8 easy.

  Took the  AP Chemistry test. Felt pretty confident on multiple-choice , 55-65 of 75 correct (no penalty for incorrect answers). Blew up on the calculator free-response, but answered everything. I'm sure I missed half of a question, and probably at least a third in the other two. I will be lucky to get 60 percent on that portion. The non calculator went a little better. Did about 60-70 percent right on one (I think), then 80-90% on the next two. The calculator questions are 30% of my total score, the non-calculator questions are 20%, the multiple choice is 50%. So 4-5. I deserved a 4, but when we approximated my score based on how I think I did, without giving myself benefit of the doubt, my score was .1 above the standard for a 5. A 5 would be great, a 4 would be unsurprising.

   Ran one mile back from Orem high, then 4 alone in 30:18.

  Took the AP Computer Science test (namely, the Java test). The syllabus incorporates alogarithms, as well as Java-specific materials. There is also a GridWorld case study. However, in small snippets, Java looks and behaves almost like C. So it wasn't like I was learning a foreign language. The principles are basically the same (with a few gotcha's, hence the name of Java test). On the multiple choice (50%, 40 questions) I felt sure about almost all (90%) of my answers. I probably had 5-10 multiple choice wrong. I know I caught one mistake. I have a habit of thinking I understand something perfectly, and then confidently giving a bogus solution.

  Also, for the first half of the multiple-choice, I was drowsy. I knew I was about to crash. I spent more time than I should have on the first problems. Then I said a silent prayer that my mind would clear and that I could solve the problems. Within a few minutes, the drowsiness lessened. I was able to solve the remaining questions more quickly than the first half. Some may call that a confidence effect. I think it should be called the faith effect.

Next were the four free-response questions. I finished with 26 minutes to spare. Then I went back and caught 4-6 horrific mistakes. I could have lost as much as 10-13% of my score to them. So I fixed them and with 10 minutes remaining did not find any more mistakes. I felt confident about all my free-response answers. I think I got a 5, but can't say for sure.    

  Ran a mile home, then 4 in 31:16.

Took the AP Calculus BC exam today. Scary sounding name. Not quite so scary in real life. I believe Calculus could become at least optional curriculum at the 8th-10th grade level -- if we could fix up our education system, that is. It doesn't take a prodigy to learn calculus at 8th grade  (If my IQ score is any indicator, I am certainly no prodigy). There was a fourth-grade teacher who taught his entire class calculus. They were not a class of prodigies. They were taught more effectively, at a higher standard, and as a consequence performed at that higher standard. Students will rise or fall to what is expected of them. The reason we don't expect them to learn calculus until college is because our current method of education is ineffective. It takes until college to lay the necessary groundwork to understand calculus. That is not the student's fault. It is the fault of the system that teaches them.

I'm not trying to single out public school. Homeschool has its problems too. I'm talking about our general approach to education in America. Many teachers nationwide do an excellent job, but they have to (or choose to) stick with the curriculum. The same often applies to homeschoolers.

     Enough about education. Here's my personal experience on the exam.

I felt sick on the multiple choice section of the exam. I felt like my ability to problem solve was impaired. Still, I think I got 55-70 percent of the questions right. The AP exams are set up like Olympiads. You're intended to miss some questions. That's why the grading curve is usually 66% :-). I prayed repeatedly that my mind would clear. It started to towards the end of the calculator multiple-choice. It was totally clear at the start of free-response

I did better on the free-response questions, 80-95% estimate. Hope I got a 5. Hope my estimates were accurate.

Three easy.

4 easy.

6 easy.

3000 meters of misery in Park City. The splits are in my dad's blog. Probably kicked too late. Just could not get myself to run faster. The heat (and the altitude) got to me.

Took AP Physics C:Mechanics. The score approximator I used, based on my "worst-case scenario" gave my score as 0.7 points above the standard for a 5. So we'll see. The curve on physics is 50-55 points out of 90, and for a good reason. The free-response questions are comparable to Russian Olympiad problems. I got into time trouble.At least I know for sure I answered 1.3-1.7 of three correctly. I wrote something everywhere else. Hope I got enough partial credit.

8 easy. Actually. 3.5 easy, then 4.5 at night vomiting every half mile or so.

All easy.

Ten miles of pain with my Dad. we did 5 times one mile at 6:00 pace, with a mile rest. Sounded easy at first (how naive I was). I'd run a 10K faster than 6:00 pace, with no rest. So I asked my dad, "Only 6:00 pace? And with breaks?"

     He basically told me "you'll see". What I didn't realize was that two of the fast miles would be uphill, into a head-wind, and that the "breaks" were going to be run at a briskish pace, three of which would be uphill, into a head-wind.

  At 4 miles, 3 uphill, and two of those uphill miles fast, I felt pooped. Now I understood why we were 'only' going 6:00 on the intervals. My splits for the first two miles were 5:59 and 5:53. The downhill miles (5:50, 5:50)  were easier, but I was still getting murdered aerobically.

    The final  interval was at the end of the workout, and as a consequence I got to run the hilly course by my house (those of you who've run with my dad recently know exactly what I'm talking about) in 5:50.

Total time for 10 miles was 68 something. Felt like the workout was a success. Took a 50-minute nap after my run. More accurately I lay on the couch, incapable of movement, more dead than alive, until I had recuperated sufficiently to walk.

8 easy.

Eight easy.

  Ten miles of pain in 58:34 (fortunately not in the rain). Drove up the canyon with my Dad to the magic 10-mile mark, then warmed up a half mile.

   For the first two miles I was antsy - full of little aches and doubts.Over the next 3 I felt pretty good, but was dreading the second half and potential crash. Around 3,5 we slipped on some mud. Luckily, no one fell. The near miss shook me up.

   At 5 miles, we were a low 29. Any readers will need to look at my Dad's blog for splits. I started thinking, "Each mile under 6:00 moves me away from disaster. Juts one more mile." Somehow I held on for 4 more miles, averaging 5:50-5:53.

  With a mile to go, I was safely ahead of the 6:00 guy. I took the lead, trying to not crash. For me, it's physiologically easier to lead than draft over the last mile. I feel more in control. Maybe it is my competitive nature surfacing. For all the benefits of drafting, no one ever wins a race by drafting throughout the kick.

  The hills over the last 1000 got me. The bear, no, mammoth, jumped on me with 800 to go. I may also have had physiological issues. I managed to kick over the last 200. Last mile in 6:03. Only mile over 6.

  This workout wiped me out, which was my Dad's intent. Practically everything hurt. So I guess I can consider it a success.

easy

easy

easy

easy

Easy, did a 600 pickup in 1:46.9.

Took a potshot at the Utah Youth state record for 1500 meters, which is 4:29.4. Unfortunately, the track was at UVU. The wind was terrible. I ran alone. None of the competition could pace me. My splits were 72.7, 74.3, 75.1 and 52.7. The conditions were far from ideal. I'm happy with my performance, but I missed the state record by 6 seconds. Next time I'll be running in a regional meet. Hopefully there will be no wind. Hopefully some Youth in the region can pace me for at least part of the way. I would prefer it if I could sit on some super runner for the first three laps, then get out-kicked. As in chess, your best performances in running occur when you lose to an opponent who beats you, but just barely.   

easy

Thought I'd licked my mental block. Apparently not. It reared its ugly head after mile two of the three mile tempo with my Dad and Dave. The pace had felt faster than I expected from the beginning. I let it get to me, and temporarily lost my reason for about 200 meters. By then, it was too late. I ended up with 16:56. Ouch. Hopefully, I've learned my lesson that if I have breath to whine, I can keep up the pace.

easy

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easy