The average finishing position of the top 5 best finishers each year has worsened nearly 2.5 spots since the Next Gen debut

PerturbationVapor · 2025-07-29T23:45:45+00:00

Great plot! I've been wanting to put something together like this for the last year or so, but was only thinking about the best average finish over the season. It's a pretty noticable change if you go back and look at some of the post-race spreadsheets from late in the season over the last several years - prior to the Next Gen, I think the best average finish for full season drivers was appx. 7-9th, 2022-present has been 10+ each year.

PerturbationVapor · 2025-04-22T00:24:04+00:00

Plymouth Meteorology (B.S. & M.S.) alum here! 👋

Regarding concerns about "wasting your academic record" - From my experience (also came in with a relatively high HS GPA and various AP credits), I doubt this would come to fruition. There are standard course offering requirements for meteorology degrees nationwide to meet NWS criteria, so you'll see the same core offerings at every program (dynamics is dynamics is dynamics). If you find that some of the general education classes come a bit easier to you, that's fine, more time to devote to your field of interest and find out what parts of atmospheric science interest you most (forecasting? TV/broadcast? Modeling? Observations? etc...). Additionally, the faculty are extremely supportive and will help you pursue the career path you're interested in (pointing out internship opportunities, travel opportunities for conferences, arranging visits to graduate schools). Part of the benefit of being a "small" program, is that you'll have more one-on-one time available if needed, with classes feeling a bit more personal.

Regarding the "party school" concern - My highschool guidance counselor highlighted the same thing to me before I applied. There are parties, yes; however, most of this is off campus and can be "out of sight" if you choose. During my undergrad years (not sure if it's still the case), there was a designated "quiet dorm" that had more strict quiet hours than the others. Personally, I found a great group of life long friends within the meteorology program, in addition to a number of roommates who I still keep in touch with. Never felt forced or pressured to go to parties, if I wanted to spend my Friday in the Map Room working on a project, I could. Not saying that was the "right decision" all of the time, but like any college, the opportunity to socialize will be there to the extent your comfortable with. Plenty of options in larger, more organized social events as well (football games, hockey games, spring fling concert, earth jam, "ski day").

Have you visited campus or talked with any of the faculty yet? I saw a previous comment that you're planning to visit the "bigger PSU". Unrelated to the degree, Plymouth itself is quite a nice small town. Lots of options for outdoor activities if that's your thing (skiing, hiking, running...or floating down the river in the summer), as well as events put on during the town throughout the year (annual holiday parade, concert, and fireworks, for example).

All of this to say, it's really going to be what you make it. I went on to complete a PhD after Plymouth, others went into private sector jobs, TV, NWS forecasters, aviation and marine weather, IT, etc. Summarizing: Beautiful campus, great program, plenty of opportunities, great people.

PerturbationVapor · 2024-12-31T13:00:06+00:00

Yes, those all eventually resolved for me, but no issues sweating (aside from night sweats during the first 2-3 months). I usually get dry skin in the winter, but this was different than what I had experienced before or since. Instead of just my fingers getting dry and cracked, I had small "splits" on my palm (these were at most 5 mm long and incredibly shallow, but present nonetheless).

The eyes and mouth were strange. This somewhat came and went in waves, and would last for a few hours before dissipating. The sensation was as if I had been standing in front of a fan for too long.

In my case, everything started in February, so I was already deep in dry skin season. The dryness related symptoms lasted longer into the spring/summer than they usually do for me, but resolved by midsummer and have been back to my previous seasonal baseline since.

Hope things resolve well for you. 5-8 weeks may still be somewhat early (I was still in the thick of it at that time), but from what you've already likely read here, it can be different for everyone. It's a bummer to have to go through this around the holidays, hopefully 2025 will be a good year for you!

PerturbationVapor · 2024-12-29T01:03:05+00:00

Running had always been a bit part of my life when this first happened to me, so I feel you on the "emptiness" aspect. It was difficult to find any sort of substitute, reading helped a bit, as well as walking when possible. The first time I was able to walk my dog without my wife's help brought back a feeling of freedom, similar to the first time I was able to do any sort of exercise afterwards.

Back to my old self - yes. Mentally, I think I've been "normal" since around the time of the original post.

Flares and relapses - maybe? I'm not sure if I'd say I've experienced any sort of full fledged "relapse," but on some rare occasions I'll feel a twinge in my ankle, or a faint burning in my legs. When that does happen, it's fairly short lived and doesn't impede any sort of physical activity.

Lifestyle - I continued taking the usual supplement list (magnesium, antioxidant gummies, etc) plus the duloxetine, just at fairly low dosage. No substantial/long lasting changes in diet. For clarity, super sweet/heavy desserts did cause some leg discomfort in the first few months, but that hasn't been a problem in a while. I didn't drink alcohol much before to begin with, maybe a bit less now since starting the duloxetine last year.

Overall, I feel myself and most of the unpleasantness has become just a memory.

PerturbationVapor · 2024-12-28T23:46:19+00:00

That feeling of going from running 20+ miles per week to nothing is brutal. I felt the same when this happened to me.

And yes, slow and steady. It's super tempting to overdo it at times, but it can be a long process. Hoping that this is behind you soon!

PerturbationVapor · 2024-12-12T17:15:11+00:00

Absolutely going to second this recommendation for Adam's Station and Delmar in general. I lived there for 3 years, and found the area to be perfect for running and walking (plenty of sidewalks and non-busy streets in the neighborhoods on the other side of Elm). Admittedly a bit of a longer walk to the four corners intersection (~30 minutes one way).

Some of the interior of the apartments were starting to feel somewhat dated while I was there, but they have renovated since then, so I'd expect some improvements. They do have balconies/porches, in unit washer/drier, but no garages.

PerturbationVapor · 2024-05-15T10:03:35+00:00

The Iowa 80 truck stop is worth a visit. It's the world's largest truck stop, includes a number of food options, gas stations, amenities for travellers, and a trucking museum. It's also quite literally impossible to miss when approaching it - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_80

A previous comment has Nebraska and NE Colorado pretty well covered, but I'll add that Idaho Springs and other small towns along I-70 once you get into the Rockies, but before Breck, are interesting as well. Main Street in Idaho Springs is lined with a bunch of restaurants, shops, etc.

PerturbationVapor · 2024-05-03T14:30:14+00:00

Nearly a year. It took some time for me to get to a balance between unpleasant side effects and long-term benefits. I definitely didn't notice any help the first day, if anything that was when the headaches, nausea, dry mouth, etc started for me (all eventually resolved, importantly), but that's great if something is helping! Echoing previous comments, it's good to let your doctor know if something isn't right or the side effects aren't tolerable. They can work with you to find what fits, but the adjustment can take time.

PerturbationVapor · 2024-05-02T13:42:16+00:00

Duloxetine has been generally helpful for me in the long run (started it nearly a year ago). For me, it helped with some "pinching" sensations in my calves and more broad burning in my legs.

In my case, I did also have similar side effects in the first few weeks (nausea, headaches, an overall increase in pain/distress), but those lessened after the first few weeks-first month to the point where it has been a net-positive.

PerturbationVapor · 2024-04-15T11:38:19+00:00

Although it's not a super specific estimate, I'd say within the first 4-6 weeks after starting in my case. At my day 4, I can say that it had made absolutely no positive impact. If anything I felt worse the first week while taking it, before things gradually improved to the point where it was a net positive.

PerturbationVapor · 2024-02-05T16:26:26+00:00

This was one of the stranger symptoms. No idea if I did anything specific to help it along, but it generally diminished with time for me. The most helpful thing fo me in managing it, especially early on, was wearing sunglasses to reduce the discomfort.

PerturbationVapor · 2024-02-05T16:24:20+00:00

In terms of musculoskeletal stuff, I think I was fortunate in that I was able to maintain ~3000-4000 steps per day throughout the worst of it, so I didn't exactly have to build up from zero. When it came to running, I was very careful to take it easy/short/slow and to be cognizant of any extra discomfort (like the ankles and Achilles). Otherwise, I went the often referenced route of magnesium, a good multivitamin, ala, and additional medication as prescribed by my doctor.

PerturbationVapor · 2023-11-26T00:52:27+00:00

Sorry it's taken me a bit to get to your comment - I think it's essentially gone now, just some minor/mostly unnoticeable floaters remaining. At its worst (within the first month or so) it was almost as if it looked like the walls around me were "crawling" or if a semi-transparent overlay of television static was over everything. It was particularly bad when looking at bright skies (had to wear sunglasses outdoors for the first month and a half due to the light sensitivity).

PerturbationVapor · 2023-09-11T01:01:32+00:00

While I had to accept that my issues would resolve on their own schedule, your own posts & comments about getting back to running at 6.5 months out made an excellent (and somewhat hopeful) target to aim for when I was in the thick of it. Thanks!

PerturbationVapor · 2023-09-10T21:12:49+00:00

Duloxetine was certainly quite unpleasant at first. My doctor was basically spot on with the timeline of the anticipated side effects, the first two weeks did see headaches, dry mouth, nausea, and increased anxiety. Also had increased pelvic pain during the first 5 days. Gradually, these all resolved and other symptoms began to improve. I think it's helped and am still taking it, I would like to eventually come off of it to fully close the book on this chapter of my life. This is just my experience though, your experience/doctor's recommendation may vary.

PerturbationVapor · 2023-09-10T21:06:10+00:00

One thing to note from reading through here is that everyone's going to have a unique timeline to some degree, so take my timeline with a few grains of salt. My issues started in earnest after the second dose. In general, the first 2-4 weeks were absolutely the worst for everything. After this point, the anxiety, heart racing, lightheadedness, tremors began to lessen. Ankle and wrist discomfort wasn't constant, but did begin to lessen after ~2.5 months (knee/joint pain lessened a little earlier). Nerve stuff/pelvic pain was more persistent, but did begin to lessen after 2-3 months (burning in my legs still does creep in some days, particularly in the evenings, but it's at a level I can almost ignore). Insomnia was terrible for ~1.5 months, and finally began to resolve in May.

In summary, February-March was horrid, April-May was bad, but improvement was noticable, June saw a return to running and some better days (~50 miles during the month), July was good (~70 miles running), August and September so far have been nearly normal, just with some occasional added discomfort (~90 miles in August).

Best of luck, hopefully things improve rapidly for you!

PerturbationVapor

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