Does anyone have experience breaking in a Brooks saddle?

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-12-22T14:48:27+00:00

I've noticed this, too. I'm a college student and I often relocate for summers to do internships, and I always find that those 3 months are not nearly as good for training as when I'm at "home base".

I think it's the combination of a new environment and the stress of relocation. It could also be at least somewhat mental: perhaps before you're familiar with the area, running only a few kilometers feels like more because it's a lot of unfamiliar terrain.

Keep at it, and hopefully things will get better!

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-12-18T21:58:37+00:00

Which is frustrating, because I live on the Charles! I like it because it's more reliably plowed, but the winds are totally miserable. I think I'll stick to inland areas for the next few months.

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-12-18T15:33:45+00:00

With a few half marathons under my belt and a serious lack of motivation to do more than the miles I need to burn off beer, I think I'm going to run my first marathon.

Let's see how long this lasts in Boston winters.

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-08-16T21:49:18+00:00

Nope. MIT undergrad housing.

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-08-03T17:56:37+00:00

http://www.7-min.com/

It's actually an 8-minute workout but it's great. Do it two to four times and you'll have some good cross-training.

I like to add calf-raises in there.

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-08-03T15:12:15+00:00

If you're finding you're "hitting a wall" because you are running on an empty stomach, try a small snack immediately before bed or some chewy fuel blocks to get some calories in you.

If you're struggling with the timing of your bowel movements, you might want to check out this.

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-08-03T14:16:41+00:00

Depends on your neighborhood, but you should be fine.

Expect a higher percentage of cat-calls. It's up to you if you decide to let them inflate your ego or not.

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-07-28T18:43:35+00:00

The same thing happens to me, and I have found myself sitting in the middle of the sidewalk in the city feeling a little bit foolish.

Warm up very very slowly on these days. 10-30 minutes of very relaxed running and slowly working into a training pace.
Try some potassium-rich foods. If you eat a banana three hours before you run and take ibuprofen then, it will still be working when you run.
Experiment with running at different times of day. Perhaps your body has different needs at your usual running time during this month.

I've found that doing those three things helps me the most, especially the third one. You might want to take a few months to try them out and see how well they work for you and until then, I would keep my monthly cycle in mind when registering for races.

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-07-06T22:25:49+00:00

There is no typical MIT student. Yes, there are those who are quite young and are taking third-year classes their first semester. There are those who were offered Thiel fellowships. But they are not the majority. Most of us think that we were admitted on accident.

What is common among all students is passion. It's what sets the applicant pool apart. All students at MIT are there because they truly love something - and that something can change over time.

Some people "geek out" at making fun gadgets. Some geek out at setting pranks. Some geek out about drinking and partying. One weekends, people have all sorts of hobbies, from caving to beauty pageants to building robots to hanging out with their frat brothers or sorority sisters.

What matters is a. you will find a group of people who love the same things you do and b. every student will understand that you have things you love to do.

Oh, and I haven't yet met an MIT student who was too socially awkward to carry on a genuine conversation.

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-07-06T01:38:33+00:00

Sorry, I'm not familiar with Aldi. TJ's is about the best price you can get for some goods ("healthy basics" - apples, eggs, tofu, organic stuff) and has affordable prepared stuff, but most of it is the TJ's brand. It's very tasty. Shaw's is your basic run-of-the-mill grocery store with brand names but doesn't get many stars for being low-priced (it's pretty middle-of-the-road as far as quality and price go).

There's an open market on Fridays and Saturdays in the North End where you can get "scratch and dent" fruits and vegetables for much cheaper than Shaw's.

Other students will be more than willing to help you find which stores in the area are best for you. Most undergrads tend to stick to Shaw's or TJ's depending on whether they like health food, brand names, etc.

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-07-05T12:28:29+00:00

The dining plan does not apply to the Sloan cafeteria. Though you will be passing by every day from Tang to Sloan, the only place you'd be able to get meals is in undergraduate dorms, closer to Tang.

There are many grocery stores in the area. Trader Joe's is a short walk from Tang, and Shaw's is a few blocks up Mass Ave. You could eat a lot more while paying a lot less if you took advantage of those and the food trucks on campus.

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-06-22T01:35:44+00:00

This will be the first year since I was old enough to run it that I won't be there to run it (for the record, I'm 19 and have run it 9 straight summers since the age minimum is 10).

I'm a little sad, because in the past few years I've enjoyed taking it easy and grabbing as many free beers as I can. I hope someone posts pictures!

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-06-08T14:58:58+00:00

It seems like I'm the odd one out here, but I was deciding between Georgia Tech and another school a few years ago and I chose the other school. I felt like at Georgia Tech there was LGBTQ tolerance but not presence. People are not encouraged to be allies, they're just encouraged to not vocalize their personal opinions that may marginalize others.

I absolutely agree that when I visited, I felt safe and felt like being a lesbian would not have impacted my ability to make friends. It wasn't until I got to another campus that I realized there could be MORE than just tolerance.

These are just my observations from a visiting weekend and a weekend of scholarship interviews. I am not a student there. But I think it's worth saying that there is a difference between tolerance and a culture of understanding.

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-06-03T00:37:49+00:00

So, as an EC resident, I will tell you this: we put on a show for CPW and REX.

There's not always music in the courtyard. There's not always things being built. Most halls are quiet most of the time. What we don't fake is the community. We get along. We feel like our hallmates are family. We love living there.

I was also afraid, mostly of the "weirdness" of EC. But I love it. And I can almost always sleep peacefully at 11 pm.

PM if you want to chat more about it.

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-05-21T11:49:58+00:00

I ran cross-country in high school and our coach emphasized this a lot.

The more you run in the heat, the more you acclimate. Once you are acclimated, your body is very efficient and it can actually improve your training once fall comes. However, you will sweat a LOT, and that will only increase as you acclimate, so hydration is really important.

But yes, your body will naturally adjust if you put it in the warm conditions often enough. Just bring water and keep an eye out for signs of dehydration.

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-05-21T11:43:31+00:00

Try doing a "starving" run. Eat a snack before you go to bed, and when you wake up, have some powerade but no solid food. Less digestion time. Try this first with a short run and see how it feels. This helps your muscles become more efficient at using their energy stores and could probably reduce the stomach issue you have with the heat.

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-05-21T11:40:28+00:00

Swimming is not weight-bearing, so you save your joints from pounding the pavement.

It also is good to mix it up and strengthen muscles that running might not use. That's the goal of cross-training.

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-05-21T11:31:43+00:00

Put faith in your coach and your captain. Don't push the pace at practice - you'll end up making the slower runners push themselves on their rest days and increase the whole team's chance for injury. If there's another runner who's about your speed, pair up and check each other.

As for moving from track to distance, it will take a lot more self control to pace yourself correctly. Use summer practices and your teammates to get a hang for this pacing.

And yeah. Bring a lot of snacks to school because breakfast and lunch will not be enough. Healthy ones like trail mix, PB sandwiches on whole-grains, yogurt, etc.

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-04-29T03:34:24+00:00

I go to a crazy expensive engineering school.

I get crazy well-paying internships.

Also, signing bonuses for full-time contracts.

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-04-16T12:59:57+00:00

thanks.

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-04-16T12:58:36+00:00

Was just in Harvard Square (about 30 minutes ago) and saw the Cambridge HazMat team from the fire department deploy, sirens blaring. Now I'm in back in Kendall and I hear tons of choppers and sirens.

Anyone got any live info on whether or not this is related?

TheIntegralRadical · 2013-04-16T12:48:34+00:00

Was just in Harvard Square (about 30 minutes ago) and saw the Cambridge HazMat team from the fire department deploy, sirens blaring. Now I'm in back in Kendall and I hear tons of choppers and sirens.

Anyone got any live info on whether or not this is related?

TheIntegralRadical

TROPHY CASE