9.09.2008

Double Shot and Super Colliders

I had a doctors appointment this morning at 8:50 am. (Well, really it was yesterday, they told me the wrong day. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.) This meant I could go to a 5:45 am spin class this morning. This afternoon I had a 45 minute or 1 mile swim, which ever was longer. I did both.
Spin classes will kick my ass harder in 60 minutes than Santiago Canyon will. Well, if I actually work the hard in the class it'll kick my ass.

The swim was a lake swim, no wetsuit. I seem to feel more comfortable with no wetsuit. Yes it's harder, I'm less buoyant without the wetsuit or the salt, but I think I feel less confined. Maybe I need a better wetsuit, but that will have to wait.
I may have cheated a bit on the 1 mile. They shortened the swim area by a buoy, so I'm not sure of the exact length. I felt strong the whole way. My form wavered at the end, so I know I need to work on my endurance. Either way, I figure 45 minutes is good for someone who's first swim in 2 weeks was 1/2 a mile at a triathlon.

Valerio Mezzanotti for The New York Times


On to Super Colliders. In case you've been living under a rock, avoiding television, or just don't really care (how many of us do) then you'll know that tomorrow is the day. The day they flip the switch and turn on the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). They've run little ones in the past, but this one is the real deal. It runs under France and Switzerland, mostly France, though. It's supposed to show us if there really is a Higgs boson/God Particle.

For science geeks like me, it's impressive and interesting. Either we'll see proof of a particle that has been theorized but never seen, we'll see nothing, or a black hole might be created and destroy the world. Here's a something of a School House Rock video about the Super Collider. It's more funny for them making it than anything else. Wired has a blog post about why tomorrow will come. And here's a site that you can check to see if the LHC has destroyed the earth. I know you'll figure out why it's funny sometime.

I hope to hear from you all tomorrow.

2 comments:

Aka Alice said...

A lake swim? I'd swim in a lake. It's the ocean that sorta makes me nervous (and it's not the sharks...it's all the other STUFF)...

I never believe the doctor's office when they mis-schedule an appointment. Your story if far more believable! :-))

Starunner said...

Well, we're still here. No black hole consuming the earth. Kinda sad - it woulda got me out of training.