![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Capitol 10K 2011
Mar. 27th, 2011 04:21 pmRaaga123 and I participated in the Capitol 10K this year. Our plan was to run/walk it, but it was quite crowded, so we jog/walked it. It was my slowest 10K race ever, and therefore quite pleasant, though I'll still ache as much as I do during my usual 30- to 40-minute jogs.
One great thing about this race is that people come in costume. Sadly, the percentage of costumed folks is far down from where it once was.
("Hey, you've got a bee on you. Kind of on your shoulder. No, your left shoulder.")
Most of the costumes we saw were quite practical. The Flintstones may have had the least practical costumes we saw. Here is Fred:
And maybe Wilma and Barney up ahead:
Here are some unicorns:
I like the hooves on the one with braids.
One thing there was more of this year was music. People just set up next to the road and played music, often motivational. We got serenaded at least six times. There were some (Deep Ellum) blues. There was a brass band playing one of those athletic film theme songs (forget which one). My favorite was the church playing a recording of the Hallelujah Chorus.
We also got to see these unusual signs:
As Raaga123 pointed out to me, you don't normally see warnings about road humps applying to pedestrians like this.
At the end of the course, Raaga123 sprinted to the finish line. I followed in her footsteps. I almost kept up with her! I didn't know I had it in me; it was fun.
We had plenty of water along the course. Afterwards, people were handing out a coconut water drink. The ingredients were coconut water plus less than 2% of a bunch of other ingredients including citric acid and stevia. So it was tart and sweet. And had an aftertaste of coconut. A nice alternative to Gatorade. (I'd never heard of coconut water before. Googling tells me that its the liquid inside a coconut and that coconut milk is something different.)
I also quite enjoyed getting a banana. I also got a granola bar and chocolate milk which I ended up saving for later.
There were also several informational booths after the finish line. The most puzzling were for rice. Dueling rice booths.
All in all, a lovely morning, now being followed by a relaxing afternoon.
Video of the Day - Noreena Hertz: How to use experts, and when not to (TED) - "As they [a group of adults] listened to the experts' voices, the independent decision-making parts of their brains switched off. It literally flatlined! And they listened to whatever the experts said, and took their advice, however right or wrong. But experts do get things wrong."
Her advice on how to switch our independent thinking on? 1) Instead of treating experts like "modern-day apostles," be ready and willing to take them on. Persist in the face of their inevitable annoyance when you ask them to explain things so that you can understand them. Ask them about the underlying assumptions and the evidence, about where investigations have focused and what the investigations have ignored. 2) "Create the space for managed dissent." Look for differing views, noting that it's much more natural to look for views that match yours or match what you want to be true. 3) "Democratize expertise." The people who study an issue a lot will know things that you don't, but additional people with relevant experience and access to relevant information will also know things of use. 4) Try to become more comfortable with uncertainty and doubt, and let experts speak in those terms, too.
One great thing about this race is that people come in costume. Sadly, the percentage of costumed folks is far down from where it once was.
("Hey, you've got a bee on you. Kind of on your shoulder. No, your left shoulder.")
Most of the costumes we saw were quite practical. The Flintstones may have had the least practical costumes we saw. Here is Fred:
And maybe Wilma and Barney up ahead:
Here are some unicorns:
I like the hooves on the one with braids.
One thing there was more of this year was music. People just set up next to the road and played music, often motivational. We got serenaded at least six times. There were some (Deep Ellum) blues. There was a brass band playing one of those athletic film theme songs (forget which one). My favorite was the church playing a recording of the Hallelujah Chorus.
We also got to see these unusual signs:
As Raaga123 pointed out to me, you don't normally see warnings about road humps applying to pedestrians like this.
At the end of the course, Raaga123 sprinted to the finish line. I followed in her footsteps. I almost kept up with her! I didn't know I had it in me; it was fun.
We had plenty of water along the course. Afterwards, people were handing out a coconut water drink. The ingredients were coconut water plus less than 2% of a bunch of other ingredients including citric acid and stevia. So it was tart and sweet. And had an aftertaste of coconut. A nice alternative to Gatorade. (I'd never heard of coconut water before. Googling tells me that its the liquid inside a coconut and that coconut milk is something different.)
I also quite enjoyed getting a banana. I also got a granola bar and chocolate milk which I ended up saving for later.
There were also several informational booths after the finish line. The most puzzling were for rice. Dueling rice booths.
All in all, a lovely morning, now being followed by a relaxing afternoon.
Video of the Day - Noreena Hertz: How to use experts, and when not to (TED) - "As they [a group of adults] listened to the experts' voices, the independent decision-making parts of their brains switched off. It literally flatlined! And they listened to whatever the experts said, and took their advice, however right or wrong. But experts do get things wrong."
Her advice on how to switch our independent thinking on? 1) Instead of treating experts like "modern-day apostles," be ready and willing to take them on. Persist in the face of their inevitable annoyance when you ask them to explain things so that you can understand them. Ask them about the underlying assumptions and the evidence, about where investigations have focused and what the investigations have ignored. 2) "Create the space for managed dissent." Look for differing views, noting that it's much more natural to look for views that match yours or match what you want to be true. 3) "Democratize expertise." The people who study an issue a lot will know things that you don't, but additional people with relevant experience and access to relevant information will also know things of use. 4) Try to become more comfortable with uncertainty and doubt, and let experts speak in those terms, too.