Mr. Question

I am a runner. A solid one at that. I've run 50 mile weeks before and have achieved a 4:30 mile and a 15:55 5K. While I am by no means a superb runner, I've been running for years and understand the runners attitude.

I've been undergoing therapy for the past number of weeks to loosen my hamstring that has been affecting my running gait for the past year. While the hamstring has loosened up, I have found my past couple of runs a bit weak and tiresome. On Friday I did not feel up to par on my seven mile run. I took Saturday off and literally rested in my bed from 10:00 PM Saturday to 7:00 PM Sunday albeit the occasional bathroom breaks and breakfast and lunch. I then went for a run at 7:00 PM Sunday and found my legs exhausted to the point where I wanted to walk. There was no "kick" in them and no "power" to each muscle contraction.

My mother brought up the point that lying for nearly 20 hours in my bed may be the culprit. Does anyone have any experience with this? Could the root of the problem be my excessive resting for the past 48 hours or could it be something to do with the PT loosening my hamstrings? Thanks for any feedback. I appreciate any constructive criticism, ideas and comments. Thanks again.

Take a central point in outer space. Now attach a carbon-fiber rod from this point and lengthen it to form the radius of a circle with a radius of 10 AU. Let's rotate this rod around this central point like a fan. Could you possibly rotate this rod from the center to create a speed of one revolution per 5 seconds and have the end of this rod (10 AU out) break the speed of light? While the portion of the rod nearest the central point would be moving relatively slowly, the end of this rod would be encompassing a massive orbit in 10 seconds.

I would assume this situation is impossible by any means, but what are the physics behind this? Give a brief idea on why this couldn't break the speed of light.

I recently got into an argument with my parents about religion and I brought up the idea that the "soul" is just emotions triggered via chemicals initiated by the brain. Your brain triggers chemicals which make you feel anger, happiness, hatred, fear, etc. In a sense, your emotions are actual, literal things that you can touch.

My father brought up the point that although the brain initiates these chemicals, I could not explain in a direct sense what "feels" these emotions. I said that the brain triggers chemicals when angry, that fire endorphins, increasing blood flow which we all recognize as anger.

To sum it up, emotions are literally chemicals, but how are these chemicals perceived?

I will admit, there are a few country songs that appeal to me such as "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash and "Country Roads" by John Denver for their instrumentals, but I really can't see why people like country beyond a few songs.

To begin with, the instrumentals are incredibly boring, unoriginal and coupled with beats that are replicated in many country songs. There is no versatility. Each song has a guitar conjoined with a few other instruments such as a harmonica, trumpet or some instrument relating to southern origin. There is no originality in any country song. You are listening to similar beats with similar instrumentals over and over again.

The vocals are mind-numbingly terrible. It seriously sounds -excuse the language- like some r*t*rded Kermit the Frog wailing into a microphone. The vocals sound like someone is plugging their nose and having an excess amount of saliva built up in their throat. Do people actually find this attractive?

Finally, the part I hate the most, is the lyrics. The lyrics have to be the most bland, uncreative, unoriginal, dull lyrics on Earth. Each song sings about beer, pick-up trucks, farms, the country genre itself or love. You are literally hearing the same thing over and over and over. The lyrics exist on a first-tier level of thinking. They are completely superficial. The lyrics don't stimulate your mind or present a subject from a different viewpoint. They tell a story, (if that), in the most bland way possible. There is nothing creative about them. The lyrics tell the same story from a bland, unoriginal viewpoint like a children's book. Only God knows why somebody would find this crap worthy to listen to.

Horrible instrumentals, terrible vocals, mediocre topics and dull lyrics make this genre terrible. This music is literally for idiots that exist on a very literal plane of thinking.

Thoughts, comments, ideas?

We know that the speed of light is approximately 186,000 miles per second. However, WHY is it that? Why isn't it slower? Why isn't it faster? What force dictates that the speed of light is 186,000 miles per second?

For the life of me, I cannot remember this movie I watched 10 years ago in the second grade.

It was an animated feature, but I don't think it was a Disney film. The film was first shot in real time where, on a farm, a mother was reading a kid a book about this evil rooster/chicken/animal or something like that. The kid tries to go to sleep, and is awakened by this evil rooster/chicken/animal. He is then turned into a small, animated/hand-drawn cat. He joins forces with animals to find this rooster type guy that can save the day, who's name I THINK might be "Santa Claire (?)", or something like that.

The movie was made before 2002 at least.

The details are fuzzy, and it's been driving me crazy for years now. Any idea on the movie?

I've been having some trouble during track season. Although my physical body is without a doubt capable of running faster, I just can't seem to mind to unlock and endure the pain.

For example, recently this evening, I ran a 2:11 800M, which is not good or bad. When I finished, my friend was panting like air was going out of style, yet I had recovered in about 20 seconds and felt as if I had plenty of energy. My cool down run was very fast, and I did not feel tired at all. If I had my own say, I'd say I am psychologically stuck at giving more than 80% of my max. I feel as if I could do 2:02 if I pushed myself properly.

Every race seems to be like this, and to be truthful, there has only been one race where my legs could not physically move any quicker. Every race, I seem to have so much energy left over, because I did not expend it during the race. I am afraid of pain!

Every race I tell myself, "Come on man, stay with the pack, you'll regret if you don't", but when the race comes on, I don't like feeling the discomfort. I've tried many psychological tricks to help me, but what do you think when you need to push yourself? Do you recommend a sports psychologist?

Today our 11th grade World Literature class took a literary terms quiz and one of the questions asked this.

Hissed, Missed and something sinister is onomatopoeia.

True or false?

Now naturally, we know that onomatopoeia is a word that represents a sound, and since "something sinister" was more along the lines of an alliteration, I marked the answer false.

Later on, we corrected the test, and our teacher told us that "something sinister" was indeed onomatopoeia. I was in such disbelief, that I had to ask some other source.

So what's the deal, is the phrase "something sinister" considered onomatopoeia?

Track is coming up, and for the longest time, I am split on whether I should focus mainly on mileage, speedwork or both. Can anybody clarify the best way to train?

Apple has recently come out with the new iPhone 4, but I notice that there is no trademark "4G". It is only officially called the, "iPhone 4," not the, "iPhone 4G." Does the iPhone 4 support 4G networks?

It is by FAR the most annoying sound I have ever heard in my LIFE. Any ideas on what that horrid sound is?

XC training has begun, and I'm wondering how long I should rest between each 800 meter repeat.

Is the time different for 400, 1200 and 1600 meter repeats? Thanks for any knowledge on the subject.

My stride is insanely long, and I can keep in the front of a race with a very low turnover rate. I'm wondering what are some workouts to increase my strides per minute? If I could increase that, I could run wondrous times!

I've made the 4X800 meter relay team at my high school, but don't have an official time yet for the 800 meter run. (My coach put me in this based off my 5:18 mile time.)

Any tips on the pace and the race overall?

I've been training hard for my first track meet on Friday. Unfortunately, my calves are tightening up, and as I hear, that impedes your performance. I'd like optimal conditions for my first track meet of the year, so does anyone know how to get rid of tightness in the legs?

Okay, first, I stretch and warm myself up for my workout like any other person does. After wards, I hop into the pool for a cool down,(which is an excellent way to cool down). After a half-hour session in the pool, I hop into the hot tub for 5 minutes to relax my muscles.

I am worried though, that the hot tub might be bad overall. Can anyone offer insight into this?

I run on the high school track and XC team. I'm am not the best, but I have secured a Varsity Letter in XC as well, and I'm aiming for one in track. (My 5K time is 18:37.) What I do not understand, is my stitch-in-side. I'm training off-season and almost every workout I do has some kind of stitch-in-side in it. My interval training is especially bad when it occurs, and prevents me from doing a complete workout. I've tried many options. Does anyone have any detailed depth about my problem?

I'm aiming for the Wisconsin State Championship, which requires about a 15:45 time. My current time is 18:37, and was wondering if a 15:45 is possible if you give it two years of training. Genetics are in my favor, (my dad used to run a 4:15 mile). I'm willing to give it my all and to train extremely aggressively. Is 15:45 possible?

I'm interested in training during the summer for cross-country at my local high school, but I'm not sure what my training regime should be. I'm aware that 30-40 miles a week is necessary, but speedwork should be included also. If I go for a run 6 out of the 7 days, I can meet the 30-40 mile a week standard, but have no room for speedwork, fartleks or other workouts. What should my schedule be?