Training Log Archive: Spike

We are under a heat advisory. And that was enough to convince me not to run. So I rolled around on my MTB. I felt good, but was starting to feel overheated the last 15 minutes.

I went through Burcham Park. The shelter we usually use for orienteering events is gone. Maybe they're going to replace it. I also biked through South Park to see what was up. There aren't many protesters there - maybe 25-30 or so. I also saw the work on Mass. I haven't paid much attention, but I think they are creating outdoor dining/selling spaces in the parking areas. I suppose it is just temporary.

1

Day off. From running or biking that is. Not from bean eating. We had black beans for dinner.

After dinner, we took a little walk at the Arboretum. A couple of weeks ago I learned that there was a tree in the arboretum in memory of my dad. So we went out to find it.

Here's a snapshot of the tree (and Mary):

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCCdw9MgCnQ/?utm_sourc...

C • Nice 5

Step 5 of Stefan's 12 Step Program for Mappers Anonymous is to make yellow and green from KP vegetation become objects you can edit in OOM.

https://stefansolsida.wordpress.com/12-stegsprogra...

My basic process:

Open the KP vegetation image in QGIS;
Convert the raster to a vector;
Select the yellow areas (for my current project, I don't need to worry about green areas);
"Simplify" and then "smooth" the vectors for the open areas

At this point, I noticed that there were a lot of "holes" in the yellow area where the lidar data picked up cars in the parking lots and the construction crane. I came up with a simple way to get rid of those (and mostly leave the individual trees).

"Buffer" the vector with 1.5 meters;
Export the result to a format the mapping software can read;
Import the result in OOM and change the symbol to open land.

The result is pretty good. It isn't really a good practice. You're probably better off drawing the open areas in the field or even by an airphoto. But if you are in a hurry, it does a good job of adding all of the open areas quickly.

When I woke up this morning the temp and dew point were both in the mid 70s. Yuck. I checked the weather on the Windy app. A line of storms was nearby. I figured the storm would arrive soon, pass by quickly, and drop both the temp and humidity. The app showed a lot of lightning. So the plan was to wait for the storm to go through and then get going.

As I watched the radar, it looked like the storm would change and brush near town (like over Clinton Lake) but not reach town. So I got out the door and kept an eye on the clouds. I had a few drops of rain and no thunder. But it was muggy.

I shuffled around on West Campus and did 10 minutes at an honest effort (but moving pretty slowly).

I might try to get out on the bike later today.

2

Yucky outside. But also it seemed like I should get out and do something. So I rolled around on my MTB on the pavement. I took it extra easy - partly due to the heat and partly because the weather service was warning that the Sahara dust made it prudent to avoid heavy exercise out doors.

You can notice the dust if you look for it - the sky is a bit hazy and slightly yellow. But it isn't as dramatic as when the Flint Hills are burning. But it is much more exotic.

1

I finished step 4 of the 12 steps on my Robinson Gym project. But not really. Step for is improving cliffs. I don't have any cliffs on the map. But I wanted to test the method. I used data from the Slough Creek map and followed the "Kinneberg Method" to develop cliffs.

If you can read Swedish or have patience with Google translate, you can probably make sense of the concept:

https://stefansolsida.wordpress.com/2020/01/06/bra...

A summary of the method:

1. Run Karttapullautin. That creates DXF files for cliffs that KP uses in creating images of the map.

2. Open the relevant DXF files in QGIS. KP creates lots and lots of little short vectors showing the cliffs.

3. In QGIS, use the vector > buffer function. Create "buffers" around those lines and dissolve the results. Dissolve means any touching or overlapping areas get combined to make a single larger area.

4. In QGIS, use the v.voronoi.skeleton function (which you find in the processing tool box) to draw a centerline in each of the areas.

5. Export those centerlines and import them in Open Orienteering Mapper. Turn them into the cliff symbol and you're done.

I had a little trouble with the v.voronoi.skeleton function until I got the projections correct.

The benefit of the method is that you have editable symbols for use in OOM.

It is a clever and slick method. I don't know that I'll use it a lot, but I'm glad I learned how to do it.

C • Cliffs 14

Cloudy and temp around 70F (dew point around 68F).

I shuffled over to the old Robinson Gym sprint O' map. I'm going to update it. I wanted to get a feel for the changes. The main changes are the new business school building and moving the tennis courts. I made the old map based on 2006 lidar and before I knew much about how to use the data.

After exploring the map I shuffled around campus and worked my way home.

This was the longest run I've done in quite a while.

2

Rolled around a bit. It was fun, but then I got a little overheated and it wasn't fun.

My night to cook....so you'd expect beans. You'd be wrong. We ate no beans today.

1

C • We 5

Shuffled around for 20 minutes. Slow and hot

After my little jog, I mowed the lawn.

Note: We had beans with dinner (after two days without any beans).

1

Easy jogging to warm up.

NoLaw 5K #2 for 2020.

Nice conditions - temp 79F at the airport when I started. The sun was behind clouds most of the time. Light wind. The only problem was some dust from three cars on the gravel road.

Last month I went out harder than I should have (which is not to say hard) and felt terrible and slowed a lot over the last 1.5 miles. I paced myself much better today.

I've gotten used to how slow I've become. So that's a plus.

No beans today.

3

I rolled out to Clinton on the bike path. I rolled back home, too.

I have not eaten any beans today. I did eat some yesterday.

1

Another side project...I'm following Stefan Kinell's "12 step program for mappers anonymous."

https://stefansolsida.wordpress.com/12-stegsprogra...

My project is redoing the Robinson Gym map. I've completed the first two steps.

C • Is there.. 2

Got out the door reasonably early.

C • KU mtb challenge 2

I jogged through part of a line O' course I set for Mary a week or so ago. I don't love line O', but having some map reading was a nice distraction.

I wore a sweatband today. I had a lot of sweat in my eyes yesterday. No problems today.

2

A little bit of warming up.

I did the course I designed for Mary earlier this week. My rule was to stay on pavement. There were a few legs where leaving pavement would have been the faster route.

Fun.

Not too terrible outside. The clouds helped.

2

Shuffling around on campus in the morning. Foggy when I started. Muggy near the end, but not really warm so tolerable (lots of sweat running into my eyes and no good way to wipe off my face since my t-shirt was soaked through).

KU requires masks on campus - in buildings and outdoors if you can't socially distance.

1

I shuffled around on West Campus. Cool temps for this time of year.

I listened to the Malcolm Gladwell podcast while I jogged. I was surprised that it started with a discussion of financial statements and FASB meetings. That was unexpected. I'm glad I'm not an accountant. But I'm also glad I know something about financial standards and FASB and GASB. Near the end of the podcast, Gladwell talked about the Yaz song "Only You." Coincidentally, I'd heard that song about an hour earlier while I was listening to some background music at work.

No beans for lunch. No beans for dinner.

1

C • Great tune. 6

I slept poorly last night. I was tired all day. But I still planned a short jog. Mary and I take a 10 minute walk each lunch. I felt tired on our walk. I decided to take a day off.

It'll be a good bean day. I just started to make black bean burgers for dinner.

Jogging in the heat. Yuck. After my jog, I did a little bit of yard work and filled a yard waste cart.

No beans today. But I had pizza for lunch.

1

Forgot to add a note that I saw a coyote on West Campus
. The coyote spotted me and leaped off the gravel road and disappeared into the trees. Fun.

Planned to run but just didn't have the energy to deal with the sun and heat. So I hopped on the MTB and rolled around. It was fun, but I didn't have much energy in my legs.

Mary cooked. We had refried beans with dinner.

1

Mowed. Hot. Glad we have a small lawn and a nice, quiet mower.

After two days without any beans, I'm cooking beans for dinner tonight. Black beans for anyone keeping track.

MTB on bike path, road, levee and single track.

I got out the door before 8 and before things started getting hot. The woods along the river trail were very nice.

2

Shuffling around - West Campus and the main campus. I felt ok. I'm glad I got out reasonably early.

I try to avoid this sort of run -- too long to be short/easy but too short to be a long run.

1

Rolling around on the roads. Nice to get out.

For lunch I ate leftover salad that Mary made last night. Beans.

1

Shuffling around. Yesterday was nice, but today was hot again. I wasn't feeling very motivated. I listened to a podcast to help the time pass. Rex Walters interviewed a scout for the Chicago Bulls and Musselman (Eric?) who was the coach at Nevada and is now at Arkansas. It helped the time pass.

No beans yesterday, but beans tonight. Mary is making salad with corn and beans. Also, I had a burrito bowl from Chipotle for lunch. So it is a two-bean-meal-day.

1

C • two-bean-meal day 13

Rolled around on the pavement. Fun. Nice weather - temp in the low/mid 70sF.

In other news....

Even though it is Wednesday, I didn't do any yard work and won't have any yard waste for tomorrow's pick up, and...

I didn't eat any beans.

1

Slow run on a hot day. I stopped to watch a pair of Canada Geese and 4 goslings wandering around by the pond. I also saw a Coopers Hawk with a bird it had caught.

Some storms are not far away. I'm hoping that will bring some relief from the heat and humidity.

1

A day off. Hot out there.

My night to cook. I'm working on black bean burgers. Got a few tips from Silas, too.

MTB on pavement, the levee and the river trail. I got out the door at 8.

The trail was in good shape and quiet. That was nice. I road the sugar loop - not ducks today. I noticed that I seem to roll through the couple of deep sand sections better. I wonder if that has anything to do with the full suspension.

I saw Jonathan Groene. He went blasting by me.

2

I had left overs from a couple of days ago - beans!

Shuffled around on West Campus. Slow.

I got out of the door just before 8 a.m. It is supposed to get hot today and I figured I'd get going a bit early.

At the start the temp was 78F with a dew point of 74F. At the end, the temp was 83F with a dew point of 75F. It was slow and sweaty. The sun was hot. No wind.

Mary slept a bit later. I saw her when I was about 10 minutes from home. By the time she got home, the temp was up to 87F and the dew point was 79F.

Just for fun, I compared Lawrence with Houston and Dallas...Lawrence is worse (i.e. similar temp but higher dew point). Yuck.

1

C • Dewpoint 11

Mary made fried tofu for dinner. There's some controversy about whether you can consider the soybeans as beans. My rule of thumb...If you see a farmer standing next to a field, ask what's in that field, and the farmer says "beans," then you have beans.

I've been negligent in my bean-eating documentation. But, I've eaten beans the last few days and I am currently eating beans with my lunch.

MTB on the roads and bike path. Crappy hot and I took it extra slow because it was crappy hot.

1

Ugh. Hot. I shuffled slowly.

I was watching the weather all day and saw the CAPE (convective available potential energy) looked high enough that with luck we'd have some storms to cool things off for a little while. That didn't happen...or hasn't yet.

After running I did some yard work to fill the cart for tomorrow's pick up.

I'm making dinner tonight - orzo with broccoli and garbanzo beans with a white wine vinagrette (probably mix in some tuna and goat cheese...if we have any).

1

MTB on pavement. It was hot (88F).

1

Bad sleep last night...tired and no motivation to move.

My night to cook dinner, so we're having Italian sausage stew (with beans). Mary made a salad last night, also with beans.