(no subject)
Aug. 22nd, 2003 10:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johnpalmerA glimpse into the mind of a person with ADD
Running for one minute 20 seconds, and then resting for 40 seconds, is a really good set for interval training, because it gives you a two-minute period to work with, so that if you can put 10 of those together, you have 20 minutes of work out. The problem is that I wanted to get 20 minutes or jogging and, not just 20 minutes of interval training, and that was the start of the problem. You say, I put together eight periods already, which was 16 minutes, and that I have run for another minute 20 seconds, so I'm keeping and with the 2 to 1 ratio of running to walking, but I was really tired, because this is the first time that I've really managed to get this far in straight intervals, not trying to keep to any pace, but making sure that I'm actually running, and not simply walking with kind of a hop in the middle. Anyway, I decided to rest for a minute 20 seconds, which put me in 19 minutes, and that I was going to start jogging again to see how far I could go. The problem was the fencepost problem. The fencepost problem is one that is mentioned in a couple of programming texts, and the idea is that if you need to have one fencepost for every 10 ft. of fence, for 100 ft. of fence, you would expect to need either nine, or 11 fence posts, rather than the obvious answer of 10. (Of course sometimes you'll have to have exactly 10 fence posts, because you're building an extension onto an existing fence.)
If I ran for two minutes, then rested for one minute, I would actually be below a two to one jogging to walking ratio, because of the extra rest that I had. Now, at this point, I'm pretty tired, and trying to figure out what I would have to do to be able to rest for minute and still be at a two to one ratio. If I ran for three minutes, well, at 18 minutes, and run for 12 minutes, so I would be up to 15 minutes, but I then rested for minute, I would lose the ratio again. If I ran for four minutes, then I would have 16 minutes out of 23, and with minute of rest, that would be exactly a two to one ratio. Unfortunately, because I was tired, I forgot that I was trying to get at least a two to one ratio, and didn't have to be that, so I ended up running for five minutes, until minute 24, then resting for a minute, and then running three more to complete the 20.
Now, that's only a glimpse into the mind of a person with ADD. If you want to get even better idea, you need to throw in a bunch of thoughts about the fact that it's Leslie's birthday, and trying to think of what to do because, by the time I realized it was coming up, didn't have time to mail a card to her, and I don't really have any money for a birthday present, because I'm still unemployed. You also have to throw in a bunch of thought flashes about job possibilities, fear that I'll end up in a job that I hate, and an attempt to convince myself that the multiple jobs that are showing up represent opportunities, not traps to fall into. And, of course, I need to throw in three or four dozen "damn I'm tired" and similar statements. And, finally, you have to realize that all of this thoughts being compressed into a relatively short period of time.
Running for one minute 20 seconds, and then resting for 40 seconds, is a really good set for interval training, because it gives you a two-minute period to work with, so that if you can put 10 of those together, you have 20 minutes of work out. The problem is that I wanted to get 20 minutes or jogging and, not just 20 minutes of interval training, and that was the start of the problem. You say, I put together eight periods already, which was 16 minutes, and that I have run for another minute 20 seconds, so I'm keeping and with the 2 to 1 ratio of running to walking, but I was really tired, because this is the first time that I've really managed to get this far in straight intervals, not trying to keep to any pace, but making sure that I'm actually running, and not simply walking with kind of a hop in the middle. Anyway, I decided to rest for a minute 20 seconds, which put me in 19 minutes, and that I was going to start jogging again to see how far I could go. The problem was the fencepost problem. The fencepost problem is one that is mentioned in a couple of programming texts, and the idea is that if you need to have one fencepost for every 10 ft. of fence, for 100 ft. of fence, you would expect to need either nine, or 11 fence posts, rather than the obvious answer of 10. (Of course sometimes you'll have to have exactly 10 fence posts, because you're building an extension onto an existing fence.)
If I ran for two minutes, then rested for one minute, I would actually be below a two to one jogging to walking ratio, because of the extra rest that I had. Now, at this point, I'm pretty tired, and trying to figure out what I would have to do to be able to rest for minute and still be at a two to one ratio. If I ran for three minutes, well, at 18 minutes, and run for 12 minutes, so I would be up to 15 minutes, but I then rested for minute, I would lose the ratio again. If I ran for four minutes, then I would have 16 minutes out of 23, and with minute of rest, that would be exactly a two to one ratio. Unfortunately, because I was tired, I forgot that I was trying to get at least a two to one ratio, and didn't have to be that, so I ended up running for five minutes, until minute 24, then resting for a minute, and then running three more to complete the 20.
Now, that's only a glimpse into the mind of a person with ADD. If you want to get even better idea, you need to throw in a bunch of thoughts about the fact that it's Leslie's birthday, and trying to think of what to do because, by the time I realized it was coming up, didn't have time to mail a card to her, and I don't really have any money for a birthday present, because I'm still unemployed. You also have to throw in a bunch of thought flashes about job possibilities, fear that I'll end up in a job that I hate, and an attempt to convince myself that the multiple jobs that are showing up represent opportunities, not traps to fall into. And, of course, I need to throw in three or four dozen "damn I'm tired" and similar statements. And, finally, you have to realize that all of this thoughts being compressed into a relatively short period of time.
