BTW, sorry for the late reply. My notification settings about comments in moderation were messed up.

Agreed. There are a lot of things that don't work quite right about SuperBetter as-is, but I like this attempt to use game elements to focus on academic goals.

I could talk your ear off about Activity Theory (CHAT) and how things are just artifacts that mediate human activity, but I won't. I need to give that a nod though since that has shaped my interest in verb focus.

Thanks Natalie. One of the presenters later on (Ruben) had done some analysis of all of the topics that were posted and how they had morphed and merged. It was fascinating. When his video is available, I may post it. It was an anthropological perspective on our concepts of "social", "mobile", and other ideas that we think are new.

Thanks Stella. We're like chocolate cake except not fattening!

Awesome - thanks for the info on the race. I looked up an elevation profile and you're right, that uphill climb around mile 16 looks like it's straight up. The overall elevation gain and loss seems to be about the same as Pittsburgh, so I'll keep integrating some hills into my workouts, just in case.

I looked up my race information:
Bib: 27426
Start Info: Blue Wave #2, Corral #27
Start Time: 10:10 AM

I'm really looking forward to it. I've been applying every year since 2008. They finally took pity on me.

Heh - the phrase "call on God, but row away from the rocks" has always stuck with me. Not that I'm religious, but the combination of hope and purposeful action are powerful - and in fact the only way that anything gets done.

Right. He MAY be okay. He MAY not. By not going close to the distance, he will have no idea what will actually happen on race day and may not be able to handle something new that happens in his body because it isn't used to running more than 6.2 miles. 13.1 is a significant jump!

I'm a very optimistic guy, but that doesn't mean just hoping for the best. It means doing everything you can to ensure your success and THEN hoping for a good outcome.

Thanks other Brandon. I seriously doubt I'll be in Alaska anytime soon, but you never know. Anchorage sounds like a real-enough city, but I was imagining it being surrounded by some pretty untamed lands.

Running into bears or moose sounds like a not-good time. On my runs, the most dangerous things I need to worry about are cars, stray dogs, and an occasional gray squirrel.

Thanks Paul. That calculator is pretty cool. It matches what I typically wear. Of course, it didn't have much advice for me when I cranked up the temperature to 95 degrees. Something like "Yeah, you might want to hit the gym instead brother. You're going to melt."