Category Archives: Outside of the Lab

One more half-marathon: Garmin Durham 1/2

My third half marathon in the last two years – May 2026 Garmin Durham 1/2 marathon – done! Lovely race; running through the Durham Bulls stadium is a very special experience, and so is finishing on Duke’s football stadium. Problem … Continue reading

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Gorgeous Saint-Malo; thanks to IEEE VR 2025 for bringing us there

I try to go for brief outdoor runs whenever I travel for work. In colder climates, that requires packing the suitcase a bit tighter, but it is generally worth it, as it gives me a fresh perspective on the places … Continue reading

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Running collection, June 2018

Over the last six months, several true gems have been added to the “collection” of the states where I ran at least one mile: Dec. 2017: Utah. Feb. 2018: Wisconsin. March 2018: Minnesota. June 2018, on a lovely road trip: … Continue reading

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Running collection, November 2017

This year I have been fortunate to be able to add 4 new states to the collection of the states where I ran at least a mile: Georgia, Nebraska, Iowa, and Indiana. With the addition of Sweden and Denmark to … Continue reading

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2017 Triathlon Age Group National Competition

The Nationals, the first ones for me, are an experience to be savored. There is a sense of achievement in getting to this race — I’ve worked towards this qualifying-only race for 5 years, after all. 

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My Favorite Collection: Countries and States Ran, v. July 2016

As of July 2016, the totals of places where I went running and ran at least one mile include: Countries: 12 out of 196 Canadian provinces and territories: 3 out of 13 US states: 30 out of 50 The recent … Continue reading

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Pain Of Not Doing A Planned Race, or Woes of a DNS

The wisdom of racing is that finishing dead last (DFL) is better than not finishing (DNF), and not finishing is better than not starting (DNS). DFL < DNF < DNS. Well, T-shirt wisdom aside, sometimes you gotta take the annoying … Continue reading

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What Is Harder: An Ironman Or A PhD?

I recently ran across a curious question on Quora: what is harder, completing a PhD or completing a marathon (a 26.2 mile run)? Having done both [ PhD, races ] , hands-down, the answer is the PhD – there is … Continue reading

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Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2016: First Timer’s Impressions

The legendary and glorious Consumer Electronics Show. A congregation of more than 170,000 people (for comparison, I grew up in a city of only 30,000), in the shiny artificial Las Vegas. A happening that takes over tech pages in all … Continue reading

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Ironman Triathlon

I did it! The face of a person at the finish line of their first Ironman: I found the Ironman different from all the races I’ve done before.  After ~20 major races and more than 50 races in total, I … Continue reading

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