MLSS 2016: machine learning summer school in Cádiz [deadline]

Following [time-wise] the AISTATS 2016 meeting, a machine learning school is organised in Cádiz (as is the tradition for AISTATS meetings in Europe, i.e., in even years). With an impressive [if downright scary] poster! There is no strong statistics component in the programme, apart from a course by Tamara Broderick on non-parametric Bayes, but the list of speakers is impressive and the ten day school is worth recommending for all interested students.  (I remember giving a short course at MLSS 2004 on Berder Island in Brittany, with the immediate reward of running the Auray-Vannes half-marathon that year…) The deadline for applications is March 25, 2016.

Argentan half-marathon [1 24′ 46″ – 22/496 – V2: 2/116 – 17°C]

A fairly good race in Argentan, despite (relatively) hot weather that saw the winning time increase by two minutes and a half. (Last year’s winner actually lost 3 and half minutes on the same track). Gaining 18 seconds over my time from last year was thus a significant achievement. This was my 17th—or 18th including one I ran on my own as it had been cancelled—Argentan half-marathon. The first half [of the half] was a bit unpleasant under the relentless sun, and each wee slope made me miss my 3:52 kilometre goal. But very few runners passed me for good after the 5th kilometre and reaching the forest part was a blessing, providing shade and cool. A single runner passed me there, although I had not slowed down, and I did not realise it was another runner in my V2 category as I could have tried to keep up. The last kilometres were indeed much smoother than in previous, thanks to a change in my training where I increased the number of long distance trainings. And presumable thanks to the previous week abroad when I trained twice a day. Anyway, I was still surprised to end up as the second V2, 15 seconds from both the first and third V2 runners. Which got me a nice Timex watch as a reward! And a pretty ugly cup… [Thanks again and again to the photographs of Normandiecourseapied for their free pictures!]

Argentan, 30th and 17th and 7th edition(s)

When I started the ‘Og, in 2008, I was about to run the 23rd edition of the Argentan half-marathon… Seven years later, I am once again getting ready for the race, after a rather good training season, between the mountains of the North Cascade and the track of Malakoff. with the last week in England, Holland, and Canada having seen close to two trainings a day. (Borderline stress injury, maybe!) Weather does not look too bad this year, so we’ll see tomorrow how I fare against myself (and the other V2 runners, incidentally!).

Why Runners Get Slower With Age

“The differences were striking. With each passing decade, the runners’ stride length and preferred speed dropped by about 20 percent.”

This morning at breakfast I read this New York Times article on the impact of age on running abilities. The perfect article to get me in the right post-birthday mood! The results of a physiological study reported in this article are not crystal-clear, but they primarily show that “older runners used their ankle muscles less but not other muscles more.”  A point on which I have no opinion, although I think I now run more from the front of my feet than I used to run, if the imposition on my running shoes is informative: the sole under the big toe is the first part to wear out! Then, at lunch, I went to train with my friends of the Insee Paris Club on 1km splits, with a good soul playing the pacemaker on the last lap. And helping me to achieve an average 3:31 average I was not expecting! Too bad I only have one serious training left before the traditional Argentan half-marathon, early October…

Argentan half-marathon [1 25′ 02″ – 29/503 – V2: 3/104 – 19°C]

A rather comparable race in Argentan with last year, with exactly the same time, a similar weather (a bit too hot and too windy), and a lack of pack for half of the race that again saw me running by myself the whole second half. This was my iXXth Argentan half-marathon. I started a bit more slowly than last year, wary of the headwind, then accelerated in the forest and felt really well till the 17th kilometer, where I slowed down a bit, with a group of three runners passing me on the 18th and alas one of them V2. I tried to keep up till the 20th, but they ended up 20 seconds faster. This year I had left my traditional Insee Paris Club red tank top, to reduce the chances to be spotted but my opponent from last year was apparently not there. The number of runners seems to be going down steadily from one year to the next, maybe more so this year due to another race on Pont de Normandie tomorrow. This helped with keeping my chances of reaching a podium higher than expected, as I was not at all thinking I could make it again this year… [Thanks again and again to the photographs of Normandiecourseapied for their free pictures!]