Happy New Year!

Now, as some of you know, I’ve always been a math nerd. That’s why I became a chemist and an engineer. Some of you may be the same way. Or at least math supporters. Running is a numbers sport. 

When I was young, math felt clean. There was one solution. One right answer. You worked the problem. You checked your work. You either got it right or you didn’t. If you were wrong, you tried again.

Then I learned quadratic equations.

Quadratics introduced the idea that a single problem could have two correct answers. Two. At the time, that felt strange. It made sense once you saw the graph, but it shook my understanding of what “right” meant. More than one answer wasn’t a mistake. It was the solution.

Later, I learned calculus.

Calculus changed everything. It opened the door to motion, change, and how the world actually works. When you integrate a function, you don’t get one answer. You get an answer plus a constant. An unknown. Because there are infinitely many functions that could fit the same situation. Precision suddenly came with uncertainty attached.

As my engineering career progressed, that trend continued.

Linear algebra taught me that the same vector can be represented differently depending on your frame of reference. The numbers change. The object doesn’t. Probability taught me that the “right” decision doesn’t guarantee the outcome you want. You can do everything correctly and still get a bad result. Numerical methods went even further. In real-world engineering, many problems can’t be solved exactly at all. You approximate. You iterate. You stop when the answer is close enough to be useful.

The more math I learned, the less precise things became. Not sloppier. Just more honest. Reality doesn’t usually hand you a single clean answer. It gives you a range. A tradeoff. A solution that works under certain conditions.

As we head into a new year, that’s worth remembering. You may have goals. Places you want to go. Times you want to run. That’s great. There are many paths that get you there. More than one solution can be right.

One of my calculus professors used to say, “Pick a solution and write it down. I’ll let you know if it works.”

Turns out, that’s not just good advice for math. It’s a pretty good way to start a new year, too.

Best wishes on chasing your running goals,
George