Math in Real Life: Going the Distance

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Thanks to Miss Math Dork for hosting real world math blog hop. This month I thought I'd talk about how I use math in running . So as you might have guessed, I'm a runner. I'm actually an ultra-marathon runner.

 Anyway, whether I'm training for a specific event or not, I'm often analyzing my running: average distances, speeds, total miles.


I have a mileage tracker for distance that I wear.  I track my daily distances and can find the total distance for a week or month as well as the average miles run per day. In October I ran 178 miles over the course of 27 days (I had 4 rest days). The average miles run per day is 178 divided by 27 or 6.59 miles. That's pretty low for me but I'm not training for any events right now. I averaged 44.5 miles per week. When I'm training, there are weeks where I'm running closer to 75 miles per week.

 In addition to distance calculations, I can track my rate.  I also start my stop watch when I leave the house. Using rate time distance formula I can determine the speed (or rate) of a run. For example, this morning I ran 6 miles in 56 minutes making my average speed was 6.42 miles/hour.  I don't track rate too much, because I love to just get out there and run, but sometimes I aim for a specific goal and even mid-run can assess that I'm on pace or not.

 Looking at these numbers actually makes me think it's time to start training again. Maybe I'll run the Hadrian's Wall ultra-marathon in Scotland next year. What do you think? 
Check out how other math teacher - bloggers use math in the real world in their posts here.

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2 comments

  1. UnknownNovember 4, 2015 at 8:31 PM

    There is a marathon in Tamarindo, Costa Rica that consists of over 5,000 participants. You would love it! And I might know someone you can stay with ;)

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    1. UnknownNovember 5, 2015 at 4:22 AM

      I'll check it out! Would love to visit Costa Rica.

      Cheers,
      DocRunning

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