Yet another reason why Asians are better

We don’t stink. And now, it’s been found that we have perfect pitch.

Several recent large-scale studies have confirmed a curious finding: Asians are much more likely to have “perfect pitch” than non-Asians. Perfect pitch, more properly called “Absolute pitch,” is an extremely rare phenomenon, but it’s several times more likely to occur in Asians than in others.

While the lack of BO is genetic, this perfect pitch thing doesn’t seem to be. Rather, it appears to be cultural.

Other research has found that nearly all of the Asian advantage in absolute pitch is found among Asians who spent their early childhood in Asia. This again points to cultural, not genetic factors.

The cultural factor probably explains why I’m absolutely terrible when it comes to music. I’m just not Chinese enough. But at least I don’t stink.

New plan!

Here’s the new plan for fall (ultra)marathons:

1. October 12: Bank of America Chicago Marathon (registered)
2. October 19: Sisters Poker Run, 34M (just need to mail my registration fee)
3. October 25: Autumn Leaves 50M (registered)

Hmm… that leaves only 5 days of rest between a 34-milers and a 50-miler. I’ll have to think about doing the 50K Autumn Leaves instead of the 50M. The Las Vegas and Death Valley Borax marathons in December I briefly considered are off the schedule.

WTH? Birds don’t sing at 2 am

That’s what I was thinking when I woke up this morning. The plan was to wake up at 2 am, change and gather my stuff, then drive the 3+ hours to Sunriver to run the Pacific Crest Marathon. I made sure to have everything ready the night before: 6 gel packs, 2 500ml bottles of Powerade (not my favorite but whatever), my brand spanking new Obama singlet I had made, and a bunch of other stuff. I even made sure to clip my toenails. Then I realized that birds don’t sing at 2 am. So I looked at my phone, which is also my alarm clock, to see how much more sleep I had left… well, I got an extra 2.5 hours. It was 4:30. And way too late to get in the car, drive to Sunriver, pick up my bib, and make the 7:30 start time.

Oh well. That’s $75 wasted because I forgot that my alarm is set to only go off on the weekdays. But looking at the bright side… I would have spent more than that on gas. And I probably would have been miserable out there in the heat of central Oregon. And I would have been exhausted from the driving, the running, and the driving back. And it wasn’t like I was trying for a marathon streak of some sort (this is the only race I have planned until October). And it’s not like I need another race shirt or medal. So did I go back to bed? Nope. I went out and ran from my house to the Leif Erikson trail in Forest Park, 20.5 miles in all. I was supposed to do 26, but it was hot and I was getting dehydrated so I cut it short and rode the bus home. I’ll probably do another medium or long run tomorrow to make up for that.