Yesterday at 0430, I was putting together the final bits and pieces of equipment for a day trip to Rainier to install (well, help install) a GPS sensor on Winthrop Glacier
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My guess, from a purely statistical standpoint, is that your fellow grad students are a good standard deviation or more taller than you. Don't discount the effects of stride length in your ability to keep up. :P
...Huh. That...never occurred to me. Usually when I walk in groups I'm way out ahead, but I guess if everybody is going near their top cruising speed leg length would begin to show an effect.
OTOH smallness should give me a comparative advantage going uphill because of the "ant effect" wherein small creatures can lift greater loads relative to their own body weight. And, indeed, thinking about it, it seems to me I was keeping up a bit better on the slopes. Biomechanics!
Height makes a big difference in how much work people can do. Speaking as a tall person, I always wonder how much of my athletic capabilities boils down to higher-than-usual stride length, leverage, etc. Certainly there are plenty of shorter people who are way more athletic than I am in my chosen domains, but height definitely has an impact.
Congrats on surviving the hike! That sounds pretty grueling.
Yeah, you have to work harder to maintain the same pace--if you usually lead the pack, that means you usually work harder than everyone else! Which means you ARE in great shape! So there!! :D
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OTOH smallness should give me a comparative advantage going uphill because of the "ant effect" wherein small creatures can lift greater loads relative to their own body weight. And, indeed, thinking about it, it seems to me I was keeping up a bit better on the slopes. Biomechanics!
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Congrats on surviving the hike! That sounds pretty grueling.
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Yeah, you have to work harder to maintain the same pace--if you usually lead the pack, that means you usually work harder than everyone else! Which means you ARE in great shape! So there!! :D
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