Besides cooking and GTD, I love to run. I can get into the flow of the activity, as my mind becomes focused and the time passes smoothly. On good days, my time in lab feels the same way. Moreover, research, like running, is at many times a solitary endeavor. This can be the hours spent on a long run or the days (or weeks) spent aligning the lasers of an optical tweezer or trouble-shooting a biochemical protocol. Endurance is essential in the face a 16-week long training plan or day after day of unsuccessful experiments.
Based on a thoroughly unscientific study, I have noticed a strong correlation between my progress with distance running and my advances in my research project. Last semester I discovered the limits of my perseverance with both of these activities. My training for the Standard Chartered Marathon was going great until I was attacked by a lowly virus, resulting in a month-long epic battle with the common cold. For the first week, I refused to accept that I was sick, so I continued running and going to lab, which only accelerated my decline. For the rest of the semester, I could not run more than 10k. At the same time, I was stuck at the same step in my experimental procedure (linking two different types of microspheres with a single strand of DNA).
Now I must return to lab to face the same problem that resulted in physical and mental burnout last year. My marathon training now has a small, fairly stable start, but I am still seeking strategies to achieve the same type of feeling with my research. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
you sparked an amusing thought in my mind. people often get in ruts with running...doing the same loop again and again with no variation...well maybe labwork can be the same way. a good training schedule incorporates long distance, short distance, rest, intervals, hills, the works. keeps your body guessing and you don't plateau. so what about mixing in 'fartlek' and 'long' research days? i don't know what that would entail...but it's a thought to work yourself out of a rut.
relatedly, i've always wished i could work out physics problems while running (a sort of parallel processing), but never have been able to.
final thought, inspired (hindsight is 20:20) by your next post: running gives you a different perspective on a landscape, since it's a faster speed than walking, and slower than driving. you notice things differently, and notice different things. likewise, -perspective- can be an integral part of problem solving...as you found.
Posted by: john | January 15, 2008 at 07:46 AM