I just finished writing some exercises for the polynomial functions chapter of a high-school mathematics textbook. The sections I wrote exercises for were called Investigating Characteristics of Polynomial Functions, Investigating Characteristics of Polynomial Functions in Factored Form, Investigating Transformations of Cubic and Quartic Functions, Dividing Polynomials, and Investigating Polynomial Factoring. Tomorrow I'll work on a section called Factoring a Sum of or Difference of Cubes. Also, I’m just finishing up the book Catch-22 by Joseph Heller It’s a classic!

Tags: math, mathematics, book, books, Catch-22, Joseph Heller

Last night I saw Spirit of the Marathon, and I really enjoyed it. The movie followed six runners who trained for and ran the 2005 Chicago Marathon. Two were elite runners (including the very likable Deena Kastor and a Kenyan guy who trains and lives in Japan), two were young women running their first marathon, one was an older gentleman who was running with his daughter, and one was a guy trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon. With the Kenyan guy we got some shots of Japan (which was probably more interesting to me than to most people) and of Kenya, which was nice, and with Deena Kastor we got to see her win the bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics.

The person who I definitely would have identified most with is the guy trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon, but unfortunately, he got injured and never did run the 2005 Chicago Marathon. I would have really liked to see him try and qualify for Boston, but if he was injured, he was injured – there was nothing the producers of the movie could do. It did say at the end of the movie that he did eventually end up qualifying in another race, and he ran Boston. I was happy to see that. If you didn’t see the movie, there will be a repeat performance on February 21st. Click here for details!

Tags: marathon, marathons, Boston Marathon, running, Spirit of the Marathon, Deena Kastor,

I just finished writing some exercises for the trigonometric identities chapter of a high-school mathematics textbook. The sections I wrote exercises for were called Investigating Compound Angles, Double Angle Formulas, Proving Trigonometric Identities, Solving Linear Trigonometric Equations, and Solving Quadratic Trigonometric Equations. I hope to have more work to do very soon. Also, don’t forget that tomorrow night at 7:30 PM is the nationwide screening of the movie Spirit of the Marathon. If you haven’t purchased your tickets yet, I would call ahead before you go, because I heard that many theatres are sold out!

Tags: math, mathematics, Spirit of the Marathon

Wow! Lance Armstrong is running the Boston Marathon! Read about it here! I hope to see him there!

Tags: marathon, marathons, Boston Marathon, running, Lance Armstrong

I just finished writing some exercises for the trigonometric functions chapter of a high-school mathematics textbook. The sections I wrote exercises for were called Radian Measure & Special Triangles, Transformations of Trigonometric Functions, Solving Problems Involving Trig Functions, and Rates of Change in Trigonometric Functions. During the last section I even got to touch on some calculus.

From October, 2006 to November, 2007, I was working for just one company (person), but in the last couple months, I’ve expanded so that I’m now working for three different companies. So far the work from the three companies hasn’t overlapped, but inevitably, it will. I’m confident that when it does, I’ll be able to handle it. I’m determined to keep all three of my clients.

Tags: math, mathematics

As I stated in an earlier post, I don’t want this blog to be about politics. However, the political races are starting to get very interesting. Even though I haven’t been writing about it, I do have a very strong preference. I’m not going to say here what that preference is, but I just want to make it clear that I certainly do have an opinion, even if you're not hearing about it. I will give one little hint – although Mike Huckabee is a marathon runner (read the Runner’s World article here), he’s definitely not the candidate that I support. However, I really admire how he’s been able to improve his health through exercise and nutrition. That’s all I’ll say about the political races for now.

Tags: Mike Huckabee, Runner’s World, Runners World

I ran fourteen miles today with the Premier Sports Marathoner in Training (MIT) group. The adjustments that I’ve made to my training definitely seem to be working. In addition to a thirty-minute warm-up on the stationary bike at LifeTime Fitness before all of my runs during the week and using bee venom cream from Dancing Bee Acres to prevent inflammation, I’m also using a foam roller on my hip. As I progress farther into my training, things seem to be getting better, not worse. My schedule only said eleven miles today, so not only am I ahead of schedule this year, but I’m ahead of where I was last year at this time, too. Hopefully everything will continue to go well and I’ll have a great Boston Marathon!

Tags: marathon, marathons, Boston Marathon, running, LifeTime Fitness, Bee Venom, Bee Venom Cream, Dancing Bee Acres

Happy New Year to all! I’m just about to go get my workout in at LifeTime Fitness. The gym is very crowded today, since everyone made a New Year’s resolution to get more exercise. However, it will be back to normal within a few days, after everyone forgets about his/her resolution. It’s the same every year.

Tags: LifeTime Fitness