Wherein Brian Solves A Word Problem

So I’ve been going to the YMCA for over a year, and I’ve noticed that as I cool down from a session of maintaining my guns (grand Liliputs like something out of an action-adventure novel by Alistair Maclean) and walk around the track on the workout deck, joggers often pass me at about the same point.

This led to a word problem for me to solve.

Given that the track is 1/7th of a mile and is a rounded square with each side approximately 190 feet long, why on earth does a jogger always pass me at the same point in the track? Today, a young woman with blonde hair, about 5’6″ and trim, in a tie-dyed tank top and–wait a minute, my wife reads this blog– I mean, this jogger of no note passed me on the east wall of the Y, right near the free weights. She It jogged off ahead of me. I maintained my unsteady, how-long-was-I-on-that-stationary-bike pace counterclockwise, and when I reached the east wall by the free weights, she passed me again.

As I mentioned, this observation has perplexed me for a year. Are these runners stopping to do some lunges at some time? Are they pausing to walk a bit? Get a drink? Why is this happening?

So I watched her all the way around the track. For scientific purposes, crikey, I swear. How did this story become about me being the creepy lech at the gym again?

She passed me on the east wall. When I got to the north wall by the cardio, she was on the west wall above the gyms, about 90 degrees ahead of me in the circuit. When I got to the west wall, she was 180 degrees opposite me. When I got to the south wall, she was 90 degrees behind me, coming up to pass me again on the east wall. And she did.

Yet I remained flummoxed.

So I watched again, and this time, when I was on the west wall and saw her on the east wall, it clicked. She’s running exactly twice as fast as I am staggering.

I’m sure other runners passed me in different places a hundred times when I was walking my dozens of miles over the course of the year. But I only noticed when one passed me in the exact same spot every lap because it was so odd.

So I didn’t really solve the word problem using math, but I got my English and Philosophy degree by subbing in a class in computers and a class in logic for the math requirement (and I could have done away with the logic requirement, too, if I wanted a Poli Sci or pre-law degree).

And I’m strangely lightly elated to finally know how this happens, although it might have been clear to anyone who gave it more than my annual minutes of thought. Given enough time and laps, I can figure anything out.

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2 thoughts on “Wherein Brian Solves A Word Problem

  1. I’m sure other runners passed me in different places a hundred times when I was walking my dozens of miles over the course of the year. But I only noticed when one passed me in the exact same spot every lap because it was so odd.

    So it’s a form of confirmation bias.

    I’ve never formally studied logic, but only read on my own. It would have been good to take a class on logic. Or plumbing.

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