Total time: 18 hours
Total distance: 201.34 miles
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Goodbye Teens
That's apparently bingo slang for 19. I did that many miles today.
Total time: 16 hours, 48 mins
Total distance: 188.84 miles
Monday, February 23, 2015
Mighty Monday
The title is an overstatement.
Total time: 15 hours, 11 mins
Total distance: 169.80 miles
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Trust Required
So one of these pictures lacks a distance display, because I stopped pedalling for too long. But I swear my sums are accurate! Also, I had a go on the cross trainer, it's hell.
Total time: 14 hours, 12 mins
Total distance: 158.78 miles
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Recumbent Robber
So some dude was on MY recumbent this morning, so I did some treadmill running before he bailed and I got my beloved bike back.
Run:
Bike:
Total time: 11 hours, 59 mins
Total distance: 136.77 miles
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Agglomerative Cycling
Today is a catchup from my last two sessions. The last time I tried to post, the Elders of the Internet had kicked the Internet box off the table. That's a reference to an episode of The IT Crowd. Explaining jokes is the best part.
Total time: 10 hours, 56 mins
Total distance: 124.77 miles
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Breaching the Halfway Mark
Today I passed the halfway point in my 200 mile "journey". Running is much more tiring than cycling though, so I exhausted myself without much distance to show for it.
It strikes me every year that the most appropriate way to celebrate Valentine's day is to visit the relics of St. Valentine at the shrine in the Church of Our Lady of Saint Carmel. This is a church in Dublin, near the city centre. St. Valentine stood for some wonderful ideals, primarily marrying couples while it was against the law under Emperor Claudius the Cruel of Rome. Claudius forbade marriage, positing that love kept men from joining his army.
Perhaps the actions of St. Valentine in 269 AD are being reflected by the gay rights campaigners of today, who tirelessly strive for marriage to be made legal for all.
And with that, I'll share a token from the delightful and princely Cormac. Happy St. Valentine's Day!
Total time: 9 hours, 3 minutes.
Total distance: 101.75 miles.
Sponsorship link: here.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Close to 100 miles
To say that 100 is close to 98.5 is reasonable, but should be stated with caveats. The scale is important. If we're comparing real numbers in the range 98 to 101, then the two are quite different. A similarity threshold should also be required.
In fact, how similar should two things be before they are considered close? In what dimensions should they be similar? The concept of similarity has been explored for larger objects like sequences of numbers, as in Galois connections, and variables, via the Pearson correlation, for example.
By what mechanisms are we reminded of things out of the blue, by seemingly stringy similarities? How is sameness represented in the brain? All very interesting. And I say to myself... what a wonderful search engine...
Total time: 8 hours, 31 minutes
Total distance: 98.5 miles
Sponsor SAAS please.
Monday, February 9, 2015
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Of Feet and Feminism
You can see my foot in today's picture. (One of my two.)
Today I read a pretty good interview with Melinda Gates in Elle magazine. She spent some time working with women in Tanzania, and told a wonderful story about how "real men carry water". A newly married couple lived in an arid region, so the wife had to walk 21 km to get water. After the birth of her first child, she decided to move back home, to an easier climate, where she could raise her child actively, rather than spend her time carrying water. To keep her with him, the husband started carrying the water instead. His friends mocked him, since it was woman's work. Then they came round, and started carrying water too. They got sick of it though, and realised how dangerous the journey was, so they built four huge waterpans close to the village. Now the water is only half a mile away.
If something hurts enough, you change it. The men didn't fancy carrying water for 21km, so they did the sensible thing, and solved the problem. Why hadn't the women done that already, and solved the problem for themselves long ago?
Maybe the answer is that they've been carrying water like that for generations. Their mothers all had to do it, so why shouldn't they? They accepted that pain as a reality of life. How many other things do women accept, perhaps unknowingly? If a man were in their position, would they endure those things?
Another answer might be that the women lacked the economic and political influence to make the change. Maybe they don't have the same access to assets like land and livestock with which to make trades, or maybe they don't have the chance to forge relationships with influential people (who are probably men).
The problem with the water was solved, but how many other problems like these still persist for women in Africa? Gaining the empathy of African men is an important step. The water-carrying story is a great example of men walking in the shoes of women, and then recognising and helping in their plight. Hopefully this will keep happening, and hopefully women will gain the ability to change things on their own too.
At SAAS, we help this process by sponsoring the education of students, many of whom are women, by providing support and counselling, and by helping graduating students to get jobs. This is especially important for our female graduates, who develop in confidence and strength with the ability to provide for their families and make better lives for themselves.
Total time: 5 hours, 55 minutes
Total distance: 68.47 miles
Sponsorship link: here.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Thin Tyre Thursday
So thin, in fact, that there are no tyres.
Total time: 5 hours, 1 minute
Total distance: 58.45 miles
Sponsorship link: Spink.
The actual Spink.
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Spec & Spin
Instead of watching abysmal partisan news programs, I now read specifications while I cycle in the mornings.
Total time: 4 hours, 5 minutes
Total distance: 48.37
Sponsorship link: badum-dum-tisch
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Spinning the Legs
Good bit of mileage there today! The gym was packed with enthusiastic professionals shouting about morning meetings they could skip because their colleagues were all about them, sweatily ready to talk shop.
I messed up my timing sums before, whups.
Total time: 188 minutes + 123 seconds
= 3 hours, 8 minutes + 2 minutes, 3 seconds
= 3 hours, 10 minutes, 3 seconds
Total distance = 28.35 miles
If you'd like to sponsor me, despite my horrible arithmetic, follow this link.
Monday, February 2, 2015
The Inevitable Blisters
Today I got closer to my 5 mile target. It was blisters that stopped me this time, even with my 1000 mile socks. Perhaps I've run 1000 miles in them, and they've lived up to their guarantee. I might have to stick with cycling until I can find the time to buy plasters - please bear with me!
Total time: 133.66 minutes
Total distance: 17.25 miles
Sunday, February 1, 2015
On the Recumbent
This morning I had a go at the recumbent, and managed my 10 miles. It always reminds me of this fantastic video from pinkbike.com: Borderline Stupid.
Total distance: 13.25 miles
The First Day
On January 31st I landed in Philadelphia, and decided to start my 200 mile program immediately. This was a horrible idea, since I was incredibly jet-lagged. I managed a measly 3.22 miles after hobbling along for an age.
This month will mark my return to healthiness and exercise, after taking several months off to recover from a bike accident in October. My distances and times will be embarrassing for the first while, but I'm hoping they'll pick up as I go on. That's why I've given myself the whole month to cover 200 miles, and not just set a one-off marathon goal. Also, I'm sick to death of marathons.
It's freezing in Philadelphia at the moment, so I plan to use the gym during the week, and possibly be brave and run outside at the weekends. When I run/cycle in the gym, I'll post a picture of the machine to log my distance. If I run outside, I'll take a picture of the furthest point I reach, then check where I went on Google maps when I get home and log the distance that way. Hence, I will be held to account.
Running total: 3.22 miles
(excuse the pun)
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