10 Years of Peak Oil: Lessons learned [Kjell Aleklett, Professor at Uppsala University (Sweden), President of ASPO International]

Diary of a Sub 40 Minute 10K #6

Ordinarily I'd be satisfied with this week, and today's 6km TT (29:48) except one of the Bayswater Bailers, Mike Collings,showed Craig and I his personal best in a training log book. 26:59.

Thanks to that piece of information, Craig had an inspired run this morning (in spite of it being one of the coldest mornings of the year) - running his own personal best 27:40, and biting a 40 second chunk off my PB (28:21).  Seeing Craig running off into the dawn, and cracking a time like that ruined any satisfaction I could have taken out of my extremely modest effort.

This is Craig [left] a few minutes after his run. Take a look at the shoes he wore on the run. What made his run even more special was that for the first 10 minutes Craig was chatting about a movie - remember this was on a 2km+ uphill. Craig also held back a little for his panting partner (me), who was feeling both heavier than usual, and confused that despite the effort it wasn't registering as a higher heart rate.  Finally Craig revved, changed gears and became a spot that disappeared on the horizon.

At the 3km turn Craig was around 30 metres ahead of me, so he probably turned on around 15 minutes, or 15:10 at most. I turned at 15:28.
My goal, which I expressed to Craig before the run, was to run the first 3km in 15:10-15:30 and then to finish in under 30 minutes. 

If Craig's first 3km were fairly sedate, his last 3km sizzled.  He must have done 12:30 back while I (refer to the graphic below) slowed to the slowest pace, ultimately, for the whole run.   I suppose I was concerned that I could aggravate the hamstring injury, but I can't say I felt it at all on this run, not on the uphill or the downhill. 

I reckon I could probably have run the 2.5km - 4km harder; certainly even my heart rate went below 160 during this section.  This was certainly a far less even effort than last week.

At about the 12 minute mark, essentially the top of the uphill it's important to keep up the pace - but if I can project back I think I was still concerned that striding risked bringing on the injury.  I recall taking quick, short steps on the downhills rather than risk injury taking longer steps; this obviously slowed me down and lowered the heart rate.

Now take a look [below] at the dip in heart rate at just over 24 minutes.  At this point, with about 1 kilometre to go, your HR has to be at 160 minimum, and better yet, 165, and from there, build towards 170+.  That's how I ran my 28:21.  In any event, noticing the 'weak' spots, or decreases in effort makes it easier to run more effectively the next time.  This is where a Heart Rate Monitor really comes into its own both as a training and as a racing tool.

For Reference here are the basic stats from my PB about 4 weeks ago.  HR average 161 and Max 172, both substantially higher than today's effort.

One aspect that must be mentioned is although I was determined to do a solid first 3km run, I felt very out of breath.  I'm not quite sure how to explain this.  Firstly I think I was heavier than I was when I did the PB, and I have to admit I haven't been as strict on the low carbo thing this week as I have in the past.  A few slices of bread, the odd chocolate and piece of cake, and almost a sixpack of Windhoek Lights during the course of the week.  So for the coming week I'd like to be a bit stricter in every sense - fewer beers, fewer carbs, smaller meals in general.

The other aspect was that I woke up this morning with sore calves.  So I may have gone into this run a little tired physically.  Didn't sleep particularly well either. Oddly enough, on the run I didn't really feel any leg fatigue, which I definitely did feel during the 6km when I hurt myself.  That run felt like a hard run on tired legs.  Today's run felt hard, but legs weren't as tired as lungs. 
Might add one or two swim workouts this week just to bring on the aerobics a tad.

Overall though, glad I've made progress since the last 6km, which I did in 31:17 - so down about 1:20 on that run.  Running a 10km trail race on Saturday, so will probably push the next 6km in 2 weeks.  I'll be doing that run - the 6km - with all guns blazing, under the expectation that my injury is healed, and can handle a hard downhill sprint taking fairly large strides.  I'll be gunning for a new PB, so a sub 28:20.  Lots of work to do in the meantime.

Memories of Robben Island

Hamburg (Eastern Cape) in Pictures

"Why does my burger look different?" - McDonald's photo shoot

McDonald's quite cleverly undoes the cynicism of the question "Why do the advertised burgers look better than the real thing" by answering it in a way that makes for a not-bad advertisement in itself.

Noakes on Nutrition (for Ironmen) - Published in TriathlonPLUS July 2012

Catcher of the Free State Sun [Published in COUNTRY LIFE, July 2012]

TEXT AND PICTURES NICK VAN DER LEEK

 

For Free State artist Frans Claerhout ‘capturing the sun’ had a special meaning, and it’s revealed in the humanity and compassion in his works

I’m looking for the sort of subjects favoured by the Belgian-born, Free State artist Frans Claerhout: donkeys, sunflowers and ‘madonnas with children’. My father and I are heading towards Tweespruit, where Claerhout worked as a Roman Catholic missionary, venturing over roads I’ve never been on before.

A maroon blanket drying on a fence around a hut catches my eye and I stop the car. My father looks at me, puzzled.

"symbolising a simple, sober way of life”

“I just want to get a shot of this,” I say, digging out my camera and nodding towards the blanket.

Read the rest.

There's an elephant in my soup...

Why Brands Are Becoming Publishers [VIDEO]

And Death Shall Have Dominion

Half a life lived
perhaps time to mourn the living
an old father, weakened, hairy-eared, a soup splattered beard
wearied by the disease and death of yet another old dog
so make time count
an ex girlfriend says
your father's not a spring chicken any more
his death, a flimsy film
separating his death
from mine

every moment
a moment wasted
every moment
precious
yet innumerable
yet limited
beside the infinity of death

every moment
a moment promised
every moment
a moment cherished
yet a lover quits
with black tears and blotted cheeks
begs friendship
rather than love
to endure life
but not to enjoy it

no God
no heaven
just the dull, vivid clockwork of the universe
the intricate, bold, mathematics of it
a zero sum game
all the lessons learned
the sports
the walks [the wounds]
the sights
the smells
the clanging sounds
the dozens learned and lost

to the worms
the birds
the crows
the heartless stars
the cold sun
the ice of the morning
the tasteless soil

the moon
and the supermoon
the rain
and the rainbows
the sweep of seasons that sweep no more
the great tide of tides
that rise and fall no more
the quake
the blast
the stampeding mob
the books, the verses
all vain, against the press of time

life is but a memory
remembered
ineffectual, powerful
and yet powerless as a dream
easily forgotten
easily lost in the aromas and flavours and fabrics of yet another morning
a morning that could be the last
the last taste of orange juice
the last sip of water
the last sting of bacon spit shooting off the pan
the last sight of a green leaf or the shimmer of a polished doorknob

the newspapers may echo
the news
a car crash, a murder, a fall from a mountaintop
victims - a reporter writes
as though there was no pain
as though losing a life is like losing money
no desperate, furtive, harrowing to hang on to life
the clawing of fingernails into the knots of a carpet, or the knots of a table
the horror of it all slipping away
unheralded, ungreeted, unanticipated
unsummarised
all the terrified screams
the [un]closure
the slow gush, the stew, the slick
of blood
into the ultimate bankruptcy of the living

at the end of it all
possessions gained and lost
at the end of it all
fitness and sinew unravelled, cut and dried
at the end of it all
all lost
everything asunder
for one and all
without exception

maybe books (diaries, articles, letters, birthday cards)
or children
or scratches on a bedpost
may outlive us
but after the last heartbeat
nothingness
for there is no soul
just the wish of such a thing
and no heaven
just the ancient worship of the sun
and I,
and the universe
all of this from nothing
and now back

to black.

The Arctic is warming roughly twice as fast as the rest of the planet.

Diary of a Sub 40 Minute 10K #5

For the first time in two weeks, I felt confident enough to pick up the pace this morning. On today's 6km run (31:17) although I started modestly, and felt heavy, and ran with a mutt it was gratifying to note that I challenged the previous ceiling (31:15).

Running mate Craig Booth came within a second of challenging my record this morning (28:21). What was impressive was Craig's outbound run - although he turned at a brisk 15:10 I'm sure he could shave another 30 seconds off that time if he starts quickly and maintains a consistent pace.

If you look at the above graphic it's clear that the pace reached its maximum right at the end. It was at this point that my right hamstring seized up 2 weeks ago, and although the last 500 metres wasn't a sprint, the leg seems to have recovered 70%-80% to where it needs to be.



The plan for next week is really to focus on diet, as one of the alarming things in today's run was how heavy and bloated I felt. I drank 5 beers (lite beers, but still) during Saturday's rugby and could really feel it. So beer is at the top of my list of banned substances. Going to stay off the stuff at least until next Sunday.

I'll also be running Albrecht in its usual slot, but am going to stay off the Vibrams for another week or two. I may add the odd swim or two and gym session or two just to burn the excess that I've added this weekend. Next Sunday I'd like to go under 30 minutes and the week after - presuming all goes according to plan - try to challenge the record: 27:59 or better. By July I need to be nudging 27:30 and August 27:00. Let's see what happens.

David Nalbandian was disqualified from the Aegon Championships men's singles final against Marin Cilic on Sunday after kicking an advertising hoarding into a line judge's leg. [VIDEO]

This was bouncing off the living room ceiling this evening...

Was a bit nervous touching it, as it could carry rabies. Caught it and released it - don't know whether it's going to survive the cold night. Have absolutely no idea how it got in - all the windows are closed. Maybe it flew in through the door when I came in?

Mars Curiosity Rover Animation

How the Aussies treated the Aborigines

Governor Phillip reckons Arabanoo adapted to his captivity remarkably well. Really?  Turns out he adapted so well that Arab-dude was forced to do stuff, shackled to the hilt, and despite his marvellous accomodations he tried to escape, but shortly thereafter died (he was a prisoner for just 4 and a half months before dying a probably horrible death).

Which way is she turning?

“Our visual system, if it has a choice, seems to prefer the view from above,” says Dr Niko Troje of Queen's University in Canada. “It’s a perceptual bias. It makes sense to assume that we are looking down onto objects that are located on the ground below us rather than floating in the air above us.”

According to a study performed by Dr Troje and his colleagues, viewing angle is all-important in the answer offered up by people's brains to the silhouette. As people are naturally predisposed to assume they are looking at things from above, they tend to assume they are and so decide that the lady is spinning clockwise.

Public Acceptance of Evolution by Nations [GRAPHIC]

I reckon South Africa would probably squeeze in the bottom somewhere, between Turkey and the United States.  It's interesting that so many can be so divided on a simple question.  That means quite a few people, in fact entire countries in some cases, are completely on the wrong track.  Because make no mistake, your beliefs have an impact on your destiny, and a communities beliefs on their common destiny.

Jedi Kittens Strike Back [VIDEO]

Diary of a Sub 40 Minute 10K #4

 There's not much to report this week since the injury I picked up last week Sunday (3 June) has been a thorn in my side (well, a stretched right hamstring) ever since.  I was dismayed to find that the injury felt worse for the next two days, and by Saturday, almost a week later, I went for a run again for the first time.  I found that the leg seemed fine running uphill, but felt increasingly tentative the more I increased my stride length - especially running downhill.  So, in order to safeguard myself I've been purposefully trying to keep my stride as short as possible.

I managed to get through Saturday's 12.5km run without injury, and then ran a very easy 6km the next day in icy conditions.  My last run was yesterday (Tuesday), once again in -4C or -5C.  The cold didn't bother me as much as the nagging discomfort in my hamstring - a tightness.  Worse, I feel like I've lost all my fitness.  Feel heavy, slow and tired.

Because of the increased discomfort on yesterday's 7km run, I was iffy about this morning's run.  Since my alarm didn't go off, it was probably just as well.
I'll probably head out again tomorrow, try to run a flat route.

Since there's not much to write about in terms of pace, HR etc, I'm going to draw your attention to some funky additions Nike have made to their NikePlus site.  Have a look at this:

 Interestingly the above stats are based on the past week, when I've definitely been sub par to my usual pattern, which bodes well ito comparing myself to my peers.

 The trick is going to be getting that 1km time down to 4 minutes and then lower still.  And that 5km time down to 20 minutes and less.  That's the only way to realistically achieve a Sub 40 minute 10K.

 It's interesting how my pace has dropped quite radically since March.  I think the reason is due to running further, and more regularly.  I expect the pace will level out from here on out. I'd like to extend time spent running off-road (middle icon) and also time spent running in daylight (right-hand icon).

As for the future, I'm gunning for a 10km race at Windmill Casino in early August.  I expect I'll use up the few remaining days in June recovering from this injury, and dedicate July to getting back on the ball - improving speed and stamina.  I'll try to get close to 47 minutes or 48 minutes on that run.  Let's see how it goes though.