There doesn't seem to be much point keeping up a monthly thread at the moment, as there's little to say on the running front. As the household has been working up to DEFCON 1 (Baby Imminent -- due yesterday), thoughts and time have been turning away from leisure activities and towards nesting, odd jobs, savouring the last days as a family of three, and that great use of time: worrying that we're not ready.
I've managed the occasional evening run, a weekly 4-mile tempo run to catch the train, and a couple of games of 5-a-side (no drama to report there I'm afraid...). I'm actually really missing the running, and also hankering for trying some triathlon training. But apart from the occasional quickie, such things must wait until the time is right.
In the meantime, I'm enjoying the great writing from diarists old and new - keep up the good work guys!
In which I submit my entry for the World's Most Boring Post contest.
After downloading the results spreadsheet from the Reading Half Marathon, I did what any sane and right-thinking individual would do when presented with about 8,000 sets of data: I analysed them and turned them into graphs.
In theory, this could be quite interesting: as the second-biggest half marathon in the UK, the results present a pretty good snapshot of mass-participation distance running in this country, or at least the southern half of it. In practice, it may just beat a large mug of Horlicks or a Nytol. I'll let you be the judge.
So, attached are far too many graphs.
Firstly, we have the distribution of all the finishing times. The most notable thing here is that there appears to be a sharp drop in finishers at 120 minutes, suggesting possibly that a lot of people bust a gut to get in under 2 hours. The most popular finishing time is 113 mins.
Then, we have cumulative frequency graphs (oh yes) for:
all of the field
female classes from U35 through to 55+ (note that "f.gif" is under-35, NOT all females)
male classes from U40 through to 60+ (again, "m.gif" is under-40, NOT all males)
Um, I'm not sure what to do with that. But it passed an idle hour.
Again, sorry for sharing this with you. It's just the way I am. Please don't judge me.
marathondan Wrote:There doesn't seem to be much point keeping up a monthly thread at the moment, as there's little to say on the running front.
Having said that, I made the bold step of bringing my kit to work today, and what's more, having packed just a vest, a week's solid rain disappeared and I was treated to a lunchtime of sunshine.
I took a nostalgic route around the mean streets of Greenford, my old manor, where in the autumn of 2004 I resolved to run the London marathon, back when a 7-mile training run was still uncharted territory. I only did half of that today, and at times I felt as though my conditioning hadn't moved on much from the old days - although 27:15 on the watch told a different story.
Now is not the time for me to be starting a renewed training effort, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable, sunny jaunt, and a great reminder that setting a little time aside to run is well worth it.
You stat-monkey!
Thanks for the graphs . . . I printed them out and finished papering my running shrine (the downstairs loo) where they reside alongside all my old race numbers and a couple of dodgy photos of Kelly Holmes :o
Best of luck for the inbound delivery.
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
Perhaps it's time to change those Kelly Holmes pics Sweder. Here's an action shot I took of the first lady in the Truchillas race. She descended like a gazelle with an elegance that put the rest of us and our stumbling, lurching movements to shame And she was a lot more photogenic than Pedro the lumberjack...
Hi BB - sorry, missed that post
Agreed, I'll add this fine hillside flyer to the pantheon of greatness on my downstairs loo wall
Dan - whats happening on the RC Friends League/ C4 World Cup thingamebob??? According to the website Peterward and me are still pending . . . is there some drug screening process, or is it that blasted Sussex Seniors league bung enquiry that's holding things up . . . ?
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
Sweder Wrote:Dan - whats happening on the RC Friends League/ C4 World Cup thingamebob??? According to the website Peterward and me are still pending . . . is there some drug screening process, or is it that blasted Sussex Seniors league bung enquiry that's holding things up . . . ?
Very sorry guys - I have taken myself offline since our new daughter Naomi arrived on 29th May. Will post some details and pictures in due course!
I didn't realise that your teams would be left in limbo. I've now accepted them, but it looks like the points to date haven't been credited (whereas mine have ). So we might have to make a manual adjustment.
Hope everyone's doing well out there in the normal world - I'll catch up on posts soon!
No worries old boy . . . a World Cup baby! How exciting . . .
If I haven't said so before many congratulations. I'm not at all worried about the league thing - it was a good idea that deserved a better response than it got.
Take good care of that family and enjoy the footie!
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph
does that mean I like Bob Dylan as well ?
:o 