Mar 01

2015 Week Notes 7

Doing

  • It was a pretty quiet week, the only night out was a leaving do for a oolleague at work
  • I had 2 hospital appointments this week, one with the hand physio and one with the consultant, where had an xray to check how things are going. You can see that there is just the one nail in there. things seem to be going well.

    Finger Xray

  • Went for a good meal at Antidote, just for a Saturday lunch. Pretty good restaurant just off Carnaby St, where one of my favourite chefs from Hedone acts as consultant, which you can tell from the food.

    Antidote
    Reading

Running

Just the one run, a parkrun with a few miles there and back. Still trying to fix legs and make sure there is time to get out but not working well. I am going to have to change my training plan.

Feb 15

2015 Week Notes 6

Activities

  • Two sets of drinks out this week. The first was with my current team, a post meeting big group drinks. It’s good to connect with the team I’m going to be working with for the next 10 months or so in a more social setting. The second is with my old team, a good catch up to see where everyone’s careers have got too and what else they are up to.
  • A trip to get my dressing changed on my finger. It’s the first time I’d seen it post operations and they’d definitely just peeled the finger open like an orange. The picture is over on Flickr.
  • A last minute dinner at Hakkasan Mayfair, another one of the Michelin list. Took advantage of their ‘pre-theatre’ offer for early dinner. The place was packed even at that time.
  • Peking style duck with chilli, leek, onion

Reading

  • STILL no book finished. At least I didn’t start another though, Still only the 4 on the go.
  • The ‘Undue Weight’ of Truth on Wikipedia. Why even experts in their field can’t get things on the site. It ‘s looking like wikipedia is getting to the point it needs to take a step back and take a good look at its policies, I’m reading too many things like this.
  • How to fix a bank in 100 days I’ll be honest, never really had too many issues with my bank, but I don’t use them for much – I have a current, savings and mortgage account. There service has been great whenever I’ve needed it. But with all the horror stories I read, I think that’s quite lucky. it’s also on the personal level, as the bigger picture of banks is horrendous, when i someone going to have to face responsibility for the recession? I do like this focus on how banks need to change, because they do. Although I have a feeling that if mine did, I probably wouldn’t like it that much.
  • William Shatner: My problem with verified accounts. Just a little reading about how Shatner thinks about verified accounts. I see his point, that they should have a strong reason associated with impersonation, not just for doing a job.
  • 64 Ways to think about a news home pageHow many different ways can a cross-expertise group come up with about how a news page can be presented.
  • the 10 most innovative companies in advertising in 2015. A string mix of agencies and brands. I find adding the agencies strange, as their clients are the ones who say yes. There may be far more innovative agencies out there but working with clients who say no
  • I’m Brianna Wu and I’m risking my life standing up to Gamergate. Read it. Read about the hatred that exists out there and why calling it out when you can is important.
  • How a Great American Theatrical Family produced the 19th centuries most notorious assassin. Extract from a history of John Wilkes Booth

Running

  • I managed 1 run at the end of the week. That’s it. Work and had pain all got in the way. Not good at all. Well, mind is more important, I could have squeezed more in, but having to get myself back in the mood!
Feb 08

2015 Week Notes 5

Activities

  • The focus of the week was the operation to get my finger pinned. I fully expected it to be done under a local anaesthetic, but the consultant was amazed it had even been considered. Full general it was, which made it a little difficult to get out as I then needed to find someone to come and pick me up. Thank’s to Sofia for stepping in at the last minute. No idea what they ended up doing, as post-op conversation seemed to be lacking, but I should be back in this week to have it unwrapped. I just know it hurts. I have painkillers and I have not been running, as it hurts!
  • I was out with a Dining Club on Wednesday, to get out and do something social. As part of the same social group, I did a historical/pub walk around Marylebone on Saturday, a group of about 20 of us learning about the area. Good fun despite the cold
  • Went out for Saturday lunch at Texture, one michelin star, Scandanavian inspired and very good. Review will follow.
    DSC_0996
  • Got my doctor’s cert for the Paris Marathon. Not covered as part of the NHS (unlike all the op stuff) so £35 for a few questions, a blood pressure check and the all important stamp on the certificate. On the medical front. also picked up my new glasses, which are taking some getting used to

Reading

  • I’m reading 4 books and have not finished anything this week. maybe I should concentrate on just the one?
  • One Man’s Quest to Rid Wikipedia of Exactly One Grammatical Mistake. lovely story about devotion to Wikipedia and providing value back to the commons. I tend to go through bursts of edits every couple of years but it’s not something I do a lot of. My area of focus tends to be minor Middle Age noblemen.
  • Big Data and Bacteria – mapping the NY Subway. How a group of scientists took samples across all the NY Subway stations and sequenced the DNA, running it through databases to understand what was out there. The headlines seems to be all around how half of it was unidentified. I prefer to look at the other way. half of it WAS identified. Given the history of DNA sequencing and identification, how much it used to cost, the fact that half of it was from species that had been sequenced I think is pretty amazing!
  • I’m autistic and believe me, it’s better than measles. The anti-vax movement is scary with massive public health impact that is being seen in many countries, with the US, an areas with a highly public anti-vax movement, now subject to a lot of publicity about a measles epidemic, one of the preventable diseases that is making a come-back now herd immunity has decreased. I’m not vaccinated, but maybe I should be? (well, actually, not sure if I ever was) That’s because I grew up before it was widespread. But I did have measles and was lucky to survive that unscathed, but many aren’t. This article about autism pokes at the assumptions made by the various parties.
  • The internet is full of men who hate feminism. here’s what they are like in person . Investigative report into what someone, when stripped of internet anonymity is like. And the answer is surprisingly personable, well, until they start talking about feminism and men’s rights and then my logic circuits start to trip as I don’t recognise their world. then again, I don’t recognise the world of some of the extreme feminists either. I’m a feminist, but I don’t play one on the internet, so never really come across this online world.

Running

  • not a good week at all. Hospital and recovery stopped it all. So nothing after Sunday run this weel
  • However, I did manage the Wonter 10k run on Sunday, extremely well organised 10k on closed roads in central London, along the Embankment and around St Pauls. Did not push too hard, but completed at a faster pace than my 5k runs so far this training plan. The reason for not pushing? The additonal run home I added onto the day, although I did only manage 9m, jumping on the bis for a couple of miles.

Winter Run 10k

Feb 02

2015 Week Notes 4

Activities

  • A big company meeting on Tuesday, with the announcement we’re now a new company (well, sort of). A new name, new partners in the network. Instead of Havas EHS, we’re now Havas Helia. This was followed by a few drinks in the pub for the agency.
  • Instead of sticking around for what I heard was a good night, I wandered off to my new book club, where a samll group of us dissected the story of a Quaker Girl in 1850 Ohio. And drank wine.
  • Thursday morning was supposed to be a quick checkup at the fracture clinic, instead it ended up being a 4 hour trip around the various departments – doctor, therapist, X-ray before the conclusion was reached that I need an operation to put my finger back together properly. A&E had missed a fracture and the sprint had not held it properly. So I’m back there on Tuesday. I did get to take a picture of the x-ray though.
    DSC_0942
  • Had my eyes tested for new glasses, as finally been discharged from the care of the team that looked after my detached retina. They take digital images of the retina and it was fascinating to see the difference between the two, where the left eye you can see all the various veins etc and the right eye has a big blurry bit where it was fixed. distance vision has definitely gone in the right eye, but close up is fine. New glasses ordered (and paid for!)
  • More money spent on plumber. Appointment set for 8am and depsite me telling them what the problem was, what I had done and what i think needed to be done, Pimlico Plumbers failed to bring the right equiment 9as well as being 40mins late). So they came back in the afternoon and used plungers and hoovers and a big flailing metal rope thing on a drill. That finally got it sorted – when they got the right man for the job, it was sorted quickly. By the end of the day I think I’ve spent enough for a week’s holiday! 🙁

Reading

  • Why I’m not a maker. With tech and geek culture groiwng, it is often expected that you ‘make’ things, as though that is the only activity that has worth. I like to experience, the author likes to educate, the premise of a maker community is that those that don’t are less. We need to avoid the rush into another binary.
  • Downtown is for People. a classic article from 1958 by Jane Jacobs. Why the rush to rebuild town centres was forgetting it was about the people who lived there not about the architects who built them
  • The story behind the King’s Cross Christmas problems. How a crisis can creep up on you even if each decision on the way seems sensible. A tight plan of railway engineering works failed over Christmas, this is a fascinating insight into why.
  • Only one book finished, this was The King’s Curse by Philippa Gregory. She’s made a speciality of writing about the lesser known women of the Plantagenet’s and this is her take on Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury and her life in Tudor times. Daughter of the Duke of Clarence, she grew up during the Wars of the Roses as the neice of Edward IV. Another perspective on that time, especially with the new TV series of Wolf Hall focusing on Cromwell, who appears throughout this book as a villain.

Running

  • A first outing with my new running club, an evening social run. It was supposed to be slow, but my slow is definitely not their slow. Only managed the one run into work, with meetings and hospital appointments complicating things. But I’ve managed 103 miles over the month.
  • DSC_0938

Jan 24

2015 week notes 3

Activities

  • I had nothing planned for this week (well, I was supposed to be on holiday), so it was a quiet week apart from work and running. So today I went for lunch at La Trompette, a local restaurant, for a little treat.
  • DSC_0932

Reading

  • Although I seem to be reading 4 books concurrently, I’ve only finished one and that was read just today. The Last Runaway, by Tracy Chevalier would not be my usual choice but is one I need to read for book club. And I’m happy to have done so. It’s a story of a Quaker girl emigrating to Ohio in 1850 and her involvement with runaway slaves. There’s no doubt Chevalier can write and this kept me involved all the way through (hence being able to read in half a day)
  • Of Smell Tests and Sanity Checks. Thoughts by JP Rangaswami on how all senses come into play, even when not expected.
  • Why Japanese don’t use LinkedIn An exploration by James Riney on the cultural reasons why LinkedIn is not used much in Japan. Business and social is far more mixed, so Facebook (or equivalent) is used more – and using LinkedIn is a sort of statement that you are looking for a new job, which would be disloyal to your current employer.

Running

  • I hate winter, even worse, I hate winter and travelling on public transport, where the germs float around and it’s too easy to catch a cold. Couldn’t manage the long run last Sunday, but got into gym on Monday, then run to work Wednesday and Friday, with treadmill and weights Thursday. Got out of the train at Putney and Friday and discovered Wandsworth Park has no lights at all, so progress was slow, hoping I didn’t hit ice or run into a bench!. But early mornings do give you wonderful sunrises.

Sunrise over Battersea Park

Jan 18

2015 Week Notes 2

Activities

  • A birthday lunch started the week, the buffet brunch at Flesh and Buns is a brilliant value for money deal that they handle very well. A good catch up with Wine Club 😉
  • Monday was marked by the arrival of new mattress. Considering the previous one was about 20 years old, I was amazed at how much material science had changed the mattress industry. One big question was why are they all now white? My old one had that classic blue stripe on it and there is nothing like that now. Anyway, one week sleeping and a weekend of lie-ins and the new one is definitely a hit.
  • I was supposed to have been flying out to San Francisco on Thursday, but due to work had to cancel. Not that happy, but it’s done. So onwards!
  • But because there was no holiday, I did get to go the the F1 Zoom Auction, which was a lovely evening bidding for photos taken by various F1 personalities. I bought one of them again….

Zoom Auction

Reading

  • A slow week this week, illness and too much work restricted reading time. I did finally read this – You’re 16, a paedophile, You don’t want to hurt anyone, what do you do. A hard and uncomfortable read, illustrating that more support is needed on early prevention, not just punishment.
  • Only 1 book completed, but a classic one. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman, published in 1974, is a reflection on the futility of war (in the context of Vietnam) when the cause is pointless. It considers what happens to the people who would fight an interstellar war when subject to relativity and how they could cope with home that is never the same. Most scifi – especially the visual media – never considers this, assuming somehow that FTL will make relativity irrelevant.

Running

  • A mixed week of running. Sunday was a planned 14m run, with 6-7 miles at marathon pace – so working hard for this stage of training. The Mp went well, but on the cool down, tired, caught my foot and down I went. SPLAT! Glasses bent, cuts on face, pouring blood and a very sore finger. Thanks to the nice man who picked me up and did his best to help me! I ended up jogging the rest of the way home (just over 2 miles) and after the birthday lunch spent the rest of the afternoon at A&E getting x-rayed and sorted out. One dislocated little finger was put back in place and strapped up for the next 4 weeks.
  • Managed another 7 miles on Tuesday, and then another thing in my bad week – a cold. Full aches and pains and then cough, cough, cough. So nothing happenning! It’s 12 weeks to the run, and there are plenty of 12 week training plans, so I’ll keep telling myself it’s still OK, despite the setbacks.

DSC_0910

Jan 10

2015 Week Notes 1

Shall we try these week notes again? Let’s see how far into the year we get 🙂

Activities

  • Had the final checkup at the eye hospital following the detached retina last year. Discharged from there, although with warnings that because I now have a high probability of cataracts, I need to have regular opticians checkups. At least I can now get some new glasses!
  • I was supposed to go on a treasure hunt this week, but it got cancelled due to work issues, we’re now trying to get it rearranged. There was no easy first week back, we were hard at it, as the big project that I’ve been working towards for the past year finally kicked off. So expecting a lot of hours to be put in!

Reading

  • Only 1 article of note this week. Boing Boing’s How image board culture shaped Gamergate. Fascinating read about how a niche culture, where argument is currency, does not translate into mainstream where people don’t always care to argue.
  • Only 3 books finished this week, all fiction, all thrillers.

Running

  • 30 miles managed this week, still not quite up to the miles I need to have in my plan but slowly getting there. Not having much luck getting up and going running to work, it’s just too dark!
Jan 01

A review of 2014

Before I look ahead, surely it’s time to take a quick look back, even if just for a reminder for myself. For the first time in a few years, I did not set any new year ambitions for 2014. I’d been made redundant and really, was not in the mood! I was focusing on finding a new role, not thinking beyond that. So I can’t do a review and see if I achieved them. However, they would have been the usual – fitness and expriences. it’s all about that. So what did I get up to? Time to take a look at the photos.

January was a quiet month – it was looking for jobs and going for interviews. But I did take advantage of a sunny day to visit Kew Gardens for the first time in the year. I go there quite a bit, as I have bought membership – definitely worth looking at if you live in the area and want to support plant research (you know, the stuff that may keep us fed as the climate changes)

Kew January 2014

Once I’d got myself sorted, I too advantage of the opportunity to take a long weekend and popped over to Naples, primarily to see Pompeii. Having read reviews about visiting the preserved city in the summer, with the crowds and the heat, I was quite happy to have a dry winter weekend and the place almost to myself.

Pompeii

Pompeii

I got a couple of F1 events in during the early part of the year. First, the Zoom auction, which sells off signed photos from F1 stars to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital. There’s another one this January and you can buy some from the online store. I also went along to watch a filming of the Sky F1 show, something I did a couple of times. It’s always fun watching TV being made. Finally, the Not a FOTA Forum, an event run for fans by the ex-Secretary of the FOTA org, who got along some F1 insiders to talk and entertain.

Zoom Auction

the F1 Show

Not A FOTA Forum

Running went well in the first part of the year. I completed a couple of half marathons and then the big one – the London Marathon. I was very happy to get round in 4:30. No entry for me in 2015, but I’ve decided to run the Paris Marathon, so training is full speed ahead for that

London Marathon

The week after the marathon, I got the chance to go skiing, through a friend. Last time I tried skiing was when I worked in Scotland and dry slope lessons were part of the social club activities, but I’d never tried on snow. I think that’ll be my last skiing holiday though. It turns out I don’t do the mix of mountains and skis very well, or rather skis and edges. I’m not afraid of much, but I experienced physical terror on a couple of occasions. I did not like it!

Val d'Isere

June brought a trip to the Canadian Grand Prix, via a few days in New York and then Toronto to see old friends. Loved this trip, good catchups, good food and a great time in Montreal, which has to be one of the best places to hold F1, with the circuit right near the city with plenty of public transport.

Canada GP 2014 Friday

The summer had a few of my regular events. I officiated at the Joint Services Regatta again, went to Kew fete and visited Goodwood and the British GP – it was a bit rainy for the latter, but the sun was out for everything else

JSR 2014

Goodwood 2014

Silverstone Saturday 2014

In July, I ended up in hospital having emergency surgery for a detached retina, followed by 2 weeks bed rest before slowly getting back into things. All my running got put on hold and the autumn plan of 3 half marathons in 3 weeks did not happen, but I did manage to squeeze in a local 10k and half marathon in September,before heading up to Birmingham to run the Great Birmingham run, another half, with my sister. With minimal trianing over the summer, I was quite happy just to get round!

A few local events in the autumn, with the Tall Ships Festival visting Greenwich and the amazing installation Blood Swept Lands and Sea of Red at the Tower of London. I went fairly early in the process of building this and it was relatively quiet, but I’m not surprised at the corwds that developed over the weeks, via word of mouth as it was just an amazing site. I bought a poppy too. I managed to get to watch the Lord Mayor’s show for the first time (the problem with living in London is doing London events!). And I won the Army Rowing Club Player of the Year cup, for all my help over the past 19 (?) years

Tall Ships Festival, Greenwich

Blood Swept Lands and Sea of Red

Lord Mayor's Show 2014

Player of the Year award

The year ended with a bit more F1, with a trip to Abu Dhabi GP (having won tickets at Silverstone) and also a prize trip to take a tour around the Mercedes F1 factory. I always say that if you never enter competitions, you’ll never win, so you always have to take a chance!

Sunday Abu Dhabi 2014

Mercedes F1 Factory Tour

That’s it! A pretty full and fun year. I’m already got my plans for 2015 for holidays, but it’s the bits between them as well that make the year interesting.

Feb 16

2014 – week 7

Reading

Doing

  • I started a new job, although it’s a contract for a few months, I’m back working. 🙂 More about this another week.
  • Went to a evening at Ogilvy, taking a look at what they are up to in the social space.
  • Had drinks with my ex-colleagues. Slightly too much, but it was a great night! 🙂
    Drinks (13th Feb 2014)
  • Ran the Dorney Half-marathon, a last minute entry at the beginning of the week. It went brilliantly and I got a new PB. I also met up with a group of people from a running forum I’m taking part in.
    Runners (15th Feb 2014)

    Training

    Overall, it was a pretty good week. The runs all went to plan, in fact were slightly easier than expected. The training is working. There were 2 key sessions, one with 5 * 800m fast intervals and the other the half-marathon, which was a test of marathon pace with a faster last 3 miles. The race went perfectly to plan and I knocked 7 mins off my personal best, at 2:07:03.

Feb 09

2014 – week 6

A bit more activity this week

Reading

Doing

  • I started mentoring for this programme Digital Mums. A good scheme to teach new skills and the support local businesses.
  • I went to a leaving do, a friend from Momentum who has moved on and caught up with a lot of ex-colleagues.
  • I went to the Zoom F1 auction, which was selling pictures taken by F1 journalists/drivers/team members. A good night – and a chance to wear my new slim styled dress 🙂

Zoom Auction (7th Feb 2014)

Training

A slightly heavier week, as mileage ramps up. It’s 9 weeks until the marathon and things, in general, going well. Hopefully, this weeks issue won’t cause a long term problem. As well as the recovery runs, I managed the following sessions

  • 6 miles progressive, where I started slow and increased speed every mile, finishing with a 8:50m/m
  • 20 miles steady. My longest run to date. Went well, but needed to fuel better.
  • I started but had to abandon the 16 miles with 12 at marathon pace. A cold was the first issue, so my heart rate was all over the place, but then also had a hamstring issue that meant it was not a good idea to continue. Lots of stretching and rolling ahead.
Feb 09

2014 – week 5

Another quiet week (well, if you call some travel quiet). We’ll have to stop that soon!

Reading

  • Life as a Non-Violent Psychopath. A neuroscientist working on brain scans takes a look at his own and how similar it is to psyshopath brains. A great read, and interesting journey of self-discovery.
  • The Day we Lost Atlanta – how 2″ of snow paralysed a city of 6m because of lack of transport investment
  • Feminism’s Toxic Twitter Wars. I’d call myself a feminist. However, I find the fragmentation and worthiness, leading to all of these public arguments, silly and self-defeating. There are so many different ways to express, why should you fit into someone else’s definition and how do you fit into them all!
  • My Wife Doesn’t Get how it is in Advertising. I think most people don’t get how silly it can be in advertising/marketing etc. Some of the expected behaviours are just weird.
  • No chance for Stephen Glass: the long, strange downfall of the journalistic wonderkid. Should a journalist who faked and made up a lot of stories get a chance for a new life? According to the Californian Supreme Court, not if he doesn’t change.

Doing

  • I ‘watched’ the first F1 test of the season, well, watched via Twitter and reporting. The last few years I’ve travelled to a test, but not this year. They’re not going to Barcelona and I did not fancy a trip to Bahrain.
  • I went to Naples! The reports of Pompeii and Naples can be found earlier on the blog. A great long weekend, with lots of good art, architecture, history and food.

Naples

Training

A short week, I only managed a 12mile and a 5mile run before I went away. I did do about 10miles walking everyday in Italy, so I was still spending time on feet!

Jan 26

2014 – week 4

Reading

Got few a fair bit this week! I really ought to record the books I’m reading too, I only do that occasionally.

Doing

I’m guessing there’s a correlation between reading and doing, because my activities last week were limited to interviews and exercises, with a couple of catch-ups with ex-colleagues! I’m going to have to change that this week! I did manage to eat some haggis for Burns’ Night though.

Haggis, Neeps and Tatties. (25th Jan 2014)

Exercise

After last week’s light week, it was back to the heavy work. So 2 recovery runs and the following work sessions:

  • 8 miles with 4 at 10k pace. HARD session I never settled into and did not manage the 5th mile at pace. too cold and breathing never settled.
  • 11 miles steady
  • 18 miles steady. This was my longest run to date, with me making sure I had the right gels to keep me going. Legs definitely sore at the end of it, but not too bad the day after.
Jan 19

2014 – Week 3

Reading

Doing

  • Had my first ever full-length sports massage. Ouch! Seriously, I had bruises. But I did notice a difference in the next run, with muscles that often give a twinge working fine. Ideally, you’d get one weekly, but every 3-4 weeks at a minimum. It all depends on finances as they’re not the cheapest!
  • I was on Russia Today, on its programme CrossTalk, directly as a result of my appearance on Al Jazeera. The topic was pretty much the same, social media and journalism. This was not in a dedicated dark studio, but on the corner of the office, so had people working around me. Weirdly, I had a screen backdrop which showed a live view of London – the camera providing the view on the screen was pointing out the window behind the screen!
  • A had a good chat with the people behind Digital Mums. I’m probably going to be doing some mentorship on their pilot project, to train at=home Mums to do community management. I think this is a really good idea!
  • I had brunch with someone I used to work with in JWT New York. He’s just started a new role and is over here for 3 months connecting with new and existing clients. Had a good meal in Chinatown and took him on a whistlestop tour of Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and the Southbank. We were going to go into Westminster Hall, but apparently at a weekend, you can only get in if you are on a paid tour!
  • Had dinner with a bunch of bloggers. David Weinberger was visiting London and there was a small dinner with some old-school bloggers.

London streets

Training

It was a lighter week in the plan, a recovery week before it all gets hard again. Two light recovery runs and the following main runs.

  • 8 miles with 8 * 100m sprints, speeding up to get the legs moving quicker.
  • 8 miles easy running, done along the river, just about getting the tide time right so I could use the tow path
  • 12 miles easy running, in Richmond Park on a sunny morning. So many runners out in the park, wonder how many of them are doing the London Marathin too?
Jan 17

2014 – Week 2

Reading

  • Things learnt from 5 years on The Story by Matt Locke. A great set of things that he has learnt running his The Story Conference, from the need of side-projects, that you have to do things many times to get things right and that things are valued more when paid for with own money (rather than expensed on employer).
  • Is the sea floor littered with dead sea animals by Deep Sea News. A factual take on the scare stories of Fukishima radiation. It’s not hitting the US!
  • The Most In-demand job skills in 2013 was Social media on Red/Write. yay, that’s good to know. Here’s to it continuing in 2014. Although, reality check, it should social media AND business knowledge, how to actually use it strategically, not just how to use Twitter.

Doing

A pretty quiet week in the main.

  • My project to have a photo for every day in 2014 is progressing well. Here’s the Flickr Set
  • Visited Shoreham-by-Sea to meet up with Adam, chat, and have coffee. A slightly shorter visit than planned as I had to come back up to London at short notice, but it was great to be by the sea!
  • Went along to a friend’s birthday party for a few drinks, a good chat and a fun catchup. Was good to myself my ensuring plenty of water was had along with the wine, so I felt pretty good the following day…unlike some! And I avoided the shots.

Training

A hard week, with a total mileage of 40 miles. Two small recovery runs, plus some hard sessions:

  • 9 miles with 5 at 10k pace
  • 10 miles steady
  • 16 miles with 10 at marathon place. This one I was dreading but it went better than expected.
Jan 05

2014 – Week 1

It’s a New Year! 2014 is here and has done its best to make its mark with the weather.

Reading

  • How to run the perfect marathon by Beer Belly Running. I’m going to be reading a lot more like this as I have no idea what to expect (pain, I know there’ll be pain, but what else? 🙂 ) It’s 14 weeks today. I have a lot of miles to get through.
  • Facebook reveals mobile growth by country. (TechCrunch) One thing about being a public company is Facebook has to give information to investors that it would not have normally made public. This is interesting reading about how it is spreading, especially with the rise of the messenger plus the deals it is putting in place to make Facebook use ‘free data’ with certain carriers.
  • How the content industry almost killed the Blockbuster and Netflix. (TechCrunch). A look back on the entertainment industry and its continued inability to understand the disruption that keeps hitting it.
  • LOL My Thesis. A tumblr with one line definitions of academics study. A lot of fun reading.
  • Paul Dacre – the man who hates liberal Britain. A New Statesman study of the editor of the Daily Mail

Doing

  • Visited the Bank Of England Museum. A fascinating little place in the City, showing the history of the bank and of money and banking in the UK. Shows how banknotes came to replace money, the rise of the cheque and how, in England, this bank became the only one that could issue money. Well worth a visit – especially to handle the HUGE gold bar they have.
  • Appeared on Al Jazeera TV on Inside Talk, talking about social media, viral videos, fakes and journalism. How should journalists verify video that appears on the web. Making these programme is weird as the main studio is in Doha, so you’re in a dark studio, facing lights, you can’t see the camera so hope you hope you’re looking at the right place and you can’t see the videos they are talking about. This was the first long discussion I have done, it’s normally been small slots in news programmes but this was a 30min show. Enjoyed it (and apparently did OK). Also, more telly makeup so took picture that is becoming my new avatar.
  • Did a London Treasure hunt through In the Hidden City. A brilliant idea that uses text messages to send you clues for places around London. Do it fast, you can get prizes, but the real prize is taking the opportunity to see places about London you may never have been before. This one took us from the National Gallery, through St James, Soho and up to Marylebone.
  • Updated my CV and applied for jobs. Cost cuts are work meant re-structuring and me no longer having a job 🙁 So after getting through the holidays, I’ve now taken stock and am busy getting my details out there! Anyone need a digital thinker/social media strategist/project manager? You can see what I have done on my About Page/LinkedIn.

Training

The training picks up hard now, with 42 miles in the plan

  • 8mile steady with 10 100m strides. These are fast sprints where you push yourself hard
  • 10miles to and from a New Year’s day parkrun, with the 5k fast in the middle. Well, not that fast. I usually do my parkruns on a flat course, this was in Richmond park and there are hills!
  • 10miles steady. It was a lovely run until 6miles in when the heaven opened, hailstones poured down and there was thunder and lightening. I got very wet and it was horrible for 2 miles. Then there were blue skies!
  • 15 miles steady, again round Richmond Park. No deer seen today

Dec 29

2013 – Week 52

Christmas Week, that weird one (which carries on into next week) where life does not follow normal pattern!

Reading

Doing

I spent almost the whole week at the parents doing family things! I was due to travel on the Monday via train, but with the bad weather that was predicted, Dad came to pick me up on the Sunday. Good job too, as many trains were disrupted. So the week was spent catching up with family,, a bit of eating, a bit of drinking and a lovely walk in the Clent Hills on Boxing day. I also got my Dad set up on Flickr so he can put his many years of holiday photos on there instead of them being stuck across a couple of machines.

Training

A combination of injury recovery and being at parents meant training was a little mixed this week.

  • Gym session with 15miles on bike, some weights then a a short 2.5mile run back home (in the pouring rain!)
  • 5.6 miles steady run around Himley Park/Baggeridge Woods on Christmas Day. It was a gorgeous bright morning and the park was filled with dog walkers
  • Park run with my sister Sarah (who’s training for a half marathon), plus my other sister’s husband Paul. It was the first park run for both. I ran round with Paul, who has not run for ages and definitely not since his accident – but running with one arm was manageable, he just needs better trainers!
  • 15miles steady around Richmond Park. I started off with the local running club group but they were going far too fast for my plan for the day, so I dropped back and completed it in just over 2.5 hours.

Dec 23

2013 – Week 51

The year is nearly done. Thoughts turn to plans for 2014, personal, professional, what ambitions will I set myself for the year?

Reading

Doing

The week before Christmas seemed to mainly involve having Christmas dinner with people! Or drinks. In total, had 3 dinners this week with various groups of friends, at a restaurant, a pub and a dinner party at home. Setting myself up well for the holidays – where I need to get out and do some more things!

Training

Not so good, another week with an injury, so planning on spending the next week focusing on stretching and strengthening before getting back out there.

Dec 16

2013 – Week 50

An interesting week, with potential for huge changes. But more on that as they crystalise!

Reading

  • Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregellis. An interesting Alt-history story, the first in a trilogy. What happens if the Germans had harnessed mental powers in WW2 and what would be the UK response.
  • The Brilliant Hack that brought Foursquare back from the dead on Wired. Story around the latest changes to Foursquare. I’ve been a consistent user of the app for years but recently it lost its way. When looking for recs, want to know what’s available in the street I’m standing in, not something a few miles away. The latest version has brought that back, so I’m happy about that. I’m also going to be more of a old fashioned user, as I like it to track my visits. If you do that, you can great maps like this! (So I rarely go NW or SE in London…)

    Foursquare Checkins - London - first half of 2012

  • Train times vs House Prices. by Anna Powell-Smith. Turning data into information. Where is the best place to buy to minimise commute and maximise value?
  • Concussions and Rugby in The Guardian. A story of rugby, a schoolboy and Second Impact Syndrome

Doing

  • Went for cocktails with friends at Purl. Lovely place!
  • Went to the launch party for The Walk, the new app from my friends at Six to Start. It’s had some great coverage!
  • Drinks with an ex-colleague who has just started a role at the National Gallery. Sounds really exciting!!!
  • Dinner and drinks with friends over from San Francisco. Had a brilliant meal at Hakkasan, had my first glass of Chateau Margaux (mmmm!) and then introduced them to a London pub the week before holidays. A trip to De Hems was spent watching people in Christmas jumpers try and hook up whislt singing along to 80’s songs mixed with Christmas songs. Can you believe they’d never heard of a Fairytale of New York?!

    Chateau Margaux

Training

It was my first official week of the marathon training, as I start the 18 week training plan. It kicks off with 8 miles with 4miles at half-marathon pace, then the rest of the week as steady runs. The knee brace is working well, I’m nursing a shin injury so being a little careful, but things going well.

Dec 08

2013 – Week 49

Reading

  • Odon Childbirth device: Car mechanic uncorks a revolution. A feature about Jorge Odon, a car mechanic from Argentine, who has invented a new device to help with childbirth.
  • What we can learn from fake tears on social media (The Kernal). Why people push their grief onto social media when a celebrity dies. (something you would rarely see me doing, I never know the person!)
  • Raising Steam, Terry Pratchett. I didn’t want to start, as it could be the last book from Pratchett. He’s an author I’ve bought all the stories,the first when he was signing books in Blackwells when I was at college. At that point, there was no queue at all, something that would never happen these days.

Doing

  • A little work dinner for a pitch team, just some wine and Italian. It was the first time I’d been to Vapiano’s, where you queue up to order your pasta or pizza. Decided I don’t like the system. Ordering at a counter and waiting for them to bring it is one thing (like GBK, or Nando’s), but don’t like the having to wait around for the order to be cooked!
  • An evening out at Fashion Fringe. The 10th year of this event had a little celebration, announcing that it was also the last year. Not my usual event, but it was a lot of fun, with wine and sushi and loads of interesting dresses to take a look at. There were apparently celebrities there, but my usual lack of recognition was there and failed to see anyone I could put a name too!
    FashionFringe London
  • It was time for the office Christmas party on Wednesday. A well put together evening at UFF Tea Merchants, where it’s all styled like the 30s. We had a band playing old time music with a lead singer aged 74, who was pretty brilliant. Overall, a very good night. I left at a reasonable time without going overboard, which meant I then had the pleasure of watching the office the following morning struggle! 🙂
  • I used my last spare day on Friday. A long run, followed by a lovely lunch at the Cinnamon Club then a trip to the National Gallery. it was supposed to be wrapped up with drinks with a friend, but their work got in the way.
    Venison
  • Nelson Mandela died on Thursday night, so wandering around town on the Friday there were gatherings at the statue in Parliament Square and outside the embassy in Trafalgar Square, where people were queuing to sign a book of remembrance.
    Memorial

Training

After a week off for injury, I was back training this week.

  • 3.34 miles @ 9:57 paces. Fairly steady run
  • 3.05 miles @ avg9:46 pace. Interval runs, with fast 1k pieces (well, sort of)
  • 9.03 miles @ 10:42 pace. Steady run around Richmond Park
  • 16:04 miles @ 10:45 pace. Another run around Richmond Park, along with the hills. My farthest run yet! Felt pretty good, although last mile was painful, but I kept up the pace. There was a santa run there at the same time, but did not fins myself in the middle of them!
    Santa Run in Richmond Park
Dec 02

2013 – Week 48

Reading

Doing

  • Took a day off on Monday and used it to wander round London looking at Sir Christopher Wren Churches

    Wren's Churches

  • On the same day had lunch at the Michelin starred Club Gascon. Gorgeous!
  • On Wednesday, attended a blogger event at the May Fair Hotel, where we got to look at the Sensationails gel nail varnish system and the iPulse Smooth Skin System. Had a great talk by a professor of laser physics! Full write up to follow.
  • On Friday, I was at another brand event, this one a pop-up bar for Grey Goose. Gorgeous cocktails and a very, very slick event showcasing the brand. Very impressive dressing and service. I ended up going on to club with some people from the event, having a really good night and a very late finish 🙂
  • Saturday was shopping day. Having reached target size, headed out to the Westfield stores to collate the start of the capsule wardrobe, over an above my work jeans/tops. Very successful outing with all the required pieces purchased in a couple of hours!
  • Put the tree up! Yes, it’s early, but I like the lights in an evening!

Training

There as none. A knee injury necessitated taking the week off. I rested, started added some specific strength exercises and bought a knew support. Took a light run on Sunday to test it and so far so good