Thursday, September 24, 2009

Visualising Information

This is a bit off topic but I am going to recommend a blog/website that has very little to do with running. It is called Information is beautiful and it shows ways that data can be visualised to clarify meaning, increase its impact and aid understanding. Partly I think it is because if something looks pleasing you will want look at it more closely and when you are drawn-in you will start to ask questions. Take the example of Twitter stats and look at the comment (eg if the sample size is 100 how do some people have more than 100 followers?).

But this is a running blog so I want to draw attention to something that has some relevance. This diagram shows the calories of things in a coffee house (something that interests me as they are my second home). The drinks are surprisingly calorific and yet I barely pay them attention when I think of my total food consumption.

So now I can clearly see that 30 minutes running only equals a frappe latte, or more likely a croissant and a large cappuccino. How easy is it to run for 5k and eat for 10? Answer - very.

Why is it so difficult to loose weight and thereby become a more efficient runner? Answer - just look at the data.

1 comment:

Adele said...

Lovely visualisations...worrying calorific content!