Janathon 2013 Day 12 - Weights, freedom and wine

Gym - run 3.2 km + weights, Time - 1h 5m, Weather - definitely getting colder

The weather is cold and raw but that is not the reason I am back in the gym. I am there because I want to continue my programme of strengthening exercises and use the weight machines. Now I know that the consensus is that machines are not as good as free weights but I find them easier to use - because I don't have to think too much about what I am supposed to be doing. In their small way they offer a parable about freedom and choice. Free weights offer unlimited opportunities to exercise specific muscle groups and choose the exact weight you need, whilst machines limit your range of motion and exercise specific muscle groups only. However to best exercise your freedom you need to know what you are doing and have a routine worked out, in other words a certain amount of expertise, whereas I don't want to think about it too much. I just want to work-out the bigger muscle groups without worrying. All I want is something I can do quickly and efficiently. Choice is a good thing but it is not always the ultimate good. The guys in the corner, sculpting their bodies, need their free weights. I do not.

To finnish this little piece I had thought of finding a Stoic quote about the limiting ones freedom and how less can sometimes be more, but I came upon something a little unexpected: a passage that shows that Stoicism is not about self abnegation and continual control. The aim is to be able to live a good life, not being an ascetic. Although it mentions that freedom is best in moderation it is mainly about sometimes letting go, or more specifically enjoying wine.

"We must humour our minds and grant them rest from time to time, which acts upon them like food, and restores their strength … at times we ought to drink even to intoxication, not so as to drown, but merely to dip ourselves in wine: for wine washes away troubles and dislodges them from the depths of the mind, and acts as a remedy to sorrow as it does to some diseases. The inventor of wine is called Liber, not from the licence which he gives to our tongues but because he liberates our minds from the bondage of cares … Yet moderation is wholesome both in freedom and in wine." (Seneca, On Peace of Mind, ch xvii)

It is Saturday and I think that gives me a good steer as to what I should do tonight,

The Uses of Technology

There was a letter in this week's Amateur Photographer from some old fogey bemoaning the fact that modern cameras do everything.Where's the skill? Where's the fun? he was asking. If the camera made all possible decisions what do you do?.

To an extent I can understand: he wants to feel he is the master of a craft and is practising a skill. If the camera makes all the decisions where is the credit?. However the letters editor had a perfectly reasonable response: if you don't want to use a feature then don't. There is nothing to stop you using manual focus or setting your own exposures.

When I look at running technology I sometimes feel like that man. Why do I need all that information or all the rigidity of different zones? But then the other, more intellectual open, side kicks in and tells me just to use what I need - and anyway aren't all these functions amazing? Who could have imagined, but a few short years ago, so much cool stuff would be available. In so many ways I am in love with the modern world.

But the grumpy old man still lurks and an alert about a Motorola fitness aid brought him out. I have no idea whether the device is any good or not but the blurb for the music player tipped me over the edge.

"Training is serious work. You need a soundtrack. MOTOACTV's smart music player learns what songs motivate you by tracking your performance against your music. It determines which songs help you perform better and then compiles them in a high-performance playlist."

Instead of thinking Wow! How great! I need that! I found it slightly creepy and sinister. The association with work made me think of all the monitoring in soulless call centres and the regimentation of production lines. The attempts to pen people in and systematise their effort. Science fiction has long warned of societies that suppressed all individuality and free speech with rigourous regulation and I thought of that rather than an aid that would help me achieve more.

Four simple words: "training is serious work" put me in the opposition camp. This is not what I think about when I think of running. For sure I am serious and treat it with respect but it is not work. Instead it offers the opportunity for freedom, play and the satisfaction that comes from effort. That is the heart of it and I don't want to be nudged into thinking of it in any other way.