Juneathon 2012 Day 12 - A blogging interlude

Juneathon 2012 Day 12 - A blogging interlude
Gym - 45min

Today I went to the gym. As nothing much happened during my set of exercises there is  little to talk about. Instead I will post a useful video with top tips on how you can  impress your friends and win bets. Fitness is not only about the big muscles you know.

uneathon 2012 Day 11 - More on exercise and depression

Juneathon 2012 Day 11 - More on exercise and depression

Walk - 1.6 miles,  Time - 30min, Weather - raining stair rods, terrible day, so out for as short a time as possible

A day spent watching the rain come down and listening to water pouring out of drains. Juneathon exercise was negligible - the barest minimum and all dressed up in waterproofs.


So to blogging and it is with a heavy heart I have to return to the subject of exercise and depression because the optimism in my summary of reaction to the research was misplaced. I had thought the follow-up to the original news reports had left us better informed and we had got beyond the exaggerated headlines. But I was wrong.

Sam Murphy is a highly respected journalist who writes on fitness and health but particularly specialises in running. She has written a number of books and writes regularly for the Guardian and in all her works she likes to quote research and researchers. As well as this she puts her knowledge into practice by running to a good standard and by coaching. In other words she is an authority  So I was rather sad to read this Tweet:

Sam Murphy @SamMurphyRuns 
Excellent response from Simon Hattenstone to unhelpful research saying exercise 'no good' for depression gu.com/p/385jc/tw via @guardian

The first, and in many ways the least important, reason is that she misunderstands the findings. It didn’t show exercise was 'no good' for depression, instead it said a particular intervention had no significant long term benefit - something very different. It meant she hadn’t followed-up to look in any detail at what the research was about instead she just reacted to the headlines. That might be slightly disappointing for journalist with her expertise but it is not an unforgivable sin; after all who amongst us, at sometime or other, has not offered an instant opinion based on partial information. The trick then is to acknowledge the mistake and find out more

However the second reason for my reaction to the Tweet makes me suspect this will not happen. The use of the phrase “unhelpful research” suggests an already closed mind that only wants to accept research that confirms pre-existing beliefs. I am sure if the findings had shown a positive effect for the exercise programme she would not have called it unhelpful. If so her problem is with the results not the research (especially as this particular piece of research, by examining the efficacy of a particular form of treatment, was designed to be very helpful indeed).  Having a problem with the results is not grown-up, it’s a bit like throwing a hissy fit if your team loses. It is sometimes you have to deal with. You have to look at the scope and limitations of the research and whether the conclusions are fully supported. Are there alternative explanations? What more needs to be known? 

Like Sam Murphy I am strongly convinced exercise is thoroughly beneficial but when I come across some evidence that seems to challenge this belief I don't want to say it is unhelpful. I want to say "Hmm I wonder how that relates to everything else we know?". To dogmatically assert exercise is good is not an adequate response

Juneathon 2012 Day 10 - A reminder of what I should be doing

Juneathon 2012 Day 10 - A reminder of what I should be doing

Cycle - 15 miles, Time - 1hr 3min, Weather - pleasant

The plan was the normal one for this Juneathon - cycle to St Albans, wander round, have a cup of coffee, and then cycle back. Nothing too arduous as it’s just a way of gradually building back some base after having lost huge amounts of fitness. At the moment all I am doing is  pre-running training - getting to state where I think I can feel comfortable on the road. In the gym I am working on strength and on the bike I am doing something gently aerobic. Nothing is being pushed too hard instead it is a gradual accumulation of effort. After 10 days I am beginning to notice some improvement - nothing startling but enough to offer encouragement.

The concept of getting fit for running may be a strange because running is usually used as a way of getting fit for other sports but I for me it is important because I find no pleasure in running when all I can do is lumber. Base training is fine when you run slowly and it feels easy but slow running when it feels hard is something else, and something rather dispiriting. So I am building up to running again.

Today I had a reminder of what I should be doing and what I should be aiming for as St Albans felt particularly festive. In one part people were wandering around with race numbers on their T-shirts and medals around their necks, in another part there was a farmers market. It was all rather jolly. I had completely forgotten it was the day of the St Albans Half Marathon and it gave me a bit of a jolt - reminding me that I like the atmosphere of these races.  I must do some more and next year I will run this one.

P.S. the photo shows the appropriate thing to wear to a farmers market - a Marmite cycle top

Juneathon 2012 Day 9 - Exercise before breakfast

Juneathon 2012 Day 9 - Exercise before breakfast

Gym - 35min

The picture is quite exciting - blue sky. I haven't seen that for a while. If I had waited a little bit longer there would have been even more of it. Perhaps things are looking up.

As today was another gym session, this time, because of other commitments, before breakfast. I am not sure if exercising when semi-fasted is recommended or whether the consensus is that you need to have put some fuel in your muscles to perform at your best. I will have to do some research and report back later. All I know at the moment is that there is satisfaction in feeling you have earned your food. Breakfast tastes better.  That in itself, never mind any training effect or nutritional science, is a good enough reason to get out early.

Juneathon 2012 Day 8 - Exercise and depression

Juneathon 2012 Day 8 - Exercise and depression

Walk - 3.3 miles, Time - 1hr 5min, Weather - high winds with rain

The study in the BMJ on facilitated physical activity as a treatment for depressed adults has already been well discussed and just about every point I would want to make has already been made. But I can't let that stop me,   being late is one of my specialities and the subject of exercise and health is central to this blog.

First of all some background. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that exercise can affect mood and help people cope with depression and a structured group physical activity programme is recommended by NICE as an intervention for those with subthreshold depressive symptoms. However the academic evidence is scant and the Cochrane Review of 2010 found that when data from  25 trials was combined,  exercise did seem to improve the symptoms of depression, but there was uncertain as to how effective it was, or what the most effective types of exercise were. So it is an area ripe for further study.  A heavyweight study from Bristol University would therefore seem to be just what was needed. 

It is a proper large scale study with 361 adults split into two randomised groups one of whom received normal treatment, the other normal treatment + support with an exercise programme. Their conclusion that the exercise support programme they used (3 face to face sessions and 10 telephone calls with a trainer over 8 months) had no noticeable extra benefit over normal treatment must therefore be taken seriously. But all that it really shows is that a particular type of intervention did not work. It did not show that exercise could not help people with depression and it had no information whether there were differing effects with different types of exercise. 

Unfortunately that was not how it was reported. The news bulletins all reported that exercise made no difference. This was not really the journalists fault because it is very much the line of the press release (upon which all stories were based). However there is a thin line between this and an interpretation that 'scientists prove exercise is no good at all for depression'. Some people who suffer with depression read it that way and reacted with outrage. It seemed as if someone was trying to invalidate their own experience.

Simon Hattenstone is a thoughtful and entertaining writer for the Guardian but his immediate response reads like a howl of pain. You cannot lightly separate a man from knowledge he has gained from his own experience. Unfortunately you also cannot generalise from that experience and think it is the same for everybody. His article was fisked by Pete Etchells, in a way that not only  showed what was wrong with his response but also pointed out some of the limitations of the study itself (it is well worth the read, including the comments). Other good summaries have also been written by Tom Chivers and Martin Robbins

I find this all rather heartening. There was a study the reporting of which made claims that could not fully be supported by the research, there was a kickback and then there was an attempt to make some sense of what was actually said in the initial report. This is good because too often the initial, simplified news headline is repeated and repeated until it becomes accepted as fact. This subject has caused more debate, perhaps because of the  number of people with personal experience who are in a position to write about it, and report itself has been looked at more closely.

This attention might also help some of those who initially reacted with hurt to the news items. Mark Rice-Oxley started his response by saying: "The problem with arguing with science is that it is often an uneven contest, a bit like hitting a steamroller with a stick of rhubarb." But it is not like that at all. He only needs to look at the Responses attached to the article in the BMJ to see how the subject can be engaged and the way the limitations of the study can be exposed. From that it is very clear there is still an awful lot more we need to know and huge scope for further research. The subject is far from settled.

P.S. Any time there is a claim about health in the papers the place to go for context and evaluation is the 'Behind the headlines' service from NHS Choices. Its reporting of this issue was, as ever, excellent.

P.P.S. I should also mention my blogging friend Travelling Hopefully who tackled this subject before me and covers much of the same ground,

P.P.P.S. Today's picture of blurry trees is my attempt at showing how windy it has been.

Juneathon 2012 Day 7 - This is not seasonal

Juneathon 2012 Day 7 - This is not seasonal
Gym - 45min

This does not feel like Juneathon at all. It does not feel like June.

Another day for indoor activity as first the rain poured down and then the wind got up. So blustery that the scaffolding with its mesh sheeting just blew away. Sway, creak, bang, splat and there it was scattered across the road. Luckily nobody was there and so no damage, just inconvenience and problems for the police in tracing the contractors to fix the mess.

Now Travelling Hopefully is doing some sort of treasure hunt for this years Juneathon and taking pictures of what she finds. Yesterday it was twigs. Pah I  have joined-up metal poles - a toppled structure. Twigs indeed!

 As for the gym I quite enjoyed the ways in which it reminded me how far I am  from being an excellent physical specimen, or even a just reasonable physical specimen. This might seem strange to say, as the gap between what I am and what I would like to be is usually a cause of despair, but today it felt like a release. I have to work with the clay I have, recognise where and what I am and not worry about anything else.

I was on one of the mats doing an approximation of a cat stretch when a girl wandered up to the next mat, sat down, legs straight out in front and then bending from the hips, flopped forward so that her head rested on her shins. There is not a chance in a million years, practising hours everyday, that I could get anywhere close to that. In the same way I will never lift some of the weights lifted by the group of muscular men in the free weights corner. It doesn't matter, all I can do is get on with doing what I can

Juneathon 2012 Day 6 - With Pevsner in Abbots Langley

Juneathon 2012 Day 6 - With Pevsner in Abbots Langley
Cycle - 14 miles, Time - 1hr 8min, Weather - coolish, blustery, cloudy

My cycle rides are never training rides. My aim is simply to get out, enjoy the feeling of pedalling, the sensation of speed (downhill only of course), with the chance to look around or stop at any time, i.e it is a mixture of effort and leisure. I have cycled, off and on, most of my life but have never been a sports cyclist. I don't really want my head down at all times and the thought of me being in any way aerodynamic is ludicrous.

For me the bike is a good way to explore the area and one of the things I look at is buildings. If you do this the Pevsner architectural guide is indispensable. The very first building listed is St Lawrence church Abbots Langley, which is of "exceptional architectural interest due to its Norman nave arcades and Dec s chancel chapel" (you have to get used to Pevsnerspeak). It is not far away and I enjoy being able to look at it.

The detail I am showing, however, is more about local building materials than the architectural style. The combination of chalk and flint is very common for churches in Hertfordshire (as is the chequerboard pattern). However chalk, especially when facing south west will erode, leading to repair work or a rather ugly cladding with pebble dash. All of this can be seen in the photo along with the use of Roman bricks, some of which were probably still laying around at the time the church was built.

I like the idea of buildings, in some way, reflecting the character of the county, its rocks and its history, and I like looking for it in details. I could go on but I don't want to give a full description of the church. Instead I want to use it to illustrate the point of my rides i.e. a way of looking around

Juneathon 2012 Day 5 - Back to the Gym

Juneathon 2012 Day 5 - Back to the Gym
Gym - 45min

After the previous day's lollygagging it was time for something that actually felt like exercise: so off to the gym to push some weights.

I have a conflicted attitude to gyms. On the one hand having a variety of machines and weights available is encouraging: you want to try things out, you want to keep a record of the numbers, you want to push on. Also the act of going somewhere, to a space dedicated to exercise, means you have made a commitment and set aside the time. You are in the right frame of mind with only one purpose. But on the other hand gyms are fitness factories and represent the way even our movements have been industrialised and commodified. For some reason I find that a little irksome and want to rebel against the idea that fitness = gym time, when there is a deeper pleasure to be had out of doors. 

Two years ago the balance of my feelings tipped to the negative and I gave up my membership. It was however a mistake and in that time I have lost fitness. For some reason I found it virtually impossible to maintain a strength routine using dumbbells, neither could I stretch regularly. As a result I have lost strength and am too stiff. I also forget about the treadmill. Now I know many people find them dull and don't like them but for me they are a great help with speedwork. I can dial in a pace and force my legs to turn-over quickly, whilst outside I tend to be a bit lazy and just plod along. In the two years since leaving the gym I don't think I have run at any great speed (please remember though that for me speed is a relative term).

 So today was the first day back and as I type this I can feel an allover achiness from pushing weights. I am sure I will be a bit stiff tomorrow but after that all will be good. I might be unfit at the moment but this is the bottom and I am sure I will gradually improve.

P.S. I didn't mention the weather because in the gym it is irrelevant however it is worth noting that the bank holiday weekend ended as it started: cool, grey and damp. So my picture marks this by showing water droplets on leaves.

Juneathon 2012 Day 4 - Stretching the definition of exercise

Juneathon 2012 Day 4 - Stretching the definition of exercise
Walk 2.5 miles, Time 2hrs, Weather - cold for the time of year but at least the rain held off.

This is really stretching things too far! By no reasonable criteria can I call this exercise, but for the sake of the Juneathon game that is how it is being classed. Walking at 1.25 miles per hour is unfeasibly slow.  It would be inexcusable if I wasn't walking around a garden, stopping at every couple of yards to look at plants, check names and discuss what we found interesting.

The bank holiday activity was a visit to the Wisley to look at the plantings and see how things could be done. Although I am not the gardener of the family and cannot look-on with a professional eye I can enjoy the more indefinite pleasures of colour, layout, and atmosphere, and pick out plants I find pleasing.

On the whole my favourite gardens are places of contemplation (where the walking pace would, in total, be even slower) but Wisley has so much variety it keeps you moving on.  On a cold day, such as today, that is probably for the best and greenhouses become particularly attractive.

The picture of the greenhouse shows something of the variable weather. Behind me there were patches of blue sky and shafts of sunlight, in front  the dark clouds were gathering. For a few moments everything looked dramatic and then the sun went in and all was grey.

Juneathon 2012 Day 3 - Damp and Quiet

Juneathon 2012 Day 3 - Damp and Quiet
Walk 4.5 miles, Time 1hr 30min, Weather waves of damp

Sunday and not a sole is on the allotments. Perhaps everyone has a street party, or have gone to the Thames to watch the flotilla, or have just been put off by the damp. There is no way to tell. All you can say for certain is that the day is grey, slightly windy, slightly cold, and damp in a way that seeps into you. Not the weather for festivities and gatherings. Along my walk I looked for signs of people coming together - but there was nothing.

All was quiet and peaceful, as was my mood as I pootled along. This is hardly exercise, this is sauntering.  I am not sure whether it has any virtue but it is all I feel like doing. We will see if it is a waste of time or whether a little activity, repeated each day can make a difference. A whole month is probably the length of time needed for the test.

Juneathon 2012 Day 2 - Minor Conflict

Juneathon 2012 Day 2 - Minor Conflict
Walk - 7.9 miles, Time - 2hrs 40min, Weather - drizzle damp then grey

We moved to one side to let the cyclists through: a young boy, about 10, closely followed by his father. Ahead was a man with a dog. The dog, as dogs often do, moved unpredictably and the boy applied his breaks so forcibly he shot off the saddle and planted both feet on the ground. "Shit". Behind him the father tried to avoid crashing into the rear wheel, wrenched his handlebars violently and toppled over. "Language!" he chided the boy, as he fell. I was impressed that he tried to maintain standards in such circumstances but then things went downhill as the two men squared up:

"Can't you keep it on a lead?. Keep it under control?!"
"Why is it always the dog? Why blame the dog? You go too fast! You should slow down! Pay attention to other people! Oh no you have to go fast!"
Etc etc.

Meanwhile the boy was being mature, trying to move away and end the slightly uncomfortable incident: "It was an accident. Look sometime things just happen". He was right: it was one of those things. The father was too close to his back wheel but at the same time dogs not on a leash can be a menace on the footpath. Things sometimes happen.

It had all started so differently. Our start wasn't too early, 9 0'clock is hardly the crack of dawn,  but the canal path was empty and somehow it felt as if the world hadn't woken. Perhaps it was the damp, light drizzle that put people off and made everything feel peaceful; perhaps it was the bank holiday weekend and other people had better things to do. Who cares. The conditions were perfect for a walk where attention could flick between interior dialogue and staring intently at the wildlife, whether it be the flash of a kingfisher, swans gliding by, or counting the snails enjoying the damp.  It was a gentle and enjoyable walk.

But a couple of hours later as we came back into to Berkhamsted where there were now knots of people and the problems of conflicting needs in a restricted space.

Juneathon 2012 Day 1. Limited Expectations

Juneathon 2012 Day 1.  Limited Expectations
Cycling - 16.4 miles, Time - 1hr 15min. Weather - hazily overcast, warmish.

So Juneathon is here again and somehow I must attempt to exercise everyday and then write about it - for a month. Ho hum, this year it might be difficult.

The reason is simple: I am woefully unfit and out of shape (sadly these distinct concepts both apply). Since March I have not felt right and any exercise has been a struggle - so I have done little. That, however,  is boring and I am tired of being feeble. So doing something everyday is an attempt to shock myself back into action.

Actually it will not be too much of a shock as I don't plan on anything ambitious - a little everyday is my only aim. All I want is to find at the end some basic level of fitness, so that I can think of running again with pleasure (at the moment it just feels like a slog).  Walking, cycling and gym work will be the main activities and the motto will be: just keep going.

Today showed how far there is to go. A cycle to St Albans, long break, and then back should not have felt so hard and my heart rate should not have been so high. Though as this is the beginning I am not depressed. It is only a marker. I will now, in a detached way, observe how I get on and note any changes.

Today's photo is taken from near one of the entrances to Verulamium Park. I just thought the abundance of wild flowers looked rather pretty. I rather like municipal parks where they don't try to tidy up every corner

A Lyrical Pause

Yes, I remember Adlestrop --
The name, because one afternoon
Of heat the express-train drew up there
Unwontedly. It was late June.

The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.
No one left and no one came
On the bare platform. What I saw
Was Adlestrop -- only the name

And willows, willow-herb, and grass,
And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,
No whit less still and lonely fair
Than the high cloudlets in the sky.

And for that minute a blackbird sang
Close by, and round him, mistier,
Farther and farther, all the birds
Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

This poem by Edward Thomas, written just before the start of the First World War, is extremely well known and may even be one of the nation's favourites (not that I have any finger on the pulse of the nation's taste in poetry). Sometimes it has been used as an exercise in nostalgia: of steam trains, the peace of the countryside and the golden summer before war ripped the european world apart, but that is conflating the time of its composition with its meaning. I like it instead for its timelessness: not being about any era but instead describing those caught moments that I am sure have affected everyone throughout history - those moments when things pause and you are suddenly more aware of your surroundings.

These sort of moments that give me more pleasure than almost all others but they can not be anticipated or planned for. They happen unexpectedly through cracks and cannot be deliberately sought. For me though, running increases the chances of them coming. One of the habits of my pottering long runs along the canal is to stop at the furthest point,  sit on the arm of the lock gate, take a drink and look around. At such times a sense of peace can wash over me. Not always but sometimes. I know I am lucky in the beauty of my surroundings and it is more difficult to imagine such moments on streets of undistinguished housing. But it is not impossible. Anywhere at any time we can see things more clearly.

For one fleeting moment.

The Tarahumara and a Lost Opportunity

Tarahumara Runners. Souce Norawas de Raramuri

The next day we played a very fierce game of volleyball with the nuns, really serious, they almost killed us. I've played volleyball but this was like all their sexual aggression coming out.

I picture the nuns in full garb jumping, smashing and aggressively intimidating their opponents puts a smile on my face. Maybe I am remembering the leaping nuns of the order of St Beryl but nevertheless the image deserves a place in my collection of sporting descriptions.

The quote is from the photographer David Montgomery who accompanied Norman Lewis on a journey to Mexico to write about the Huichol tribe and comes from the biography Norman Lewis by Julian Evans. Norman Lewis was one of the great travel writers of the Twentieth Century whose subjects included the Mafia in Sicily and the the VietCong as well as the tribal societies of South America.

One of the tantalising what-ifs of our knowledge of Mexican Indians is that in the 1970s he heard about a tribe who ran up mountains and wanted to make contact. Unfortunately because it was a serendipitous idea and he did not have enough time to wait, he never found them. I assume this tribe were the Tarahumara, recently made famous in Christopher McDougal's book Born to Run.

Over the past couple of years Born to Run has been a best seller and a phenomenon in the running world, given huge impetus to the barefoot running movement. One would therefore assume that Norman Lewis's failure to meet-up the tribe was unimportant because Christopher McDougal has now done the job. But I do not feel that; I regret the lost opportunity.

The reason is mainly one of style and sharpness of perception, i.e. the core of the writers craft. Although I am interested in the subject of 'Born to Run' I have not finished it as I could not get past its hyperbolic style and the desperate straining for similes. An example: early on he described watching a video of his own running -

"In my mind's eye, I'm light and quick as a Navajo on the hunt. the guy on the screen, however, was a Frankenstein's monster trying to tango. I was bobbing around so much my head was disappearing from the top of the frame. My arms were slashing back and forth like an ump calling a player safe at the plate, whist my size 13s clumped down so heavily it sounded like the video had a bongo backbeat."

I read it and thought "No! You may not have been elegant but you were not at all like that". The odd bit of overindulgence I can accept and might even enjoy but in this book every paragraph was the same and all the time I was pushing against it.

Towards the end of his career Norman Lewis worried about the "attentioncalling" style of the new generation of travel writers represented by Paul Theroux. I don't know what he would think now, now that the general level of volume has been cranked up to 11.

Norman Lewis's prose was not simple but his style was modest and underplayed, as if it had faith in the extra ordinariness of what he was describing. I wish Christopher McDougall had had the same faith. The Tarahumara are certainly a extraordinary tribe.

I need to put my squeamishness aside and finish the book. However I can still regret that story was not written by  Norman Lewis 30 years ago.

What We Can See

"It is overcast this afternoon  and there is a fine, misty drizzle that feels fresh on my face. The still air amplifies the sound of water dripping on maple leaves. The leaves are still bright green, but will transform into a kaleidoscope of yellow, orange, red, salmon and purple in another week or two. The goldenrods along the dirt road are just starting to fade, and several species of wild aster are beginning to flower instead. I note the splashes of their lavender, purple, and blue flowers. There are usually bumble bees in these flowers, but today these cold-hardy bees remain torpid in their underground nests deep in the woods.
Watching a large orange and black monarch butterfly feeding at an aster, I wonder how much sugar it is getting from the nectar to fuel on this stop on its migration from Canada to Mexico. The butterflies like human ultramarathoners need regular refuelling stations. While it is warm and sunny, during the last couple of weeks, I've seen the monarchs floating by on lazy, soaring wing beats. These individuals are at least the third generation of those that left Central Mexico last spring to come north to breed. All of hem are now journeying to their communal wintering area in the cool mountains near Mexico City from where their ancestors had come. There they conserve their energy reserves through winter by literally putting themselves in refrigeration that slows their metabolic fires."

The extract is from the opening of a book called 'Why We Run' by Bernd Heinrich and describes the start of a run after a sedentary day. I quote it out of envy.

I wish I was a naturalist who could get all the juice from what I see: know the exact stages of the wildflowers and what they were, see passing animals and know their life cycle. But I am not. My eye for identification is pathetic and I have to rely on my wife to tell me which flower is which. She is not there on most of my runs. 

I do however have certain birds and animals that give me pleasure when I see them. Foremost amongst these are herons. They always lifts my spirits. I don't know why: probably something to do with the ungainly, boney shape that almost looks two dimensional. I doesn't matter. I know I like them and luckily they are a fairly common sight by the canal.

I saw this one yesterday. I was not running - but never mind; that is a mere detail.

Ferrets, Running Ancestors, and Philosophical Assumptions

Yesterday I wrote about an article showing that ferrets do no produce endocannabinoids when they run and gently mocked the triviality of the finding. Although I posted it, I was not too happy with the quality of my work: it was slightly too heavy handed to let the absurdity speak for itself but not earnest enough to engage with all that irritated.  But I left it because  I am interested in any evidence about how we evolved as runners even if comparisons with the brain function of a small furry creature with little legs can't take us very far.

The reason I like reading about our running ancestors comes from when I first encountered the idea that we were more efficient than many other species over long distances. It was one of those little light bulb moments that made me think more clearly about our nature of animals. Until then I had tended to think we were a bit rubbish: others species were faster, had sharper teeth or claws and were more ferocious or stronger. In a fair fight we would lose but we could over-compensate with the use of cunning and tools.

Finding that ancestors were capable of chasing a gazelle all day until it became immobile was a revelation that made me realise that we were a big beast with physical capabilities to compete. Learning that before the development of spears we used to catch and then strangle the prey was even more astounding. It was clear we are nothing more or less than another species of animal with and evolutionary niche and its own adaptations.

This might not sound like a very unusual insight  (surely everyone knows that!) but it had to combat many teachings I had absorbed from childhood, all based on the underlying assumption of human exceptionalism. Humans were civilised, humans had language, humans had intelligence, humans were distinct from the rest of creation. All of these ideas were part of the ideology I imbued. To this was allied its natural partner the philosophy of dualism, which saw the mind and soul as separate from the body, so that the body's role was that of a vessel. 

It's funny how we have these ideas buried so deeply within us that we hardly notice. When something comes against them we tend to reject it without knowing quite why. That we could have been magnificent animals was such a challenge. That our bodies and mind are indivisible was another. But accept them I did. However once I had done that there was a corollary, a glimmer of a hope that I might have the potential to be a better animal than I thought I was. 

I am no longer convinced about the corollary (I am too far gone) but running is a way of working through these ideas.

Of Ferrets and Humans

Source of photo http://es.123rf.com/

It’s also a bit difficult to draw conclusions based on comparisons between people and ferrets. “Ferrets are weird,” 

I think this deserves a place in in my storehouse of absurdist quotes.

It comes from a NYT article based on some research, which wanted to test whether the production of endocannabinoids evolved as a reward in species (like our own) who ran for long distances. To do this it tested humans, dogs, and ferrets on a treadmill and found that dogs and humans produced endocannabinoids but ferrets didn't. Fine as far as it goes but unfortunately it only goes that far.

It does nothing to support a hypothesis that endocannabinoids are a reward that encourages humans and other cursorial species to run. It really doesn't. The idea that the ferret choose not to run because they didn't get any pleasure from it is vaguely cartoonish  " No" Mr Ferret said with a great big yawn "You fellows go along and play outside if you really want to but I just think I will settle down for a nice long sleep in my hole. I really don't see the attraction in sunlight and fresh air and all that activity."  And I don't think early humans, many thousands of years ago, had a strokey beard moment and say to themselves "You know what I think we should all run a long way to get our food. That is what we should do. Motion carried?"

Species found ways to survive. If what they did worked they continued to do it and prospered, if not they either evolved some other pattern or they became extinct. The more they did something the more they became adapted to that task and developed helpful mechanisms. My guess (and it is only a guess as I am no evolutionary biologist) is that the production of endocannabinoids helps you to keep going, in the same way that sweating, by maintaining an constant body temperature, allows humans to run for long distances. I don't think of sweating as a reward. 

I am sure that finding food was the necessity that outweighed any other. You didn't have to have a a pleasure reward to get you out there. The prospect of food was enough. But it is interesting that humans did change and develop another pattern of behaviour, even though the old way was still viable. We became farmers and city dwellers and having to forego some endocannabinoids did not seem to be much of a barrier to that change. So obviously their reward could not have been that big an inducement.

Bah! The article is silly. 

Food Rather Than Fuel

I would guess that bananas is one of the most common foods for runners.They are just so handy to eat at either the beginning or end of a run. At the beginning they are easy on the stomach don't cause the problems of some other foods and at the end they are just the most convenient way of replacing some carbs. 

I eat them a lot and don't really think about it. They are just there (today I might be down to the last one in the bowl but tomorrow that will change). I obviously don't eat them with enough attention: they are pleasant, I enjoy them, I probably eat them too quickly. That is all

Yesterday I went to see a production of Krapp's Last Tape, which opens with the old man (Krapp) rummaging around in a desk drawer and pulling out a banana. He then proceeds to unpeel and then eat it with obvious delight as if it is the most delicious thing in the world.  Through only his expressions the actor shows you the deep pleasure the man feels and it made me think about how I take the same fruit for granted. 

The play was written in 1958, when war, rationing, and the absence of any bananas was still fresh in the mind. The fruit still had a special place. Now it is the most popular fruit in the country and a key product for the supermarkets. Nevertheless I should still take care to savour them. I should not think of them as fuel, which is a danger for anything linked too closely to running.

I always avoid nutritional advice in the running press. I depresses me no end as it talks of things being a source of this or that nutrient, which is beneficial for this or that reason. It talks about fuel and refuelling. It incorporates a hell of a lot of pseudo science. It has nothing to do with pleasure and culture.

A proper running blog will tell you a banana is a good source of potassium and vitamin B6, that also contains fibre and is low in fat. This blog however prefers to remind you of the opening of Krapp's last Tape and how they can be eaten with deep pleasure.

Food is far too important to be put into the hands of nutritionists as it is about far more than keeping you alive (although that is obviously very important). It should be explored, appreciated and be allowed to stimulate the senses. If you do that and eat real food, mostly vegetables, then health and everything else will take care of itself. That is all I know and all I care to know.

P.S. One of my favourite banana stories comes from an article in the Observer:

"When transatlantic shipping re-commenced at the end of the war, the return of the banana was hailed as heralding an end to austerity and to the curse of the ration book. The Labour government even instigated a national banana day in 1946. Every child should have a banana that day, it was decreed - sometimes with unfortunate results, as the writer Auberon Waugh recalled. He and two of his sisters received their quota of three precious bananas, an exotic fruit whose deliciousness they had heard of but never experienced.'They were put on my father's plate, and before the anguished eyes of his children he poured on cream, which was almost unprocurable, and sugar, which was heavily rationed, and ate all three,' Waugh wrote. 'From that moment, I never treated anything he had to say on faith or morals very seriously.'"

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.

An Absence Explained

It has been a very long time since I wrote anything - so I had better explain:

Holidays are bad for your health!

At the end of February I had a short break in Mallorca, to gather a few rays of sunshine and so lighten a dreary English winter. It worked perfectly: the sky was blue, the sea was clear and the mountains were beautiful. All was good. Unfortunately as soon as I came back I started coughing, my chest felt heavy and I felt as if I was breathing through a blanket. Not good. Even worse the infection dragged on and on for weeks. Even when the cough went I was left feeling week and feeble.

For two months I have not only not run I have not done anything apart from get through each day. The thought of writing about running felt like a cruel joke - so I didn't.

But now things are looking up. I have run for 30min (quite slowly it must be admitted) and think things will soon get back to normal - which, of course, includes blogging

P.S. The picture is of the studio of Joan Miro, who lived and worked in Mallorca in his later years. I have posted it, not only because I think it is rather fine, but because it was built at the same time (1955) as the New Town of Hemel Hempstead was being developed. None of our buildings from the period look anywhere near as stylish (we specialised in a rather earnest plainness) . I know, I know - the quality of the light makes an enormous difference and a one-off building designed by an architect for his friend is bound to be more distinctive than town development in Hertfordshire but even so ...