tuesday 1 – lazy day due to being tired from staying up late to see Germany see off Algeria 2v1 in the world cup. All goals were in extra time; classic interview with Per Mertesacker when the reporter just flips him over the edge. Went round to trendoptic at am harras to pay for the contact lenses which Eve is starting out with. Picked up the SIM card from o2 shop for her iPhone on friday, then the Mcdonalds to pick up the usual Tuesday tea, going past the Eiscafe Riviera where the staff had Argentinian flags painted on, since Argentina were playing Switzerland later.
thursday 3 – reading Der Spiegel from 30.06.14 about movement being a necessity in preventing joint problems, particularly in the knee, so the main facts I absorbed according to this article:
running exerts 4x the bodyweight on the knee joint due to the forces involved (ie. for every kg of weight “lost”, the effect on the knee joint when running is 4x as great);
when we stumble/trip, then this force can rise to 7x which leads to joint pain and tears as I found in fiascos (my name for Tescos) in February.
Whilst muscle can be trained/strengthened and bone can be thickened, the cartilage is not supplied with blood so as far as we know, it does not repair itself or regenerate.
Cartilage is made up of 70% water, 25% collagen fibres and proteins, 5% cells – there is a theory that exercise might just stimulate these cells to repair things which are worn (this wear is known as “Verschleiß” in german and the doctor used it for my left knee).
There was also a statement that the injection from “lubricants” like synvisc may not really help. With running it is strongly recommended to run on softer ground where possible, sand, grass etc and not concrete, asphalt etc
Exercise is generally good for regenerating/activating the fluids around the joints, synovial fluids. there is the story of the extreme sportsman Beat Knechtle, 50 years old, who has been running 10km every day and reports little damage to knees and joints.
Above kind of all confirms to me, the importance of building back up the running slowly, perhaps following back to a natural method to strengthen the muscles first.
Pete also sent me a link to a similar story in the Daily Mail.
Here the comment was these injections can do some good, it’s difficult to predict, but when they do, they are really effective; even delaying or preventing joint replacement, which costs thousands instead of hundreds of pounds. Went on bike to swimming with stefan, not really so fit at first, got better from endurance perspective as the session progressed and then was ok going steadily length after length, but it’s clear that the endurance will need time to be built back up.
Went to bed and had quite a bit of pain in the left leg in the morning.
Had noticed that my weight was now around 70kg not nearer 75kg as before, corresponding to BMIs 21 – 22.5
friday 4 – Eve’s big day, opens cards and a few presents at breakfast, then we go to Westend Café in the evening as she wanted to take everyone bowling. Sit at the bar watching Germany beat France 1v0 in their quarter final. Katie and Sabs arrive and we go down to the Kegelbahn to celebrate together.
saturday 5 – replaced the other capacitor in the yamaha a-520 amplifier, which am trying to repair, still no good, nothing from left hand channel.
Had lazy day watching the Tour de France from Leeds to Harrogate
sunday 6 – lazing around in the afternoon watching the Tour de France covering York to Sheffield
monday 7 – just thinking about my comment on facebook:
“Well done Yorkshire hosting le Grand Depart of TdF!
Time for a well-deserved cuppa, watch out for stragglers on the way to work …”
“victory loves preparation” .. quote from a film
thursday 10 – went swim training, coach is raising the distance covered, which is typically now, 1500m in one stretch, which I’m nowhere near doing just yet.
sunday 13 – karlsfeld triathlon, with slower times due to knee recovery:
Schwimmen 0:10:59
Wechsel, T1 0:03:53
Radfahren 0:53:50
Wechsel, T2 0:03:25
Laufen 0:30:40
Total 1:42:49
How to improve times on the bike.
World cup final in the evening of course, Germany beat Argentina with a goal 7 minutes from the end of extra time.
Read about these brothers from Stuttgart who must have had the year of their lives, their road2rio.
friday 18 – Dan gave me some interesting notes from an article by peter drucker in harvard business review from 2004:
People who excel at their work are not necessarily happy in their jobs the job must match person’s “deeply embedded life interests”.
Most people are only dimly aware of what their “embedded life interests” are.
They’re usually just doing “what they’re good at”.
Don’t hand off “career development” to HR!
Listen carefully to what you like and dislike about your job, should go in the “feedback” portion of performance reviews.
Write up your own personal view of career satisfaction, the kind of work you love, favourite job activities, etc…
There are eight categories that all people fall into (some can belong to two or even three), about what gives career satisfaction:
1. application of technology
2. quantitative analysis
3. theory development and conceptual thinking
4. creative production
5. counseling and mentoring
6. managing people and relationships
7. enterprise control
8. influence through language and ideas
Listening to an interview with Daniel Walton, an engineer at work, his tips for innovation and success:
capture ideas, options, requirements and being creative;
distill the ideas down and refine;
make a decision and stop further discussions or pro-crastination;
EXECUTE – which is the most fundamental part of the process.
saturday 19 – Peacechurch sports day in Westpark, teams were:
Phil – Red Team
Becky – Blue Team
Emily – Yellow Team
Julian – Green Team
Games consisted of
Egg and Spoon
Walking on supports
Sack race
Racing with ball between heads
3 legged race
Wheelbarrow race
Piggy Back race
Running relay with Baton
Tug of War
sunday 20 – some wise words from the teachers at the Abschlussfeier
Frau Marxen about the responsibility which they have to go into the world with all its paradoxes and make a positive difference. Also one form teacher quoted Goethe: “when children are small we need to give them roots, when they are older, to give them wings”
monday 21 – How to measure your environmental impact.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did.
So throw off the bowlines, Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Mark Twain
tuesday 22 – went to mcdos for tea and then made a fruit yoghurt which eve and i made, based on johanisbeere
thursday 24 – good swim, felt strong for a couple of the 4x 500m we did, there again I only did 2x 500m crawl, but it is coming along I can feel it
friday 25 – go for run and notice a couple of interesting links and quote:
kino-mond-sterne.de
circus-leopoldini.de
“Geld ist nicht da, um Geld zu vermehren.
Geld ist da, um ideen zu verwirklichen”
actually it was a slogan from GLS bank.
Went to tollwood with Eve and Ilda to the Birdy concert, my observations:
Birdy played mainly on the left on the piano, just in front of where Eve and Ilda had squeezed in.
The band consisted of a guitarist who also played bass and held the ryhthm and timing tight, a female on backing vocals and keyboard/guitar, a drummer and a wonderful cellist in the middle of the group, who was able to make it sound so varied and full, at one time it even sounded like bagpipes to me.
Birdy also played guitar at times and a keyboard, there was a wonderful triptych of her favorite sounds, ending on “People”.
All in all she played for about 90 mins, excellent concert, glad i went along with (well they didnt get let in without an adult, so i had to!)
I’d had a nice curry and a bio paulaner beer sat on a deckchair just enjoying the evening and not wanting to cramp their style, by the time i got back i was further back from the middle.
sunday 27 – Eve’s Sommerkonzert where she plays a solo and then first violin in the orchester, which also has Frau Gill playing second violin!
wednesday 30 – went swimming and saw nicole as i was finishing off my 1000m which consisted of:
300m – warm-up incl 100m legs and snorkel
400m – free
200m – free
100m – wind down
maybe, a better approach might be to build it up along the lines of reps as follows and go simply straight in with:
3x 200m – very slow and getting a bit faster
1x 300m – reasonable pace
3x 200m – medium pace and getting slower
100m – alternative stroke
and rest, say 1 minute between each rep
this can be then nicely adapted as the central portion expands with better fitness: 400m, 500m etc.
saw an interesting motivational TLA, Katie is also getting into these “fear-free” life approaches at the moment, guess that was what struck a chord:
F.E.A.R – Face Everything And Respond (actually Rise, as in up to the challenge)
Read some interesting quotes later at work, from interview with Woody Sessoms:
What is the best advice you were ever given?
My dad told me to never let my ego get in the way of success.
He also told me to stay focused on the team and the company, and let the other things take care of themselves.
Who do you most admire and why?
My father. He was a WWII veteran who personified “The Greatest Generation”.
He was a selfless man who dedicated himself to others.
What do you keep in your office for inspiration?
My “THINK” plaque from my days at IBM. It reminds me to carve out time to think, not just to “do”.
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