Here's my January summary:
(make yours at Train > Summary & Analysis > Monthly Summary)
The mileage is good - 87 - another step up from December's 62, and November's 46 as I've got back to it after the calf problem at the start of November.
The impact of owning a HRM has been interesting. It's a great reminder not to stray into that grey area between the two "efficiently useful" paces. For me, that means a drop in the amount of miles I do between 8 and 9 mins/mile. I did 77% of my running in the easy blue and grey zones, compared to 54% in December. The result of that, I hope, is that my fat-burning whossnames have at least started taking notes.
I managed two double-digit long runs this month - a 10 miler on the 10th, and I'm sitting here still sweaty from an 11 miler this morning. Different conditions I guess, but today's run was 9:26/mi at an average HR of 137bpm, whilst the run earlier this month was 9:27/mi at an average 141bpm. Seeing how fast you can go whilst staying under a HR threshold is a great way of challenging yourself without compromising your training.
It also looks like my cadence has dropped, from 173 in December to 167 in January. I wondered if this might be down to a difference in the way that my old watch calculated it. But my first run with the new watch (where I didn't try to do anything differently) also had the higher cadence. The cadence graphs here: fetcheveryone.com/training-analysis-cadence.php suggest that my stride length has got slightly longer, which means that by 2025 I should be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound
All this low intestine-y training means I've got very little orange and red to show. Just 2.6 miles at quicker than 8:30/mi, and only 0.4 miles quicker than 8:00/mi. I think most of this has been sprinting past people who insist on walking down the middle of the path, or walking hand in hand with a loved one whilst staying two metres apart from each other. Gits
No alcohol! No crisps. Only the sweet treats mentioned in an earlier blog. Still 13 hours to go, but it's been ok. I'll have to wait 'til tomorrow to do a weigh in, but I think any weight loss may have been offset with me being extra hungry at meal times. But that's ok - I think it's been a healthier month, all in all.
Back to Katie this evening, after some time with the boy. I've been instructed to administer many hugs, which I will, once I've given her all my hugs.
See ya Fetchies.
(make yours at Train > Summary & Analysis > Monthly Summary)
The mileage is good - 87 - another step up from December's 62, and November's 46 as I've got back to it after the calf problem at the start of November.
The impact of owning a HRM has been interesting. It's a great reminder not to stray into that grey area between the two "efficiently useful" paces. For me, that means a drop in the amount of miles I do between 8 and 9 mins/mile. I did 77% of my running in the easy blue and grey zones, compared to 54% in December. The result of that, I hope, is that my fat-burning whossnames have at least started taking notes.
I managed two double-digit long runs this month - a 10 miler on the 10th, and I'm sitting here still sweaty from an 11 miler this morning. Different conditions I guess, but today's run was 9:26/mi at an average HR of 137bpm, whilst the run earlier this month was 9:27/mi at an average 141bpm. Seeing how fast you can go whilst staying under a HR threshold is a great way of challenging yourself without compromising your training.
It also looks like my cadence has dropped, from 173 in December to 167 in January. I wondered if this might be down to a difference in the way that my old watch calculated it. But my first run with the new watch (where I didn't try to do anything differently) also had the higher cadence. The cadence graphs here: fetcheveryone.com/training-analysis-cadence.php suggest that my stride length has got slightly longer, which means that by 2025 I should be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound
All this low intestine-y training means I've got very little orange and red to show. Just 2.6 miles at quicker than 8:30/mi, and only 0.4 miles quicker than 8:00/mi. I think most of this has been sprinting past people who insist on walking down the middle of the path, or walking hand in hand with a loved one whilst staying two metres apart from each other. Gits
No alcohol! No crisps. Only the sweet treats mentioned in an earlier blog. Still 13 hours to go, but it's been ok. I'll have to wait 'til tomorrow to do a weigh in, but I think any weight loss may have been offset with me being extra hungry at meal times. But that's ok - I think it's been a healthier month, all in all.
Back to Katie this evening, after some time with the boy. I've been instructed to administer many hugs, which I will, once I've given her all my hugs.
See ya Fetchies.
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Back on 17th Jan, I blogged about the increasing proportion of users who access the site via mobiles and tablets: fetcheveryone.com/blog/3/2021/1#blog415936
I asked if anyone was interested in helping me find mobile site issues - and quite a few of you put your hands up. Thank you
As a starting point, I've created an email address where you can send your screenshots:
mobile@... you know the rest - if I type it, it'll get scraped and I'll get spam.
Anyone is welcome to send a screenshot, but if you do, please can you supply the following information (cut and paste this list if that makes it easier):
Username:
[e.g. KatieB]
Device:
[e.g. iPhone 11]
Page orientation:
[portrait
landscape] *please tell me you know that landscape gives you a bit extra detail sometimes!
What were you hoping to do on this page?
[Just a sentence is fine]
What's the problem you are seeing?
[Delete the ones that don't apply]
1) text too small to be read
2) text/numbers in columns wrap onto multiple lines
3) page requires horizontal scrolling i.e. page wider than screen.
4) buttons or links too close together - fiddly to operate
5) important detail missing from mobile version
6) main content too far down (or requires lots of scrolling)
7) functionality seems broken
8) page becomes unresponsive
9) something else
If you can spare ten mins to wander round the site, thank you. I'll review all the screenshots each week, and hopefully correct the most serious problems as quickly as I can. Thanks
--
In Other News
Obscure bug watch. I've had a few WSW players who report that their new home point often ends up going askew, or not picking up *any* markers in their grid. When you pick a point on the map, I ask the mapping software "give me the latitude and longitude please", and it does. BUT... if you zoom right out, so you can see the whole world, and keep dragging it one way or another (like spinning a globe), then the latitude you get reflects the number of times you spun it Normally, latitudes are specified in the range -180 to +180, but if you spun it several times, you can get a latitude of +1000 No wonder the rest of my code got confused. Luckily, it's just a case of subtracting enough 360's until you get back down to a sane value. It's the sort of bug that makes this coder grin
--
Run today was an early one (for me). Alarm for 6.30am, running by 7am. Dark and wet - but just about enough ambient light on the canal path, helped out by the occasional security light from the factory units on the west side. 8 miles. Feeling all virtuous
--
Looking forward to all your ramen blogs
I asked if anyone was interested in helping me find mobile site issues - and quite a few of you put your hands up. Thank you
As a starting point, I've created an email address where you can send your screenshots:
mobile@... you know the rest - if I type it, it'll get scraped and I'll get spam.
Anyone is welcome to send a screenshot, but if you do, please can you supply the following information (cut and paste this list if that makes it easier):
Username:
[e.g. KatieB]
Device:
[e.g. iPhone 11]
Page orientation:
[portrait
landscape] *please tell me you know that landscape gives you a bit extra detail sometimes!
What were you hoping to do on this page?
[Just a sentence is fine]
What's the problem you are seeing?
[Delete the ones that don't apply]
1) text too small to be read
2) text/numbers in columns wrap onto multiple lines
3) page requires horizontal scrolling i.e. page wider than screen.
4) buttons or links too close together - fiddly to operate
5) important detail missing from mobile version
6) main content too far down (or requires lots of scrolling)
7) functionality seems broken
8) page becomes unresponsive
9) something else
If you can spare ten mins to wander round the site, thank you. I'll review all the screenshots each week, and hopefully correct the most serious problems as quickly as I can. Thanks
--
In Other News
Obscure bug watch. I've had a few WSW players who report that their new home point often ends up going askew, or not picking up *any* markers in their grid. When you pick a point on the map, I ask the mapping software "give me the latitude and longitude please", and it does. BUT... if you zoom right out, so you can see the whole world, and keep dragging it one way or another (like spinning a globe), then the latitude you get reflects the number of times you spun it
Normally, latitudes are specified in the range -180 to +180, but if you spun it several times, you can get a latitude of +1000 No wonder the rest of my code got confused. Luckily, it's just a case of subtracting enough 360's until you get back down to a sane value. It's the sort of bug that makes this coder grin --
Run today was an early one (for me). Alarm for 6.30am, running by 7am. Dark and wet - but just about enough ambient light on the canal path, helped out by the occasional security light from the factory units on the west side. 8 miles. Feeling all virtuous
--
Looking forward to all your ramen blogs
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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I might give Ramen a go....I am not very good with my mobile. I fact I hate it. Some considered it a drawback when I was a mobile telecoms software engineerOcelot Spleens .10:31am, 28th Jan 2021
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No ramen blog for me - but I will be trying a new slow cooker fish dish tonight - so that might make an appearance on the blog tomorrowMisterTea10:43am, 28th Jan 2021
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Mr Ness does all the cooking in the Ness household. I’ll pass the recipe on to the head chef. 👨🍳 Next time he does his paella I’ll get the recipe for my blog. It’s delicious! 😜😁Ness11:20am, 28th Jan 2021
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The software I develop at work models satellites orbiting a planet - I have the same issue of subtracting 360's once the satellite's on its second and subsequent orbitsThorntonRunner11:28am, 28th Jan 2021
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No ramen here as I hate fish.Fragile Xmas Ornament2:38pm, 28th Jan 2021
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I’m pretty unforgiving when software isn’t tested properly but I think I’ll let you off for not spinning the globe. 😀Nightjar5:57pm, 28th Jan 2021
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I probably could have sent a load of issues but shortly after my last issue with chess league, I upgraded my phone so might be ok for a couple of yearsSPR6:53pm, 28th Jan 2021
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If I use Fetch on a phone or tablet, I prefer landscape as it's more like when I use it on my laptop.angelrose8:44pm, 28th Jan 2021
As requested, here's how to make salmon ramen for two. The whole process takes about 30 mins.
Ingredients
Two salmon fillets
Big bag of curly kale
Two veg stock cubes
3-4 spring onions
2 discs of plain noodles
3/4tsp chilli flakes (EDIT: that's three quarters, not three or four!!!)
Splash of soy sauce
Splash of sesame oil
Method
1. Go through the kale and pick out all the thick bits of stalk and discard or give to a friend. Put the kale in a microwaveable bowl and cover with a plate.
2. Make 750ml of stock, using boiling water (I just boil the kettle) and two veg stock cubes. Put this in a saucepan, turn on the heat, drop in the noodles and put the lid on. Remember to break them apart when they start to soften.
3. Meanwhile, chop up the spring onions into little chunks, and lob them in a frying pan with the chilli flakes, a little splash of sesame oil, and a splash of soy sauce. You don't need to have the heat on, you just want them waiting ready
4. When the noodles are soft enough to eat, drain the stock into the frying pan. Put a splash of sesame oil on the cooked noodles, and leave them covered in the saucepan to keep warm. I like to shake them up a bit in the saucepan to make sure they all get a little bit of oil.
5. Get the stock to a gentle simmer, then put the salmon fillets in, skin-side down. Be sure not to let the stock get all angry - just a gentle simmer is best.
6. Bung the kale in the microwave for four minutes. WARNING: it will be really hot and steaming! Watch out! This causes most swearing during the entire process.
7. After the salmon has had 5 mins, flip it over in the pan. You should be able to tease the skin off with something flat like a spatula. Ditch the skin or find a use for it.
8. When the salmon is cooked right through, bung kale, noodles and salmon into two serving bowls, along with all the stock. The chilli flakes tend to be last out of the pan, so be careful not to give one person all the flakes
If anyone makes this, you have to share a recipe for me By that, I don't mean a recipe for how to cook me - I mean one I can try. I don't like sweetcorn, peas, mushrooms or legged-seafood (but fingers from fish are fine) I would love to pick up some more recipes - I only have a few.
Ingredients
Two salmon fillets
Big bag of curly kale
Two veg stock cubes
3-4 spring onions
2 discs of plain noodles
3/4tsp chilli flakes (EDIT: that's three quarters, not three or four!!!)
Splash of soy sauce
Splash of sesame oil
Method
1. Go through the kale and pick out all the thick bits of stalk and discard or give to a friend. Put the kale in a microwaveable bowl and cover with a plate.
2. Make 750ml of stock, using boiling water (I just boil the kettle) and two veg stock cubes. Put this in a saucepan, turn on the heat, drop in the noodles and put the lid on. Remember to break them apart when they start to soften.
3. Meanwhile, chop up the spring onions into little chunks, and lob them in a frying pan with the chilli flakes, a little splash of sesame oil, and a splash of soy sauce. You don't need to have the heat on, you just want them waiting ready
4. When the noodles are soft enough to eat, drain the stock into the frying pan. Put a splash of sesame oil on the cooked noodles, and leave them covered in the saucepan to keep warm. I like to shake them up a bit in the saucepan to make sure they all get a little bit of oil.
5. Get the stock to a gentle simmer, then put the salmon fillets in, skin-side down. Be sure not to let the stock get all angry - just a gentle simmer is best.
6. Bung the kale in the microwave for four minutes. WARNING: it will be really hot and steaming! Watch out! This causes most swearing during the entire process.
7. After the salmon has had 5 mins, flip it over in the pan. You should be able to tease the skin off with something flat like a spatula. Ditch the skin or find a use for it.
8. When the salmon is cooked right through, bung kale, noodles and salmon into two serving bowls, along with all the stock. The chilli flakes tend to be last out of the pan, so be careful not to give one person all the flakes
If anyone makes this, you have to share a recipe for me
By that, I don't mean a recipe for how to cook me - I mean one I can try. I don't like sweetcorn, peas, mushrooms or legged-seafood (but fingers from fish are fine) I would love to pick up some more recipes - I only have a few.
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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merry minardi *hic*
1:42pm, 27th Jan 2021
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^^ not a recipe but a use for fish skinmerry minardi *hic* You can thank me later1:43pm, 27th Jan 2021
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If you'd like me to send you our spare fish skins, I could put them in the post to you each Tuesday eveningfetcheveryone1:45pm, 27th Jan 2021
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I'm almost tempted to say yes please and then hang around your post office while you explain what's in the packetmerry minardi *hic*1:46pm, 27th Jan 2021
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Doesn't Stephen have the fish skins? They are a real treat for WandaBaronessBL
. I'm tempted to have a go at this - if you had blogged it yesterday I even had some salmon in the fridge but we had a far less interesting meal with it instead.1:56pm, 27th Jan 2021 -
I'm almost tempted, to imagine you opening a packet of smelly fish skinfetcheveryone1:56pm, 27th Jan 2021
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Stephen is more of a rice fanatic - but he will eat absolutely anything.fetcheveryone1:57pm, 27th Jan 2021
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Trying this out on the wife soonTBR (TheBeardRunner)1:57pm, 27th Jan 2021
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The Fetcheveryone Corporation accepts no responsibility for disgruntled spousesfetcheveryone1:58pm, 27th Jan 2021
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Is Stephen not stood by your side begging for the skin?Rosehip
I shall try the recipe, sounds lovely1:58pm, 27th Jan 2021 -
- BBL beat me to it!Rosehip1:59pm, 27th Jan 2021
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I've edited the ingredients to make sure the amount of chilli flakes is clear.fetcheveryone2:01pm, 27th Jan 2021
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Kale stalk pesto! Blitz them with pumpkin seeds (or other seeds/nuts), garlic, parsley and oil. Haven't tried it but am going to the next time I get kale in our vegbox. (Afraid I won't try your recipe because I'm veggie and I don't like noodles, for some odd reason.)sallykate2:07pm, 27th Jan 2021
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Yummy!LindsD2:17pm, 27th Jan 2021
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I got kale in this week's veg box. I should try this and the kale stalk pesto ^^.GimmeMincepies3:14pm, 27th Jan 2021
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That sounds delicious. Dave doesn’t do fish so might have to try it just D’s for me!phal
Our dogs LOVE fish skin.... super good for them too 👍3:18pm, 27th Jan 2021 -
Totally making this tomorrow_Suze_3:29pm, 27th Jan 2021
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Just another +1 for feeding fish skins to the dog.. When we had collie-Xs there was no way we could make our favourite salmon recipe (etc) without the big eyes and smacking of lips! And I swear their coats were more shiny afterwards.Angus Clydesdale7:20pm, 27th Jan 2021
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Ooh, salmon and noodles 😁 Two of my favourite things in one dish 😁Qwerty10:35pm, 27th Jan 2021
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If the skin is crispy, I’ll eat it. And quite possibly even if it’s not crispy.Fizz :-)10:44am, 28th Jan 2021
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I put the skin out for the birds if I don't eat it.angelrose8:48pm, 28th Jan 2021
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Yum!LindsD7:41pm, 26th Jan 2021
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😍I need Katies marks out of 10 please 😁TBR (TheBeardRunner)7:41pm, 26th Jan 2021
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Just eaten but my mouth is watering anyway 😋Santa Badgey7:47pm, 26th Jan 2021
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Truly you are the salmon ramen shamanMcGoohan7:47pm, 26th Jan 2021
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Looks delicious.Ness7:48pm, 26th Jan 2021
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10/10 from me. Just what I needed.KatieB8:42pm, 26th Jan 2021
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Excellent KatieB. Just need the recipe now please 😁TBR (TheBeardRunner)8:49pm, 26th Jan 2021
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Yum!RichHL9:50pm, 26th Jan 2021
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Gosh that looks good! I'm with TBR can we have the recipe please?BareHeadEm8:47am, 27th Jan 2021
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Recipe definitely required.Elfpint1:15pm, 27th Jan 2021
This is gonna have to be a really quick blog, but I've got something for you to play with:
fetcheveryone.com/beta-training-analysis-heart2.php
It's a little update to the pace vs heart rate graph that I was nurdling around in my blog on Jan 18th.
It lets you tidy up your data - you can:
1) exclude the first X miles of your training runs (because your HR is still coming up)
2) exclude beyond Y miles of your training runs (to help eliminate HR drift)
3) exclude all HR data below and above a given HR.
4) exclude all segments of your runs where your HR varies by more than a given amount (to help eliminate dirty data caused by hills, stops, signal etc).
I've only just added that stuff, so it's probably a bit buggy - but have a play See what sorts of values will help you get a strong correlation.
--
For those of you who aren't interested in that sort of thing, here's a pic of my new Raspberry Pico - I'm going to use it to water Lance (more on him later this week).
--
And if that's still too nerdy, here's a pic of Stephen with his ears at the apex:
Time for me to go and cook dinner. Salmon ramen
fetcheveryone.com/beta-training-analysis-heart2.php
It's a little update to the pace vs heart rate graph that I was nurdling around in my blog on Jan 18th.
It lets you tidy up your data - you can:
1) exclude the first X miles of your training runs (because your HR is still coming up)
2) exclude beyond Y miles of your training runs (to help eliminate HR drift)
3) exclude all HR data below and above a given HR.
4) exclude all segments of your runs where your HR varies by more than a given amount (to help eliminate dirty data caused by hills, stops, signal etc).
I've only just added that stuff, so it's probably a bit buggy - but have a play
See what sorts of values will help you get a strong correlation. --
For those of you who aren't interested in that sort of thing, here's a pic of my new Raspberry Pico - I'm going to use it to water Lance (more on him later this week).
--
And if that's still too nerdy, here's a pic of Stephen with his ears at the apex:
Time for me to go and cook dinner. Salmon ramen
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Go Stephen!chunkyblizzard5:36pm, 26th Jan 2021
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Update with pic of the food later?TBR (TheBeardRunner)5:39pm, 26th Jan 2021
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Fabulous dog pic!LindsD5:41pm, 26th Jan 2021
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Most of the blog went over my head but I love the picture of Stephen!BaronessBL5:42pm, 26th Jan 2021
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I like that the raspberry pi is on square paperBareHeadEm5:45pm, 26th Jan 2021
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Just had a play. Top end was 15 x 100m segments where I ran 7:30 min/mile pace with HR at 163. If only I could glue them all together during one runSigh5:53pm, 26th Jan 2021
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Can’t believe it doesn’t count what it calls a mad pace at sub4mm. It clearly hasn’t seen me when I need to poop mid run.runnerbean6:14pm, 26th Jan 2021
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I see your Stephen and give you Patrick (a friend's dog)merry minardi *hic*6:54pm, 26th Jan 2021
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I am mainly interested in Stephen. Tell your dog I said hiSerendippily7:17pm, 26th Jan 2021
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Great photo of StephenSarahWoo 😍7:51pm, 26th Jan 2021
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Unless I am completely misunderstanding it, I think that your graphulator is malfunctioning in a number of aspects. Firstly, is it just running? Is it just taking the last four weeks? Because I have assuredly not ran 1863 x 100m in the last four weeks, more like a third of that. Even adding running, cycling and walking together, I've not gone that far. Aside from that, other stuff, but until I know what the baseline should be, its not worth commenting on them.Dvorak
Like the pic of Stephen, though8:46pm, 26th Jan 2021 -
Like the HR tool!!larkim12:40pm, 27th Jan 2021
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Just on Dvorak's point though - I can't tie up the data with my data. I applied a distance filter of 15 miles and an ignore of 20, with the SdtDev at 100 and got no graphs back, despite running 17m at the weekend. When I reduced the min distance to 13 miles I got 4 "bins" of 168, 170, 171 and 174bpm and paces of about 7m20 per mile. None of my runs recently seem to display that sort of profile, 7m20 would be marathon pace-ish, and when I've run MP runs recently they've been in 150-160 bracket. Is it using dummy data? Or looking at a period other than the last 4 weeks?larkim1:01pm, 27th Jan 2021
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Jut tried to boil it down more. Found that if I started with 13.2 miles it found 2 segments only, so filtering my training log I can see that I only have 4 runs where I have run between 13.2 and 13.4 miles, and only 4 of those have heart rate data. None of them seem to correspond with having HR at 168 in the run after 13.2miles though. So I'm confused!!larkim1:13pm, 27th Jan 2021
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Yeah, stand down - I think there's a bug. It was a real rush jobfetcheveryone I'll post another blog when I've fixed it.1:14pm, 27th Jan 2021
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Doh, that was providing vital work distractionlarkim1:14pm, 27th Jan 2021
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Well you can carry on if you likefetcheveryone1:15pm, 27th Jan 2021
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I've found the stupid bug. Have another try.fetcheveryone1:35pm, 27th Jan 2021
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Now that looks more like my datalarkim1:38pm, 27th Jan 2021
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Looking much better, thanksDvorak Still some oddities, but that might be down to me run-walking some of my exercise. Is there are filter cutting out any HR values with a first-pass incidence of fewer than five?3:11pm, 27th Jan 2021
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If a HR pot contributes less than 1% to the total figure, it's excluded.fetcheveryone3:17pm, 27th Jan 2021
Back on Jan 14th, I started recording the model numbers of the GPS devices that you lot use. I thought it'd be cool to see which devices were the most popular; plus it's handy to know whether the older devices are still in play, as they tend to be a bit more buggy; and I can put some affiliate links next to each of the popular models, and hopefully generate a few queenheads for the site in the process.
Just over 4000 users later, I've managed to pull together a page that shows you the top 12 models. Not all that surprisingly, they are all Garmin. The nearest non-Garmin to the list is all-the-Suuntos-put-together, with 107 users. COROS has 7. If only they would let me access their API. *sigh*
Where a watch has multiple variants, I have combined them into one. For example, the Forerunner 245 has a music and a non-music version; and the Fenix and Vivoactive come in small and large, and with other features enabled or not.
The Wiggle link is currently a generic one EDIT Fixed now. Where available, it now takes you to the specific product. And for some of the older products, I've linked through to listings that look as though they might disappear as soon as the stock runs out. But the majority of links for more recent stuff should work ok. I've included the year of release next to each watch, which should help.
So here's the list:
fetcheveryone.com/shop-gps.php
It's interesting that a 5yo watch is still doing the business - and it'll be interesting to see whether newer watches can rise up the table as they gain a foothold (or come down in price).
The link is also accessible under the 'Shop' link in the menu. If you get a chance to share it, great - but I am trying not to be the sort of person who asks you to share stuff. You know. That guy. The boy who cried share. Or at least I'm trying save that for super important stuff. So do what you like with it Have a nice day.
Just over 4000 users later, I've managed to pull together a page that shows you the top 12 models. Not all that surprisingly, they are all Garmin. The nearest non-Garmin to the list is all-the-Suuntos-put-together, with 107 users. COROS has 7. If only they would let me access their API. *sigh*
Where a watch has multiple variants, I have combined them into one. For example, the Forerunner 245 has a music and a non-music version; and the Fenix and Vivoactive come in small and large, and with other features enabled or not.
The Wiggle link is currently a generic one EDIT Fixed now. Where available, it now takes you to the specific product. And for some of the older products, I've linked through to listings that look as though they might disappear as soon as the stock runs out. But the majority of links for more recent stuff should work ok. I've included the year of release next to each watch, which should help.
So here's the list:
fetcheveryone.com/shop-gps.php
It's interesting that a 5yo watch is still doing the business - and it'll be interesting to see whether newer watches can rise up the table as they gain a foothold (or come down in price).
The link is also accessible under the 'Shop' link in the menu. If you get a chance to share it, great - but I am trying not to be the sort of person who asks you to share stuff. You know. That guy. The boy who cried share. Or at least I'm trying save that for super important stuff. So do what you like with it
Have a nice day.
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Was pointed at this earlier - just wondered if there was a case to put the "volume" to one side (for affiliation link purposes!) and focus on the newer watches? Most people will probably want to buy the newer ones with some confidence that a few (growing) number of Fetchies are using it, maybe?larkim3:58pm, 25th Jan 2021
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Wow. No surprise Garmin dominate, but I am surprised it is by that much.roberton
Where does the Apple Watch figure? In fact, how would you link it to Fetch? 🤔 I ask because quite a few people I know (not Fetchies) have them and at least run regularly.3:59pm, 25th Jan 2021 -
My Fenix 3 is still going strong. It's on its fourth strap now but Garmin straps are a bit rubbish and wear out after a year or so.RichHL4:09pm, 25th Jan 2021
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@larkim - just showing the latest ones feels like a step too farfetcheveryone The rise and fall of the older models is kind of interesting to watch, hopefully. Plus I found everything from the list on Amazon, so they are all still around, even if the oldest and least popular ones are only showing up as 'renewed'.
@roberton - I think data from the Apple watch goes into their Health app - and the only route to extract it from there is via an app - so that's a bit of a barrier right now. There are a few apps that suck data from Health and spit it to various sites - but I can't see any obvious common ones in the list.4:12pm, 25th Jan 2021 -
Go go go Garmin 235! We are the koolest kidz!McGoohan4:12pm, 25th Jan 2021
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I believe FR230 is no long produced (although their might be stock) and so I'd combine this with the 235 (which is the same watch but just with HR)chunkyblizzard4:37pm, 25th Jan 2021
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This is the kind of added value that I love about you!Angus Clydesdale4:40pm, 25th Jan 2021
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that ^LindsD5:04pm, 25th Jan 2021
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This is pretty cool!Naughty_nickers6:09pm, 25th Jan 2021
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Thanks for this useful info. I have a 235 at the moment but it’s just over four years old and the battery doesn’t seem to hold it’s charge as well. I’m thinking about replacing it.Ness9:47pm, 25th Jan 2021
Pick it, lick it, roll it, flick it. Please tell me I'm not the only person who knows this recipe
This was the point, as we drove back into Bedford, 12 hours after leaving, when the hysteria finally kicked in.
Up at 6 this morning, with creaking eyes. One dog went to see the neighbours, the other to my mother-in-law. Katie heated the soup that she'd made yesterday, and I scraped the ice off the car. The soup went into a big flask, and off we went to the Isle of Wight. Not for a holiday, or a picnic - we were heading down to see Katie's dad.
The M1 and M25 were beautifully deserted, and it looked like we were going to reach the ferry terminal in Portsmouth in record time. Then the snow came, just outside Guildford - first gradually, then with some of the biggest flakes I've seen.
For the next hour, we chugged along the A3 at about 20-25mph, trying not to slide, and wondering whether things would get so bad that we'd have to pull over and live in the car until the spring. Luckily, most of the drivers were equally cautious - only a few dickheads attempting the fast lane.
Eventually, the falling snow became slushier, and the road got a little easier to navigate. By the time we rolled into Portsmouth, there was no sign that it had ever snowed.
After a bit of time with K's dad, we left him to rest, and got out for a cheeky 20 minute walk along the sea front. It was a little chilly, but absolutely gorgeous.
After another bit of visiting time, we headed for home on the 4pm ferry, which included a chance to eat our soup as we queued to board. A hot meal out of nowhere is a magnificent spirit lifter. Also pleased to report that they are doing a better job of encouraging mask wearing on the ferry than on any of our previous trips. A cautious trip back up the motorway(s!), and coffee and walnut cake for dinner.
See you tomorrow
This was the point, as we drove back into Bedford, 12 hours after leaving, when the hysteria finally kicked in.
Up at 6 this morning, with creaking eyes. One dog went to see the neighbours, the other to my mother-in-law. Katie heated the soup that she'd made yesterday, and I scraped the ice off the car. The soup went into a big flask, and off we went to the Isle of Wight. Not for a holiday, or a picnic - we were heading down to see Katie's dad.
The M1 and M25 were beautifully deserted, and it looked like we were going to reach the ferry terminal in Portsmouth in record time. Then the snow came, just outside Guildford - first gradually, then with some of the biggest flakes I've seen.
For the next hour, we chugged along the A3 at about 20-25mph, trying not to slide, and wondering whether things would get so bad that we'd have to pull over and live in the car until the spring. Luckily, most of the drivers were equally cautious - only a few dickheads attempting the fast lane.
Eventually, the falling snow became slushier, and the road got a little easier to navigate. By the time we rolled into Portsmouth, there was no sign that it had ever snowed.
After a bit of time with K's dad, we left him to rest, and got out for a cheeky 20 minute walk along the sea front. It was a little chilly, but absolutely gorgeous.
After another bit of visiting time, we headed for home on the 4pm ferry, which included a chance to eat our soup as we queued to board. A hot meal out of nowhere is a magnificent spirit lifter. Also pleased to report that they are doing a better job of encouraging mask wearing on the ferry than on any of our previous trips. A cautious trip back up the motorway(s!), and coffee and walnut cake for dinner.
See you tomorrow
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Well done. Looks glorious too!3FrenchMs
I'm a bit jealous, not having made it to the island to see Mum since last September.
Looking at the ships waiting to come in... Were you in Sandown/ Shanklin neck of the woods?10:22pm, 24th Jan 2021 -
3M - yes, just near the zoo.fetcheveryone10:26pm, 24th Jan 2021
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Lovely picture - and yes, I know what the first sentence refers to!BaronessBL10:27pm, 24th Jan 2021
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A long day and a lot of travelling. It's good to see you both smiling. (())Festive Flier10:34pm, 24th Jan 2021
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Wasn’t that a Daft Punk ‘B’ side?Jigs10:36pm, 24th Jan 2021
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Well done. That's a tough day. It's a lovely pic. I could have waved. I'm v close to the A3 atm.LindsD10:43pm, 24th Jan 2021
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That was a long day! Cake for dinner sounds perfect xSarahWoo11:01pm, 24th Jan 2021
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I’m hoping your recipe and Katie’s soup recipe are two very different things. I’m glad you made it there and back in one piece.HowFar?12:11am, 25th Jan 2021
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Glad you made it there and back safe xxBareHeadEm6:03am, 25th Jan 2021
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That’s a long & emotional day xx. But I have no idea what the beginning is talking about!merry minardi *hic*6:44am, 25th Jan 2021
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I know it. I also mentioned the same big flakes in by blog. I’m glad you got there and back safely.Diogenes6:52am, 25th Jan 2021
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Glad you had a safe journey xNess7:43am, 25th Jan 2021
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Long day for sure but lovely smiling faces xxCorrah7:49am, 25th Jan 2021
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I won’t tell you the phrase I was supposed to say for the camera...it wasn’t “cheese”.KatieB7:55am, 25th Jan 2021
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Glad you had a successful visit to the IOW.angelrose8:18am, 25th Jan 2021
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Wow - that was a long day in the snow & ice. We did home, A36, M27, M3 to Frimley (in the wedge between the M3, M25 & A3) once and that was enough. In a big car, but no soup.um
Did take sand and a shovel 'in case', but not needed.8:28am, 25th Jan 2021 -
I know that journey well - I grew up just north of Portsmouth. Good idea to take the soup!Pegg8:55am, 25th Jan 2021
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Minger! (the rhyme). Lovely trip. Winter tyres are the answer, by the way. I was in much deeper snow yesterday (and for the last few weeks up here) in a silly car (BMW!) and no sliding at all. You can keep them on all year (increased wear might cost you a bit extra with an earlier change) but complete confidence in winter. Better to swap them, but that means keeping spare wheels (or a garage to swap the tyres - which isn't always possible). Anyhoo, glad you were safe in journey in the end. And that you had a nice dad visit.Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr) G9:08am, 25th Jan 2021
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😀 lovely photo. Good driving. Precious times xxphal10:52am, 25th Jan 2021
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Well done for getting there n back safely , good that you were able to make the trip xxclare197611:49am, 25th Jan 2021
I listen to music quite a bit whilst I work. I am within touching distance of the washing machine and tumble dryer, I share the room with the dogs when they are wet, and if anyone is going in our out, it's where they come to get their shoes. Sometimes the headphones are just nice to keep my ears warm.
A lot of the time, I like electronic stuff - not many lyrics, just beats. It's great for coding - it feels like it helps me focus. The exception is probably albums that I know so well that I'm not really listening to the lyrics. This week I've had an album week, and having just discovered the history button on Apple Music, I've grabbed my favourites from the week - here they are, along with some stand out songs.
World Party - Bang!
(Super talented man - one of the first albums I bought that felt like I'd discovered something)
The B52's - Cosmic Thing
(Lovely throwback to late school days. I love how much joy there is in their music)
The Chemical Brothers - No Geography
(whole album is great, but this is like Chemical Brothers DNA)
Orbital - Orbital 2
All of it Thanks HowFar? for reigniting my interest.
REM - Out Of Time
GCSE years
Radiohead - OK Computer
(aka the night stages of RNR)
Honey Claws - Honey Claws
(I found this via Breaking Bad)
The Prodigy - Experience
MFTJG got me into the Prodigy, but this is currently my favourite album.
The Be Good Tanyas - Chinatown
Beautifully sad. Introduced to me by a colleague from Kentucky in my previous job.
People who liked these, also liked?
A lot of the time, I like electronic stuff - not many lyrics, just beats. It's great for coding - it feels like it helps me focus. The exception is probably albums that I know so well that I'm not really listening to the lyrics. This week I've had an album week, and having just discovered the history button on Apple Music, I've grabbed my favourites from the week - here they are, along with some stand out songs.
World Party - Bang!
(Super talented man - one of the first albums I bought that felt like I'd discovered something)
The B52's - Cosmic Thing
(Lovely throwback to late school days. I love how much joy there is in their music)
The Chemical Brothers - No Geography
(whole album is great, but this is like Chemical Brothers DNA)
Orbital - Orbital 2
All of it
Thanks HowFar? for reigniting my interest. REM - Out Of Time
GCSE years
Radiohead - OK Computer
(aka the night stages of RNR)
Honey Claws - Honey Claws
(I found this via Breaking Bad)
The Prodigy - Experience
MFTJG got me into the Prodigy, but this is currently my favourite album.
The Be Good Tanyas - Chinatown
Beautifully sad. Introduced to me by a colleague from Kentucky in my previous job.
People who liked these, also liked?
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Some fine choices! I also have the World Party album, I also liked the hidden track "Kuwait City" on that album. I saw REM live on the "Green" Tour in '89, and I have all their albums from Murmur up to Accelerate on my phone.Sigh7:06pm, 23rd Jan 2021
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Leftfield - leftismNDWDave
Underworld
Roni Size Reprazent
I love the chemical brothers too7:09pm, 23rd Jan 2021 -
Experience and "the brown album" are two of my favourites.StuH7:17pm, 23rd Jan 2021
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plus what Dave said.StuH7:17pm, 23rd Jan 2021
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I have everything Leftfield have done, plus two Roni Size albumsfetcheveryone7:19pm, 23rd Jan 2021
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Some good stuff thereDiogenes7:19pm, 23rd Jan 2021
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Listened to the B52s and the Be Good Tanyas yesterday, as it happens.Cerrertonia7:59pm, 23rd Jan 2021
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I have the the Be Good Tanyas and The Prodigy Experience. From the former, Hem and Laura Cantrell. From the B52s, at a tangent, Suzanne Ciani? Bit new-agey for me, but friends with the Bs and another strand of the NY starving artists in lofts scene. As is Philip Glass. On the new electronica/classical/music for coders vibe, you maybe have Max Richter/ Olafur Arnalds/Jóhann Jóhannsson/ A Winged Victory For The Sullen already - if not, here's a possible entry point bbc.co.ukDvorak8:21pm, 23rd Jan 2021
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I had never heard of The Be Good Tanyas, but I really liked it. It reminded me a bit of Natalie Merchant and 10,000 Maniacs.HowFar?9:38pm, 23rd Jan 2021
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Groove Armada, and Red snapper used to be favourites of mine too.NDWDave9:46pm, 23rd Jan 2021
Today I've been working on reducing my feedback inbox. I started the day with 34 bits of feedback. A few got sorted straight away e.g. "My run didn't upload yesterday" = "Sorry, here's the info on how to grab it"; "My password isn't working" = "I've reset it for you".
The problem with fixing the easy ones is that the tougher ones get super tough, like mutant cockroaches. I had four that date back to October - and my goal for the day was just to squish those. I don't like ignoring stuff - but also I can't just write it off - so it sits there until I've gathered the necessary gumption.
They were pretty obscure in the end. I was going to regale you with the details, but you’ll have to settle for my favourite John Hegley poem instead. It’s called ‘Love Poem by my dog’:
I saw you in the park
I wanted to be your friend
I tunnelled my snout
up your non-barking end.
The problem with fixing the easy ones is that the tougher ones get super tough, like mutant cockroaches. I had four that date back to October - and my goal for the day was just to squish those. I don't like ignoring stuff - but also I can't just write it off - so it sits there until I've gathered the necessary gumption.
They were pretty obscure in the end. I was going to regale you with the details, but you’ll have to settle for my favourite John Hegley poem instead. It’s called ‘Love Poem by my dog’:
I saw you in the park
I wanted to be your friend
I tunnelled my snout
up your non-barking end.
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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I hope you have cleared your sinuses nowDiogenes10:40pm, 22nd Jan 2021
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C9 has a “tell your dog I said hi” sticker on her computer which I suspect is set copying lifeSerendippily11:25pm, 22nd Jan 2021
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*art*Serendippily11:25pm, 22nd Jan 2021
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Wow. That is an image.Cheg12:36am, 23rd Jan 2021
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Good luck, it'll feel amazing once done 😁BareHeadEm5:53am, 23rd Jan 2021
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That's brilliantCarpathius6:53am, 23rd Jan 2021
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Great poem!chunkyblizzard7:59am, 23rd Jan 2021
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Haha , love the poembigleggy8:47am, 23rd Jan 2021
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I was having breakfast.Ocelot Spleens9:43am, 23rd Jan 2021
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Love that poemmerry minardi *hic*10:24am, 23rd Jan 2021
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Fab poemGimmeMincepies11:47am, 23rd Jan 2021
My run on Tuesday was a bit rubbish, as per my blog from that day.
I set out this morning determined to have a better run. I ditched the long sleeve, and went back to my short sleeve black Fetch t-shirt, which is one of my favourites (the one that looks a bit like the Wales away kit from around that time).
From the start, I concentrated on running relaxed. For me, this starts with the breathing - and more specifically, the breathing out. If I'm going at it, I breathe out for two steps, and in for two. When I am trying to relax, I make an effort to do a longer out breath. There were times during the run where I was breathing out for five steps (and probably in for three). The out breath thing is something that Katie showed me, and it's obviously stuck. It's pretty simple - if you get your lungs nice and empty, the air will come in no matter what. She explained it to me at a time when my asthma was a bit more of a problem than it seems to be at the moment* - and it's been really helpful.
When you're focused on heart rate, the obvious thing that lowers it is to slow down. But today I just tried to imagine that my legs were less tense, that even though the muscles were contracting and relaxing, they were doing it in a calm way. Flow. One repeating motion that feels as simple and natural as a pulse. Fnar. I said pulse.
The lovely universe-connecting bit came when the sun came out. It's been pretty windy here, but it was behind me at just the right time - and the lovely warm glow on my face felt absolutely astounding. I was literally astounded. Grinning. Probably the wrong time of year for vitamin D, but that warmth though. Lovely. Have I got that across?
Yeah, there was some into-the-wind stuff too, and some muttering at people who weren't being courteous on the path. But all in all, I'd like to think that I got the payback today for the shit run on Tuesday. My Garmin (Mr Shiny) agreed. I have been upgraded again from 'Unproductive' to 'Productive', and I've got that lost VO2max point back. The flattery button is smiling too.
Ease it back. Breathe out before you breathe in. You're surfing on the very front of a train called Now, and you are the boss.
--
*I had a blue inhaler from about 2007, and I used to use it religiously before each run - two puffs. I stopped using it about three years ago when I left it in the parkrun director's bag by accident. I currently use it about once or twice a year, usually triggered by hayfever.
I set out this morning determined to have a better run. I ditched the long sleeve, and went back to my short sleeve black Fetch t-shirt, which is one of my favourites (the one that looks a bit like the Wales away kit from around that time).
From the start, I concentrated on running relaxed. For me, this starts with the breathing - and more specifically, the breathing out. If I'm going at it, I breathe out for two steps, and in for two. When I am trying to relax, I make an effort to do a longer out breath. There were times during the run where I was breathing out for five steps (and probably in for three). The out breath thing is something that Katie showed me, and it's obviously stuck. It's pretty simple - if you get your lungs nice and empty, the air will come in no matter what. She explained it to me at a time when my asthma was a bit more of a problem than it seems to be at the moment* - and it's been really helpful.
When you're focused on heart rate, the obvious thing that lowers it is to slow down. But today I just tried to imagine that my legs were less tense, that even though the muscles were contracting and relaxing, they were doing it in a calm way. Flow. One repeating motion that feels as simple and natural as a pulse. Fnar. I said pulse.
The lovely universe-connecting bit came when the sun came out. It's been pretty windy here, but it was behind me at just the right time - and the lovely warm glow on my face felt absolutely astounding. I was literally astounded. Grinning. Probably the wrong time of year for vitamin D, but that warmth though. Lovely. Have I got that across?
Yeah, there was some into-the-wind stuff too, and some muttering at people who weren't being courteous on the path. But all in all, I'd like to think that I got the payback today for the shit run on Tuesday. My Garmin (Mr Shiny) agreed. I have been upgraded again from 'Unproductive' to 'Productive', and I've got that lost VO2max point back. The flattery button is smiling too.
Ease it back. Breathe out before you breathe in. You're surfing on the very front of a train called Now, and you are the boss.
--
*I had a blue inhaler from about 2007, and I used to use it religiously before each run - two puffs. I stopped using it about three years ago when I left it in the parkrun director's bag by accident. I currently use it about once or twice a year, usually triggered by hayfever.
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Yes! Imagined relaxation! That's what I do - imagine I'm good and I'm doing everything right... kinda worksI saw ishep come sailing in6:09pm, 21st Jan 2021
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I tell the boys and girls to relax from the hairline down. Imagine you have jowls and then imagine them slapping as you run. If you feel your shoulders rise, let them drop again. Let your arms swing freely and your legs will move in response. Don't clench your fists. Think light thoughts. Float.RichHL
It's easier to do on a mild, sunny day when you're not fighting wind and rain but if you just let the weather do what it's doing and just think about your next stride and making sure that it's the prettiest, lightest step you can take then things become a lot easier.6:15pm, 21st Jan 2021 -
I love thisLindsD9:06pm, 21st Jan 2021
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That breathing out thing is a classic asthmatic drill. I had asthma all through my childhood but I have largely learnt to tame it by remembering to breathe out and not gasp.Oranj
Swimming helps, because you have to force your breath out against the water (not that there's been much swimming to be had around here lately, and I suspect that's why I've slipped back a bit in my running over the last 12 months).9:10pm, 21st Jan 2021 -
Nice. Love it when the "flow" feeling comes.Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr) G10:20pm, 21st Jan 2021
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Enjoyed thatSerendippily8:20am, 22nd Jan 2021
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Running easy in Z1 or Z2 HR, I have been trying since the start of December to stay in the easy zone, finally at the weekend I managed to keep my 13 mile run under 150 HR, takes a lot of discipline to execute but with perseverance does get there. incidentally it did feel easy and one of my most enjoyable runs for a while. Easy to get caught in the Z3 trap.iaincr
looking forward to short sleeve runs with the sun on my back, only 3 months to wait. your run sounded awesome!9:07am, 22nd Jan 2021 -
Lovely blog, thanks Fetch. Yes I try to focus on the out breath as well.TeeBee8:05am, 23rd Jan 2021
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You rang m'lud?ZenTaoPlurp1:35pm, 25th Jan 2021
I may as well get a daily blog out of it
We upgraded the server operating system overnight, but the last wee beastie is clinging to the hull of the good ship Fetch.
FIT files (basically the majority of training data that Garmin send us) are not being imported at present. I am hoping to solve this pretty soon.
If your training has not come across today, Garmin will resend it to us six hours after the initial attempt. So if you'd be so kind, please be patient, and I will hopefully get things sorted soon.
*bing bong*
UPDATE 9:03am UK TIME
The importing issue has been resolved. There were 515 pieces of training that did not get imported during the problem period. If your training has not arrived in your log by 3pm UK time, please get in touch. If you're keen to see how you did today, you can manually import your training from Garmin - details here: fetcheveryone.com/feedback-faq-garmin.php - but you will still get a duplicate entry when the automatic system resends your data - so you will need to delete that
*bing bong*
UPDATE 9:21am UK TIME
There's a not-unrelated problem with importing from other watches (Suunto, Fitbit etc). I hope to resolve this within the next 10 mins.
UPDATE 9:40am UK TIME
Ok, gimme half an hour
UPDATE 9:57am UK TIME
Importing from other watches (Suunto, Fitbit, Polar etc) should now be back in business. You may need to visit the relevant watch page, in order to import today's training, as these companies do not have a retry failsafe.
We upgraded the server operating system overnight, but the last wee beastie is clinging to the hull of the good ship Fetch.
FIT files (basically the majority of training data that Garmin send us) are not being imported at present. I am hoping to solve this pretty soon.
If your training has not come across today, Garmin will resend it to us six hours after the initial attempt. So if you'd be so kind, please be patient, and I will hopefully get things sorted soon.
*bing bong*
UPDATE 9:03am UK TIME
The importing issue has been resolved. There were 515 pieces of training that did not get imported during the problem period. If your training has not arrived in your log by 3pm UK time, please get in touch. If you're keen to see how you did today, you can manually import your training from Garmin - details here: fetcheveryone.com/feedback-faq-garmin.php - but you will still get a duplicate entry when the automatic system resends your data - so you will need to delete that
*bing bong*
UPDATE 9:21am UK TIME
There's a not-unrelated problem with importing from other watches (Suunto, Fitbit etc). I hope to resolve this within the next 10 mins.
UPDATE 9:40am UK TIME
Ok, gimme half an hour
UPDATE 9:57am UK TIME
Importing from other watches (Suunto, Fitbit, Polar etc) should now be back in business. You may need to visit the relevant watch page, in order to import today's training, as these companies do not have a retry failsafe.
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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well that explains! Thanks boss!EvilPixie8:54am, 21st Jan 2021
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Glad it wasn’t just me then! Thanks for the head up!jelly8:54am, 21st Jan 2021
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Aha! Thank goodness I paid attention to the notifications that led me here before I spent an hour refreshing pages endlesslyPegg8:55am, 21st Jan 2021
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Is there a badge for being patient?Sampson9:12am, 21st Jan 2021
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Yeah, wait there and don't askfetcheveryone9:13am, 21st Jan 2021
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Not sure if it's the same issue - but clicking the Fitbit link on the training page (https://www.fetcheveryone.com/fitbit.php) just brings up the standard header, but the rest of the page is blank. Intended in a "just letting you know in case it's helpful" sense rather than "I demand this be fixed immediately" senseEdJ9:14am, 21st Jan 2021
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^ that would be awesomerichmachristmas Thanks for the heads up fetch and changing the training page to send me here!9:14am, 21st Jan 2021
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@EdJ - thank you, that's my next thing to sort out thenfetcheveryone9:21am, 21st Jan 2021
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that explains it- just added mine manuallyRichard-M thanks for saying - much more transparent than other site when they have a problem.9:25am, 21st Jan 2021
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Ooh, does this mean you can resolve my fetchpoint bug bonus 😁TBR (TheBeardRunner)9:27am, 21st Jan 2021
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Phew. Was beginning to worry I'd dreamt my run 🏃♂️MaT.T9:35am, 21st Jan 2021
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Update - Fitbit, Suunto etc should be working again.fetcheveryone9:58am, 21st Jan 2021
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thanks FetchLindsD10:14am, 21st Jan 2021
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Top work. Ding dong. Err, bing bong I mean.Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr) G10:41am, 21st Jan 2021
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Saw someone in Grassington today fixing the guttering at the old people's home. Had the name "Ian Williams" on the back of his high viz tabard. Couldn't see his face because he had his back to me.Dave W
Was it you?11:57am, 21st Jan 2021 -
Yes. That’s why the site went down - I’ve been focusing too much on my guttering business. Busy time of year for it.fetcheveryone12:06pm, 21st Jan 2021
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Thanks for heads up Mr FetchSpanners9912:10pm, 21st Jan 2021
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Thanks for giving me a justification to delay my run, drinking coffee, looking out of the window waiting for rain to stopNord Rundeer 🦌12:12pm, 21st Jan 2021
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Thanks Lord FetchSouthcoastpete12:30pm, 21st Jan 2021
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Thanks! My watch has stopped talking to my phone so I've been importing my files manually via the cable.Garfield1:24pm, 21st Jan 2021
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My guttering overflows. Can I book you in for tomorrow?um
(no need for you to do anything here, my run loaded fine )2:47pm, 21st Jan 2021 -
This afternoon's walk/run has uploaded, but not this morning's cycle ride. I can feel a feature request coming on.Bright Strider3:07pm, 21st Jan 2021
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my morning run has yet to appear Ian, sorryWindsor Wool3:10pm, 21st Jan 2021
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You may well need to use the manual file grab (link in the blog) for now.fetcheveryone3:17pm, 21st Jan 2021
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That'll be fine. Thanks for the go ahead.Bright Strider3:20pm, 21st Jan 2021
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coolio, thanks!Windsor Wool3:27pm, 21st Jan 2021
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Mine (Garmin - morning treadmill run) hasn't imported yetPegg I've manually added it but you did say to let you know if it hasn't appeared.7:54pm, 21st Jan 2021
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My 7am run hasn't appeared either 😭sheppardmk8:39pm, 21st Jan 2021
When older actors returned to movies to give their character one more run out, it always felt like they were trying to hold back time. They'd be trying to do the same stunts, or to stay relevant to an audience that had moved on a little. But recently, I've noticed more of an acceptance of that aging - and instead the actor just plays an older version of their character, and the whole world that has been created for that movie gets a lot richer in the process.
The obvious ones that spring to mind for me are Luke, Leia and Han - and (with my massive Star Wars bias) I totally loved and enjoyed their more mature editions. More recently, thanks to a free seven day trial of Sky Cinema, we watched the latest Terminator movie - and both Arnie and Linda Hamilton absolutely crushed it (that's not a spoiler, although like in any Terminator film, they usually try crushing it) as their older selves. Older Spock comes back in the recent Star Trek movies (the original franchise of those movies is an excellent example of an attempt to hold back time as the corsets got tighter). Bill and Ted have returned to a world where phone boxes only have defibrillators. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are back being Bad Boys. Harrison Ford is at it again with the announcement of a new Indiana Jones movie.
So I'm just wondering... is this a new trend? Tapping into our nostalgia whilst ensuring that each well-loved story barrel is well and truly scraped clean? Or can you offer up older examples where an actor returns perhaps decades later to reprise the same role? And which well-loved movie would you like to be rebooted starring the same actor(s)? Personally, I'd like to see a new version of Home Alone with a middle-aged Macaulay Culkin.
--
A bit of forum news. The 'About This Thread' box is now truncated if it's more than about 300 pixels high - but there's a 'Show Full Description...' button at the bottom to see the whole thing. The idea behind this is that the stuff below it can get really lost if it's massive. I've had one or two people say "Down with this sort of thing", and so if you really don't like it, go to the forum, and click the settings button, and you can turn 'Always Expand Thread Descriptions' on. Your shout.
Down below the thread description is the stuff I wanted to highlight. Thread descriptions these days tend to have a bunch of links in them. Sometimes these link through to site features, but they can also link to third party sites. I've given these links a separate box called 'Useful Links'. If you're the person who manages a thread, you can insert all your links here, and this will hopefully make the description a bit more succinct.
And below the Useful Links is the new Related Threads box. If you read my blog, you probably know the taggers have been working hard to make this work - and by and large, the threads it's offering up are better than they used to be. That's the hope anyway.
The obvious ones that spring to mind for me are Luke, Leia and Han - and (with my massive Star Wars bias) I totally loved and enjoyed their more mature editions. More recently, thanks to a free seven day trial of Sky Cinema, we watched the latest Terminator movie - and both Arnie and Linda Hamilton absolutely crushed it (that's not a spoiler, although like in any Terminator film, they usually try crushing it) as their older selves. Older Spock comes back in the recent Star Trek movies (the original franchise of those movies is an excellent example of an attempt to hold back time as the corsets got tighter). Bill and Ted have returned to a world where phone boxes only have defibrillators. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence are back being Bad Boys. Harrison Ford is at it again with the announcement of a new Indiana Jones movie.
So I'm just wondering... is this a new trend? Tapping into our nostalgia whilst ensuring that each well-loved story barrel is well and truly scraped clean? Or can you offer up older examples where an actor returns perhaps decades later to reprise the same role? And which well-loved movie would you like to be rebooted starring the same actor(s)? Personally, I'd like to see a new version of Home Alone with a middle-aged Macaulay Culkin.
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A bit of forum news. The 'About This Thread' box is now truncated if it's more than about 300 pixels high - but there's a 'Show Full Description...' button at the bottom to see the whole thing. The idea behind this is that the stuff below it can get really lost if it's massive. I've had one or two people say "Down with this sort of thing", and so if you really don't like it, go to the forum, and click the settings button, and you can turn 'Always Expand Thread Descriptions' on. Your shout.
Down below the thread description is the stuff I wanted to highlight. Thread descriptions these days tend to have a bunch of links in them. Sometimes these link through to site features, but they can also link to third party sites. I've given these links a separate box called 'Useful Links'. If you're the person who manages a thread, you can insert all your links here, and this will hopefully make the description a bit more succinct.
And below the Useful Links is the new Related Threads box. If you read my blog, you probably know the taggers have been working hard to make this work - and by and large, the threads it's offering up are better than they used to be. That's the hope anyway.
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Thanks for the "Always expand" option. I curate a couple of fairly long thread descriptions and it's good to be able to see them in full as the standard view.♪♫ Synge ♪♫10:46pm, 20th Jan 2021
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I'd like to see Sid James in Carry on President.Ocelot Spleens10:48pm, 20th Jan 2021
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Rick Moranis in Honey I educated the kids.Ocelot Spleens10:53pm, 20th Jan 2021
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I love what the taggers have achieved and I love the external links. Thank you and your volunteersSerendippily10:57pm, 20th Jan 2021
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I’m sure there must be older examples than Paul Newman reprising the role of Fast Eddie in The Colour Of Money, 25 years years after The Hustler...but I’m struggling to think of any at the moment.jennyh10:59pm, 20th Jan 2021
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The new Home Alone you wish for, with Kevin 1.0, is actually in the works! I believe it would've been released Christmas 2020, were it not for COVID.Sampson6:12am, 21st Jan 2021
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You want to try Cobra Kai on Netflix. Almost the entire casts of Karate Kid 1,2 and 3 are in it. It's brillbigleggy Wax on , wax off6:58am, 21st Jan 2021
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I'd say Matt Damon in last Jason Bourne was miling it a bit. All the Bonds. No acknowledgement of age or paunch? Except Daniel Craig, some fun references to his ageing. Loads of great improvements. Thanks.Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr) G7:34am, 21st Jan 2021
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Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Zimmer Frame?flanker9:34am, 21st Jan 2021
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I recall Mary Jane Smith being in a new Doctor Who. Good work with threads, Fetch!JCB1:48pm, 21st Jan 2021
It was windy out, and the last few days had been cold, so I wore my thicker long sleeve top today. I regretted it, because I was cooking like a boil in the bag turkey. And although the first few miles were great, when I turned for home, the wind hit me in the face and made the running tougher. Do you ever get that feeling that the wind is disrupting your breathing? That's definitely a thing for me.
It was a bit of a battle, but I got it done. And then my shiny lovely new Garmin knocked a point off my VO2max, and told me my training status was "unproductive". Well frick you, Mr Shiny. All you had to do was sit on my wrist whilst I did all the hard work. Sitting there, being all deterministic, following your programming. Using the electricity that, let's not forget, I damn well fed you in the first place. Maybe it's because you were hidden up my sleeve, and perhaps you didn't notice the wind. Little git. One should be allowed a bonus fitness point if you swear at your watch creatively enough.
In all seriousness, I think it saw my heart rate suddenly quite a bit higher for the same pace, and came to the conclusion that I'd become less fit. I'll be interested to see if my next non-windy, non-too-hot run can convince it otherwise.
It *does* have a flattery button though, which is good for making you feel better. It predicts 5k, 10k, Half Marathon and Marathon times that I'd take right now in a heartbeat. All watches should have a flattery button. Go on, tell me I'm good
It was also weigh-in day today. On NYD, I had crept up to 13st1, which is the heaviest I've been for as long as I can remember. I've been aiming for no alcohol, no crisps and no chocolate. Largely that's been a success - easier to report my failings:
4th Jan
A cube of flapjack forced into my mouth by The Boy. He thought it would be funny. And it was. Probably more for him than me, but heck, I've encouraged him all his life. Do you remember how Inspector Clouseau encouraged his assistant Cato to attack him randomly, to help the inspector stay alert? That. But without the racial stereotyping, thankfully.
5th Jan
One Twirl, for my journey back from seeing The Boy. My time with him puts me in contact with more chocolate, crisps (and alcohol, although I can't blame that or any of it on the boy!). I was pleased that I'd batted out the time without cracking, so I gave myself a reward for the car, safe in the knowledge that I couldn't immediately reach for another one. Those multipack Twirls are tiny (just looked it up - 17 grams!) I remember when I couldn't eat most mainstream chocolate bars sideways.
Aside from that, things have been good. I might have squeezed the golden syrup bottle over my porridge a little harder (not a euphemism) these last few weeks - but I'm pleased to be feeling better about my eating and drinking. If you're looking to stop or at least get control over your alcohol intake, then I ****highly**** recommend the TBOGUA thread. I check in most days, to confirm that I'm planning not to drink any alcohol for that day - and there's always lots of encouragement. Some of that solidarity has helped me with the snacking as well, I am sure. Here's the thread - pop in: fetcheveryone.com/forum/the-benefits-of-giving-up-alcohol-18416/
So (sorry Sharkie) the weigh-in. Here you go, with toenails redacted for those with sensitive stomachs:
That's 5.5lbs in 19 days, and feeling good for it. I will now tell my Garmin *exactly* what it can do with a lifetime supply of chocolate.
It was a bit of a battle, but I got it done. And then my shiny lovely new Garmin knocked a point off my VO2max, and told me my training status was "unproductive". Well frick you, Mr Shiny. All you had to do was sit on my wrist whilst I did all the hard work. Sitting there, being all deterministic, following your programming. Using the electricity that, let's not forget, I damn well fed you in the first place. Maybe it's because you were hidden up my sleeve, and perhaps you didn't notice the wind. Little git. One should be allowed a bonus fitness point if you swear at your watch creatively enough.
In all seriousness, I think it saw my heart rate suddenly quite a bit higher for the same pace, and came to the conclusion that I'd become less fit. I'll be interested to see if my next non-windy, non-too-hot run can convince it otherwise.
It *does* have a flattery button though, which is good for making you feel better. It predicts 5k, 10k, Half Marathon and Marathon times that I'd take right now in a heartbeat. All watches should have a flattery button. Go on, tell me I'm good
It was also weigh-in day today. On NYD, I had crept up to 13st1, which is the heaviest I've been for as long as I can remember. I've been aiming for no alcohol, no crisps and no chocolate. Largely that's been a success - easier to report my failings:
4th Jan
A cube of flapjack forced into my mouth by The Boy. He thought it would be funny. And it was. Probably more for him than me, but heck, I've encouraged him all his life. Do you remember how Inspector Clouseau encouraged his assistant Cato to attack him randomly, to help the inspector stay alert? That. But without the racial stereotyping, thankfully.
5th Jan
One Twirl, for my journey back from seeing The Boy. My time with him puts me in contact with more chocolate, crisps (and alcohol, although I can't blame that or any of it on the boy!). I was pleased that I'd batted out the time without cracking, so I gave myself a reward for the car, safe in the knowledge that I couldn't immediately reach for another one. Those multipack Twirls are tiny (just looked it up - 17 grams!) I remember when I couldn't eat most mainstream chocolate bars sideways.
Aside from that, things have been good. I might have squeezed the golden syrup bottle over my porridge a little harder (not a euphemism) these last few weeks - but I'm pleased to be feeling better about my eating and drinking. If you're looking to stop or at least get control over your alcohol intake, then I ****highly**** recommend the TBOGUA thread. I check in most days, to confirm that I'm planning not to drink any alcohol for that day - and there's always lots of encouragement. Some of that solidarity has helped me with the snacking as well, I am sure. Here's the thread - pop in: fetcheveryone.com/forum/the-benefits-of-giving-up-alcohol-18416/
So (sorry Sharkie) the weigh-in. Here you go, with toenails redacted for those with sensitive stomachs:
That's 5.5lbs in 19 days, and feeling good for it. I will now tell my Garmin *exactly* what it can do with a lifetime supply of chocolate.
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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LOL at toe-nail redactionSarahWoo Great weightloss - well done!2:36pm, 19th Jan 2021
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The toenail redaction had me properly lolfraggle thank you 2:38pm, 19th Jan 2021
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That's great progress on weight. Well done. Thanks for TBOGUA thread advertising. Thanks!Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr) G2:39pm, 19th Jan 2021
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I love the rant at your watchElsie Too2:41pm, 19th Jan 2021
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Well done. And yes, thanks for the mention.LindsD2:41pm, 19th Jan 2021
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Impressive. I should probably follow your examples. (Mt toenails are a mess!)3FrenchMs
I lost weight over Christmas, am steadily gaining it back as we eat up the Christmas loot before it goes out of date*. (*Lying!)2:41pm, 19th Jan 2021 -
I've cut out alcohol this month to help with my wife's decision to have a dry January. However I have had a can of cider with a work colleague because he gave me one for doing him a favour and it would have been rude not to.Festive Flier2:42pm, 19th Jan 2021
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I was actually wondering if you’d taped yourself to the scales and was attempting something silly like jumping around the office. Well done on the weight loss and the wind is your friend ... sometimes.runnerbean2:44pm, 19th Jan 2021
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1step2far2:47pm, 19th Jan 2021
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Well done on the weight loss. If it's any consolation, I've run Personal Bests and been told my my Garmin that it was "unproductive"Sigh2:51pm, 19th Jan 2021
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Well done. I'm back on the scales after a few weeks off - logging on Mondays when FE reminds meMisterTea I didn't get caught out by the warmth this morning - the weather forecast on my phone said 10*C - I don't think it was quite that hot - but I wasn't prepared for the wind! Did an out and back - didn't notice it at all on the way out!2:51pm, 19th Jan 2021
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Great weight loss and I have toenails which require to be redacted also!Corrah2:53pm, 19th Jan 2021
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I record my activities as trail running rather than running and it seems to confuse it sufficiently not to give me fitness updates.NDWDave2:55pm, 19th Jan 2021
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Here's the full rainbow of available colours from Garmin over the last 6 months:Sigh
Yellow = maintaining
Green = productive
Orange = unproductive (and a subconscious attack on that other site )
Blue/Purple = peaking
Grey/Black = Detraining HOW DARE THEY!!! 3:02pm, 19th Jan 2021 -
I’m glad my Garmin is old and not sophisticated at all (like it’s owner!😜😂) so it doesn’t tell me how rubbish my running is!Ness
Good weight loss btw.3:03pm, 19th Jan 2021 -
Nice weight loss, at that rate you should disappear in about 2 years.Chrisity3:37pm, 19th Jan 2021
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😀😀phal3:56pm, 19th Jan 2021
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That is excellent weight loss for the time, steady. Thanks for covering the toes, could have given someone a nasty surprise!BareHeadEm3:58pm, 19th Jan 2021
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Ooh, hands up who remembers the ugly feet competition on RW forum. I could beat these, easy-peasy.oi you4:24pm, 19th Jan 2021
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You haven't seen what's under the black stripesfetcheveryone4:29pm, 19th Jan 2021
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I got a new Garmin 245 for Christmas and its various forms of flattery are great. It too gives me predicted times that I'd dream of and based on the VO2 Max it says I am simply excellent 😀roberton4:48pm, 19th Jan 2021
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I think life needs a flattery button sometimesD25*xy4aXma5name!5:59pm, 19th Jan 2021
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I thought Garmin VO2 max was supposed to be able to account for the wind? I turned off Garmin training status as it doesn't know much about training IMO. It bases it all on what your VO2 max is doing but if you're in heavy training you'll be running tired quite so VO2 max is unlikely to be at peak until either you taper or adapt so the unproductive message is just annoying.SPR
To be clear, you can still see training load and Vo2 max with training status off, it just doesn't remark on your training.6:33pm, 19th Jan 2021 -
I thought you had chosen black nail varnish and smudge it lol. Good work, well doneMerry Lip Gloss8:25pm, 19th Jan 2021
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I like the idea of a flattery button on every watch.GimmeMincepies8:32pm, 19th Jan 2021
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Nice work on the weight loss. And yes, a Flattery button would be great.cathrobinson8:42pm, 19th Jan 2021
I've been reading the Firstbeat white paper on estimating VO2max - you can see it here:
assets.firstbeat.com
They don't appear to offer up any equations, but they do explain some of their methodology. The basis of their calculation is a heart rate vs speed graph, which allows them to estimate the runner's speed at max HR, and from there, the VO2max.
Page 3 of the paper shows some of the bad data that they attempt to trim out. This is stuff like pausing at traffic lights, bad GPS signal affecting pace, and jumpy HR data from a bad connection.
I thought it would be interesting to look at my data, and see if I could clean it up programmatically. In my blog on 8th Jan, I tried doing so manually, noticing that the first mile or so of my runs weren't representative of the rest, in terms of pace vs heart rate.
To begin, I grabbed my training data for the last four weeks (I've had my new watch for a month now, and still loving it! Wheee!). I smushed it all together, and broke each run down into 100 metre splits (you can do this with your own runs - just look for the split options just above the splits graph).
I sorted all the splits into order by heart rate; and for each heart rate, I calculated the average pace.
You can see the results from my data here:
fetcheveryone.com/beta-training-analysis-heart1.php?fetch=1
or if you track your heart rate, you can see what your own data looks like here:
fetcheveryone.com/beta-training-analysis-heart1.php
In my case, the bulk of my running is done between 120 and 160bpm (the green graph), and there's a tantalising hint of a slope downwards from left to right on the red graph (i.e. the obvious 'heart rate increases as speed increases'). The slope, intercept and r^2 values of a straight line through the data are included, if you like that sort of thing.
That's the data at its dirtiest. At infrequent heart rates (below 120 especially in my case) the average pace is erratic, because there's less data. I reckon that anything down there can be trimmed off.
And (not shown) each of my 100 metre splits has an average heart rate - but I can also see the min and max values. A 100m split that has a significant uphill will have a wider heart range than a consistent 100m on the flat. Likewise, a 100m split with a wait to cross the road will have a wider heart rate range, or failing that, a pace that is inconsistent with the 100m on either side. That's where I'm headed next.
I'll leave this blog here for now, but I will post again tomorrow after I've done some more scrubbing. Leave a comment if you've got any bright ideas
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And because I know someone will ask, the answer is 74 That doesn't include me, but I'm going to carry on anyway.
assets.firstbeat.com
They don't appear to offer up any equations, but they do explain some of their methodology. The basis of their calculation is a heart rate vs speed graph, which allows them to estimate the runner's speed at max HR, and from there, the VO2max.
Page 3 of the paper shows some of the bad data that they attempt to trim out. This is stuff like pausing at traffic lights, bad GPS signal affecting pace, and jumpy HR data from a bad connection.
I thought it would be interesting to look at my data, and see if I could clean it up programmatically. In my blog on 8th Jan, I tried doing so manually, noticing that the first mile or so of my runs weren't representative of the rest, in terms of pace vs heart rate.
To begin, I grabbed my training data for the last four weeks (I've had my new watch for a month now, and still loving it! Wheee!). I smushed it all together, and broke each run down into 100 metre splits (you can do this with your own runs - just look for the split options just above the splits graph).
I sorted all the splits into order by heart rate; and for each heart rate, I calculated the average pace.
You can see the results from my data here:
fetcheveryone.com/beta-training-analysis-heart1.php?fetch=1
or if you track your heart rate, you can see what your own data looks like here:
fetcheveryone.com/beta-training-analysis-heart1.php
In my case, the bulk of my running is done between 120 and 160bpm (the green graph), and there's a tantalising hint of a slope downwards from left to right on the red graph (i.e. the obvious 'heart rate increases as speed increases'). The slope, intercept and r^2 values of a straight line through the data are included, if you like that sort of thing.
That's the data at its dirtiest. At infrequent heart rates (below 120 especially in my case) the average pace is erratic, because there's less data. I reckon that anything down there can be trimmed off.
And (not shown) each of my 100 metre splits has an average heart rate - but I can also see the min and max values. A 100m split that has a significant uphill will have a wider heart range than a consistent 100m on the flat. Likewise, a 100m split with a wait to cross the road will have a wider heart rate range, or failing that, a pace that is inconsistent with the 100m on either side. That's where I'm headed next.
I'll leave this blog here for now, but I will post again tomorrow after I've done some more scrubbing. Leave a comment if you've got any bright ideas
--
And because I know someone will ask, the answer is 74
That doesn't include me, but I'm going to carry on anyway.
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Heart betas was possibly an unintentional punNDWDave3:47pm, 18th Jan 2021
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thanks for the answerchunkyblizzard3:48pm, 18th Jan 2021
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Nice; suggest dropping any null values (I think I've got a big tall entry in "null" because I ran without a HRM once or twice!).larkim3:54pm, 18th Jan 2021
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two things, any estimation of Vo2 max using age is crap, everyone is different, I think, when you look at blood samples from real lab max tests there is a very quick uptick right at the end as you reach Lactate turn point, vo2 max is genetically limited (training gets you to push your lactate turnpoint up, rather than increase your vo2 max, and I wish people would not get hung up on it and think about other stuff too like running economy. That's 4 BTW.Ocelot Spleens3:56pm, 18th Jan 2021
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OS - I haven't mentioned age.fetcheveryone
Larkim - I've squished the nulls.3:59pm, 18th Jan 2021 -
NDWDave - damn, that would have been a great pun for the titlefetcheveryone3:59pm, 18th Jan 2021
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How about overlaying HR zones onto the graph somehow? If we've filled it in, you've got RHR and MaxHR so could calculate the classic Z1 to Z5 zones. And I suppose anything below Z1 (50% HRR) could be discounted then (for running, anyway).larkim4:08pm, 18th Jan 2021
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I was wondering why my graph didn't slope down to the right (reducing time vs. HR) but it's because I haven't done any speed work! All hilly miles with HR 170 just as likely to be at pace 18 min / mile as 9 min / mile!Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr)4:10pm, 18th Jan 2021
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Does any of this take into account whether you are going up or down hill?Fragile Xmas Ornament5:35pm, 18th Jan 2021
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Not sure if you're aware but Garmin (aka firstbeat) also ignore certain categories of run. Anything classed as, or derived from, "trail run" isn't used for updates on the basis the terrain affects the data.flanker5:39pm, 18th Jan 2021
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That's only on some watches flanker. But the principle of being able to filter which types of runs this new analysis looks at definitely feels like a good idea.larkim6:10pm, 18th Jan 2021
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I'm intrigued at how the R^2 value is negative.kstuart6:19pm, 18th Jan 2021
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All rather interesting! My twopennorth, the Garmin site just delivers a flat VO2Max value for the entire run, but it would be great to be able to select a particular section of a run and ask for the VO2Max to be calculated on that bit (with an error message if you select insufficient data).Sigh6:32pm, 18th Jan 2021
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Thanks for the tip/reminder about how to adjust our own splits, too!3FrenchMs7:47pm, 18th Jan 2021
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Sigh - As fetch said in his blog, it delivers a VO2 max for the run but doesn't necessarily use the whole run to calculate that VO2 max.SPR8:24pm, 18th Jan 2021
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Very interesting, no bright ideas but eagerly awaiting yours.Gooner11:05pm, 18th Jan 2021
I *nearly* forgot to post this too, having written it earlier this afternoon!
With the success of the forum tag team, I wanted to set up another little group to help guide site development.
The number of people who access the site on mobile has increased a lot in the last seven years. You can see the percentages here:
2013 = 77% desktop, 13% mobile, 10% tablet.
2014 = 68% desktop, 18% mobile, 15% tablet.
2015 = 64% desktop, 23% mobile, 13% tablet.
2016 = 55% desktop, 30%mobile, 15% tablet.
2017 = 43% desktop, 41%mobile, 16% tablet.
2018 = 42% desktop, 45%mobile, 13% tablet.
2019 = 48% desktop, 41%mobile, 10% tablet.
2020 = 50% desktop, 44% mobile, 6% tablet.
This means that the site has to be just as useful on smaller devices as it does on desktop computers. That doesn't mean it has to have all the same functions, or level of detail. The screen is smaller, but you can't just shrink everything down in size. Text has to be readable. Buttons have to big enough and spaced out enough for a fingertip to hit with ease. And there's a fair chance that the people who use your site on mobile have different objectives to the people who sit at a desk. I think that in years gone by, mobile users were *definitely* looking for a quick visit - but these days, our mobile phone usage has changed from quick lookups to long and lazy Sunday afternoon browsing and scrolling. So it's a bit hazy really.
It's become more important to make your pages work better no matter what the screen size. Twenty years ago, the challenge was to make your pages look the same on Internet Explorer and Netscape. These days, most of the popular browsers produce pretty similar results; but in 2020, the devices that visited Fetch had over 4000 different varieties of screen sizes. Luckily, the top 25 screen sizes account for about 80% of the visitors; and even within that top 25, it's possible to group the screen sizes into a few broad categories.
Preparing a page for mobile starts with thinking about what's really essential on the page, and thinking about how you can delicately hide the rest. It's about checking whether the volume of information you want to present will carry on looking smart as your columns of data get squished together. And thinking about what needs to be visible before the user scrolls, so that they know what is happening without having to go fetch it. There's also a chance to make people smile, when a swivel of the phone into landscape mode spills a few hidden secrets.
I thought it would be handy to have a bunch of Fetchies, a bit like the tag team, who will rummage through the site on mobile; and hunt down those difficult-to-understand-or-use pages. If you'd like to join in with that, leave a comment, and I'll see where it takes us.
With the success of the forum tag team, I wanted to set up another little group to help guide site development.
The number of people who access the site on mobile has increased a lot in the last seven years. You can see the percentages here:
2013 = 77% desktop, 13% mobile, 10% tablet.
2014 = 68% desktop, 18% mobile, 15% tablet.
2015 = 64% desktop, 23% mobile, 13% tablet.
2016 = 55% desktop, 30%mobile, 15% tablet.
2017 = 43% desktop, 41%mobile, 16% tablet.
2018 = 42% desktop, 45%mobile, 13% tablet.
2019 = 48% desktop, 41%mobile, 10% tablet.
2020 = 50% desktop, 44% mobile, 6% tablet.
This means that the site has to be just as useful on smaller devices as it does on desktop computers. That doesn't mean it has to have all the same functions, or level of detail. The screen is smaller, but you can't just shrink everything down in size. Text has to be readable. Buttons have to big enough and spaced out enough for a fingertip to hit with ease. And there's a fair chance that the people who use your site on mobile have different objectives to the people who sit at a desk. I think that in years gone by, mobile users were *definitely* looking for a quick visit - but these days, our mobile phone usage has changed from quick lookups to long and lazy Sunday afternoon browsing and scrolling. So it's a bit hazy really.
It's become more important to make your pages work better no matter what the screen size. Twenty years ago, the challenge was to make your pages look the same on Internet Explorer and Netscape. These days, most of the popular browsers produce pretty similar results; but in 2020, the devices that visited Fetch had over 4000 different varieties of screen sizes. Luckily, the top 25 screen sizes account for about 80% of the visitors; and even within that top 25, it's possible to group the screen sizes into a few broad categories.
Preparing a page for mobile starts with thinking about what's really essential on the page, and thinking about how you can delicately hide the rest. It's about checking whether the volume of information you want to present will carry on looking smart as your columns of data get squished together. And thinking about what needs to be visible before the user scrolls, so that they know what is happening without having to go fetch it. There's also a chance to make people smile, when a swivel of the phone into landscape mode spills a few hidden secrets.
I thought it would be handy to have a bunch of Fetchies, a bit like the tag team, who will rummage through the site on mobile; and hunt down those difficult-to-understand-or-use pages. If you'd like to join in with that, leave a comment, and I'll see where it takes us.
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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🙋♂️roberton11:49pm, 17th Jan 2021
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Happy to help!Jenelopy3:52am, 18th Jan 2021
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Oh, and how many people are daily blogging still?Jenelopy3:53am, 18th Jan 2021
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I mostly fetch on my mobile, count me in.Pinks6:26am, 18th Jan 2021
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I’m interested as this is similar to a project I’m about to start at work but I don’t think I have the time to give you what you need.Elsie Too
On mobile I find it hard to click on the search button in the top right menu bar. It’s too close to the edge of the screen.6:53am, 18th Jan 2021 -
I can help here as have some thoughts on mobilechunkyblizzard7:05am, 18th Jan 2021
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Happy to help. I spend hours on here on my mobile.1step2far7:38am, 18th Jan 2021
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Happy to help if I can. I mainly use a small screen older mobile_Suze_7:53am, 18th Jan 2021
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I use my tablet but via the web browser (goes off to investigate app)Raggedy runner8:07am, 18th Jan 2021
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I predominately use Fetch on my mobile, so happy to helpjennyh8:47am, 18th Jan 2021
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This is great! I use my ipad and the desktop probably in equal measure but rarely look at the site on the mobile (iphone) because it is harder. First off, the ipad and laptop remember who I am so I rarely have to re-log in. But I have to log in every time on the phone. Remove that barrier and I'll be happy! Happy to helpPegg8:48am, 18th Jan 2021
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Happy to help - I mostly use a laptop & monitor but do also use a small iphone 6s thing.um8:54am, 18th Jan 2021
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I generally use my iPad but have recently bought a new Samsung mobile which is pretty good for accessing this site on. Happy to help.Ness9:01am, 18th Jan 2021
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I'm happy to help, I use my mobile a lot, especially for the gamesBareHeadEm well and the forum, and the blog...9:20am, 18th Jan 2021
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happy to helpstuart little10:15am, 18th Jan 2021
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I’ll help if you still need people. I’ve probably got one of the smaller phone screens out there (great for fitting in leggings pocketsFragile Xmas Ornament ) and I also use a tablet.
I was surprised to see that tablet use is going down in favour of the desktop, a trend that started pre-covid, I would have predicted it would be the other way around. I only use our desktop PC for things that really can’t be done on the tablet.10:20am, 18th Jan 2021 -
FDNB - I wondered whether the increased desktop use started during the WFH revolution, but like you've pointed out, that happened pre-2020 too.fetcheveryone10:34am, 18th Jan 2021
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Happy to help. Mostly use my phone as only recently re-acquired a tablet and my laptop runs even slower than I do.Sushi11:00am, 18th Jan 2021
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Really hate having to use a browser for the mobile site. Still not quite sure why there isn't a dedicated Fetch app. Would be very 'appy to hep with user testing for this.CStar11:02am, 18th Jan 2021
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Mainly because every bit of work I have to do would be duplicated. No, actually triplicated, because there'd have to be an Android version too.fetcheveryone11:07am, 18th Jan 2021
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I pretty much use my android phone all the time for fetcheveryone. Most things are fine but PC does give more usability.TBR (TheBeardRunner)11:10am, 18th Jan 2021
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If be happy to help with testing. I almost exclusively access the site through 📱 and I've done a bit of software testing at work that I enjoyed.Juuphy12:18pm, 19th Jan 2021
Technically, I have failed in my mission to blog every day. It's just gone 12, but I've just sat through the last four episodes of series four of Breaking Bad, and I forgot all about it. The Boy picked out three plot points before they happened, which was quite impressive.
Today I did some gardening. There are brambles at the back of the garden that have gone quite wild. I've pulled two metre long strands out, that have woven their way under the cover of the grass; and back at the roots, they're as thick as a cucumber. I've picked up some nettle rash, and a few nasty prickles. But the brambles know who's boss - at least for a while.
I've put the new tagging stuff live - you should be able to see tags against each thread now. And the 'Related Threads' box should now be doing a better job of offering up other threads you can try. Have a look, and see if you think it's an improvement.
I *did* fix someone's blog a few days back - they'd been struggling with their internet connection, and didn't manage to post until a couple of minutes past midnight. So maybe I'm allowed some leeway on blog streaking. Or maybe I'm not. I'll carry on anyway
Today I did some gardening. There are brambles at the back of the garden that have gone quite wild. I've pulled two metre long strands out, that have woven their way under the cover of the grass; and back at the roots, they're as thick as a cucumber. I've picked up some nettle rash, and a few nasty prickles. But the brambles know who's boss - at least for a while.
I've put the new tagging stuff live - you should be able to see tags against each thread now. And the 'Related Threads' box should now be doing a better job of offering up other threads you can try. Have a look, and see if you think it's an improvement.
I *did* fix someone's blog a few days back - they'd been struggling with their internet connection, and didn't manage to post until a couple of minutes past midnight. So maybe I'm allowed some leeway on blog streaking. Or maybe I'm not. I'll carry on anyway
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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WhoopsTBR (TheBeardRunner)12:49am, 17th Jan 2021
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Move to Iceland. I think you'd still be on Saturday there. Maybe Greenland if you need to do some editing.RichHL1:01am, 17th Jan 2021
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Re: related threads, whilst I recognise the tagging has improved this aspect for many threads, I actually think it’s got significantly worse for the year on year repeated threads of races.Nelly
Race threads appear to be typically tagged with “event”, “[year]” and “[distance]”, so threads for the same race on previous years are always overlooked; typically this wasn’t the case previously.8:13am, 17th Jan 2021 -
I suspect this could read as an hour earlier by the time I check backum
Have you changed the buttons below to be a bit bigger/clearer?8:25am, 17th Jan 2021 -
Nelly, have brought your comment to the attention of the tag team, will see what can be done.Pinks8:41am, 17th Jan 2021
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I think leeway is allowed for all the hard work you’ve been doing with the forum recently, and the changes to blogs readership etc.... I’d count it as a blogadaw anyway.Ness 8:53am, 17th Jan 2021
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I was going to say that since you’re in charge you could fix the time postedFeleecy Navidad
Post early to stay on the blogadaw perch, anything later than 10 and you’re in perilous waters!9:29am, 17th Jan 2021 -
I didn't post on the first day - it needed your post fetcheveryone.com/blog/3/2021/1#blog414207 to make me commit. But then I did two one day to "catch up".roberton
And I posted one after midnight too.
So I'm not part of the official blog streak but in my head I'm doing it.10:14am, 17th Jan 2021 -
I figured it was any 365 day streak after 1 jan this year ? So you’ve just committed to an extra 17 days well doneSerendippily11:00am, 17th Jan 2021
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No badge for you! ;-D I am sure I will do the same sometime soon!chunkyblizzard11:31am, 17th Jan 2021
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How many still in Mr Fetch?BareHeadEm1:02pm, 17th Jan 2021
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Sorry Lord Fetch but like races a cut off could mean a cut off - Too harsh ? Maybe I`ve watched too many many You Tube videos about the last few moments of Comrades Marathon where you have 12 hours not 24 hours to get over the line.Mr. K.
PS Liking the good work you do & the new ideas.1:59pm, 17th Jan 2021 -
😂 I've had the same "oops" moment with my blog this weekend too 😂 Time management never was a strengthQwerty12:07am, 18th Jan 2021
It's been bugging me (just a little bit) for a while now that the number of views on a blog isn't the best indicator of how many people look at it.
If you read a blog, and leave a comment, you are brought back to the blog page after submitting your comment. That counts as a second view. Any time any of your viewers come back to your blog, it counts as another view. If they get notified when other people comment, and come back to see what they've written, that's more views. On top of this, as soon as you write another blog, the older one doesn't get any further increase in views - they all go to the new one. So if you wrote War & Peace, went to the top of the highlights, and then wrote another blog the following day talking about your shopping list, then the shopping list blog would get all the views.
I thought it would be better to change to a 'readership' score. So if one person views your blogs a million times, they still only count as one reader. I've put this in place now - you'll be able to see it in the header at the top of someone's blog. It shows the number of readers your blog has had in the last 30 days. All the scores will be pretty low at the moment, because it's only just started counting - but it should be offering up a truer figure in 30 days time. And I've cheated a bit, by putting a link to *this* blog in that header, for the folks who want to know what the new measure means Perhaps I should have titled this blog 'You have won an iPad', or 'People aged between 45 and 65 who live near you know this great trick', or 'look who's skinny now!' or something equally clickbaity
--
I got out for a run this morning. I like to 'go before I go', if you know what I mean, so I was a bit later than I'd like, heading out the door. I read on the TBOGUA thread that cutting out alcohol can mess with your regularity - and it's definitely the case for me. Anyway, that's enough about that. I am 14 days in to alcohol free now, and pretty happy with how I feel about it.
What I've found interesting this year is that I appear to be wearing less clothes (another blog title to bring the hoardes ). No not like that - I mean when I go running. I am pretty sure that I have usually abandoned shorts by mid-December, and am all about the long-sleeves. But today, with temperatures at a giddy 0 degrees, I ran in shorts and a Fetch shirt.
I regretted it! My hands were really pretty cold throughout - they felt like they were being crushed. But the rest of me was largely fine, and the run itself was good. I wondered - is this something that comes with time? Just as Katie now thinks nothing of slipping into a lake, river, stream or large puddle in a thin layer of costume - do we increase our tolerance? I didn't see any runners today because I missed the running rush hour, but I see so many wearing way more layers (not to mention the massive headphones!) than I can imagine. I wonder how the graph of layers vs years-spent-running would look.
In stationery news, I have started on my first pad of squared paper. Unfortunately I have had to cope with some disappointment. It's glue-bound across the top, but the act of flipping to the second sheet has caused the first sheet to detach. Same happened with the next sheet. This will Never Do. It does have four holes along the left, so I might have to bung it in a folder. Which means more stationery. Not all bad then.
[EDIT: 78 blog streakers]
If you read a blog, and leave a comment, you are brought back to the blog page after submitting your comment. That counts as a second view. Any time any of your viewers come back to your blog, it counts as another view. If they get notified when other people comment, and come back to see what they've written, that's more views. On top of this, as soon as you write another blog, the older one doesn't get any further increase in views - they all go to the new one. So if you wrote War & Peace, went to the top of the highlights, and then wrote another blog the following day talking about your shopping list, then the shopping list blog would get all the views.
I thought it would be better to change to a 'readership' score. So if one person views your blogs a million times, they still only count as one reader. I've put this in place now - you'll be able to see it in the header at the top of someone's blog. It shows the number of readers your blog has had in the last 30 days. All the scores will be pretty low at the moment, because it's only just started counting - but it should be offering up a truer figure in 30 days time. And I've cheated a bit, by putting a link to *this* blog in that header, for the folks who want to know what the new measure means
Perhaps I should have titled this blog 'You have won an iPad', or 'People aged between 45 and 65 who live near you know this great trick', or 'look who's skinny now!' or something equally clickbaity --
I got out for a run this morning. I like to 'go before I go', if you know what I mean, so I was a bit later than I'd like, heading out the door. I read on the TBOGUA thread that cutting out alcohol can mess with your regularity - and it's definitely the case for me. Anyway, that's enough about that. I am 14 days in to alcohol free now, and pretty happy with how I feel about it.
What I've found interesting this year is that I appear to be wearing less clothes (another blog title to bring the hoardes
). No not like that - I mean when I go running. I am pretty sure that I have usually abandoned shorts by mid-December, and am all about the long-sleeves. But today, with temperatures at a giddy 0 degrees, I ran in shorts and a Fetch shirt. I regretted it! My hands were really pretty cold throughout - they felt like they were being crushed. But the rest of me was largely fine, and the run itself was good. I wondered - is this something that comes with time? Just as Katie now thinks nothing of slipping into a lake, river, stream or large puddle in a thin layer of costume - do we increase our tolerance? I didn't see any runners today because I missed the running rush hour, but I see so many wearing way more layers (not to mention the massive headphones!) than I can imagine. I wonder how the graph of layers vs years-spent-running would look.
In stationery news, I have started on my first pad of squared paper. Unfortunately I have had to cope with some disappointment. It's glue-bound across the top, but the act of flipping to the second sheet has caused the first sheet to detach. Same happened with the next sheet. This will Never Do. It does have four holes along the left, so I might have to bung it in a folder. Which means more stationery. Not all bad then.
[EDIT: 78 blog streakers]
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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A few mouthfuls of hot coffee followed by cold water will make you poop on demand. Just so you know.runnerbean
Running in shorts in winter is just wrong and silly. You’ll catch a cold 🥶😂1:52pm, 15th Jan 2021 -
Only if I run fast enough. In both casesfetcheveryone1:55pm, 15th Jan 2021
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good improvement to views. By the way, please don't forget to update the blogstreak numbers!chunkyblizzard1:57pm, 15th Jan 2021
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The readership is a nice refinement; I'm still holding back on blogging until I've got something to blog about....which might be this weekend, actually.Sigh1:59pm, 15th Jan 2021
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No Leggings here:-Ocelot Spleens
fetcheveryone.com/forum/leggings-are-you-wearing-leggings-yet-59409
In shocking news, I have no idea what type my pencil is.1:59pm, 15th Jan 2021 -
wearing gloves and shorts is commonplace, isn't it?ChrisHB2:01pm, 15th Jan 2021
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Not sure if it is commonplace but it makes sense to wear gloves even if wearing shorts and t-shirts. Your hands can get cold even if your body is desperately trying to dump heat.roberton2:05pm, 15th Jan 2021
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I like the reader idea a lotFestive Flier2:06pm, 15th Jan 2021
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Always shorts for me (unless it's a dog run/walk and very cold) something that has definitely changed with time.Goofee2:09pm, 15th Jan 2021
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I am the same as you on the going front. Running is the only thing that reliably works. Re. shorts, I only go to long trousers if it really is absolutely freezing. I wore them a few times in the last few weeks which is about the first time for a couple of years.Diogenes2:13pm, 15th Jan 2021
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I like the reader list - good call.angelrose
I think it's best to keep your muscles warm for exercise, especially the legs, so better to go for more than less - keeps the injuries at bay.2:15pm, 15th Jan 2021 -
Can I have a 'Billy No Mates' badge?CogNoscensme AHA2:22pm, 15th Jan 2021
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I like the reader idea too. Thanks 😊Ness2:23pm, 15th Jan 2021
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I see that the readership count appears only in the red banner at the top of the blog page.Flatlander
Does this mean that the readership count is only the total readership of ALL the blogs written by that Fetchie since the change of view, and there won't be a separate count on each individual blog?2:37pm, 15th Jan 2021 -
GLOVES. That is all. Hands get very cold easily as you cut the blood flow to them when it's cold.Santa Badgey
Been wearing longs the last couple of days but often go through the winter without them. Everything is so miserable at the moment I feel I want to be more snuggly and warm than usual when running.
Reader count sounds good, too. (you know, the actual point of the blog)2:40pm, 15th Jan 2021 -
As per what alpenrose said - I am resting my legs after my right one stopped working mid-run the other day. I had declined to wear my tights and I suspect I was insufficiently warmed up.McGoohan2:40pm, 15th Jan 2021
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I did think that a couple of days ago the top two blogs (Trin's, then yours) had unusually high views - the "repeat business" aspect would explain it, though actually i thought that was something you'd fixed years ago.Dvorak2:42pm, 15th Jan 2021
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What if I don't bother reading the blog but go straight to leave a comment?Mushroom3:04pm, 15th Jan 2021
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Let me know when you dofetcheveryone3:05pm, 15th Jan 2021
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I like the readership thingy ideaRosehip
Trying to keep easy runs easy means I wear longs and a wind jacket - otherwise I would run "faster" to keep warm. Gloves on and off throughout a run, I hate hot hands nearly as much as cold ones.3:14pm, 15th Jan 2021 -
Shorts all year round here but I do wear a long-sleeved top under a Fetch shirt - and gloves and a hat of course. I get cold hands so gloves aren't necessarily just a winter thing.MisterTea3:21pm, 15th Jan 2021
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As for reader numbers, of you scroll down from one blog to another to read the next one, does that count as reading for the second blog?Ground HogFather3:41pm, 15th Jan 2021
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No - it's the readership for your blog as a whole, over the last 30 days (or it will be, in 29 days time).fetcheveryone3:42pm, 15th Jan 2021
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This looks interestingNight-owl4:56pm, 15th Jan 2021
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Like the readership changeLindsD5:19pm, 15th Jan 2021
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I wear long sleeves and long tights and usually a jacket too as well as gloves pretty much all year round although maybe not the jacket and gloves in July and August.BaronessBL5:20pm, 15th Jan 2021
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Like the readership.westmoors
My winter attire is cropped trousers, t-shirt and GLOVES.5:38pm, 15th Jan 2021 -
The views numbers for old old old blogs used to be a bit nuts. You could look at one from a few years ago with two comments but 5000+ views.McGoohan5:56pm, 15th Jan 2021
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I was going to say gloves but I see others have beaten me to it.D25*xy4aXma5name!7:08pm, 15th Jan 2021
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I’m with Alpenrose.cathrobinson9:31pm, 15th Jan 2021
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No one has read my blog. Not even me 🥲Nightjar10:29pm, 15th Jan 2021
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Down to 78!TBR (TheBeardRunner)10:44pm, 15th Jan 2021
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Shorts?????BareHeadEm10:59pm, 15th Jan 2021
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I tend to overdress (yesterday HH base layer with long sleeved top over, leggings, buff and gloves), but wasn't overwarm at any point. Without wising to offend anyone, I'm a scrawny b***er and don't carry any extra padding, so always feel the coldstilldreamingofawhitechristmas10:01am, 16th Jan 2021
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Can I have one of those links like you've got? "For full details see Cog's blog" 😜CogNoscensme AHA10:20am, 16th Jan 2021
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Took me 5 mins to work out about the Readers change - brain going "what's different here".Peregrinator10:23am, 16th Jan 2021
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Shorts unless it's sub-zero and windy, although apparently once the temp gets into single figures it can affect the fluid in your joints so it's better to keep the legs warm. Always gloves, apart from maybe July & August.flanker
Reader count is an improvement (if we have to have it at all - feels a bit like a popularity contest, which like such all things is fine isn't always healthy) but can you tone down the colours a bit? The red/white makes it the dominant item in the blog, whereas I'd say it's less important that the content/author/etc. (Or is this a CSSS/ theme issue?)2:58pm, 16th Jan 2021 -
I have been known to spend a couple of minutes hammering the F5 key on a blog page to confuse the author with 800 more views than they normally get.paul the builder
You spoiled my fun3:59pm, 16th Jan 2021 -
I don't like it, prefer to see individual readership per blog...also don't like how the past numbers have been obliterated in conquersize square type putsch. Not a fan.Ocelot Spleens4:43pm, 16th Jan 2021
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"hoardes" - "hordes" ? - As a fully paid-up pedant.Columba5:54pm, 16th Jan 2021
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Funnily enough I run in long leggings year round occasionally shorts come out but it’s rare. I had a tattoo on my thigh a few weeks ago and wore shorts to allow me to still run - it was fine & I quite liked it but I’m back layered up. I need to brave it - maybe later?geordiebells11:15am, 18th Jan 2021
Today, I flitted like a coding butterfly towards the GPS importer. Each FIT file that comes to us from Garmin includes the model number of the watch - and I thought it'd be cool to see which watches are the most popular.
Strictly between you and I, it occurred to me that it'd be good to have a 'top 10 GPS watches', with links through a few affiliate schemes (like our Amazon and Wiggle ones in the footer) to generate a few quid from sales. Amazon has tightened things up over the last year. It used to be that you could just follow our link to the Amazon home page, and then everything you bought would translate into about 5% of the purchase price coming in our direction. But now, they've made it so that a generic link is only good for about 1% of any purchases you make.
You can still get 5% commission if you link to specific products - but that obviously takes more effort to curate. On the face of it, they are encouraging webslingers like me to produce 'engaging content' (mmmm, do you get a warm feeling? Is it a bit of sick in your mouth?) to make you feel happy, nay excited, about parting with your simoleons. Well, the 5% would be lovely, but I'd rather just tell you how it is And I hope you'd agree that it'd be genuinely interesting to see which watches are most popular. It'd be cool to track the rise and fall of the different models; and to see what Garmin's share of our imports is (clue: it's very high).
It's also potentially useful for me to see the range of models in use. For example, as barometric elevation becomes more widespread, it's more likely that I'll reinstate the straight import of elevation data from the watch (rather than the current system, which imports the route, samples it, and uses a third-party service to build the elevation profile).
I've left my data grab running for about 5 hours now - and have picked up data from 1000+ users. Not bad for a wet, windy and cold evening. I'll let it run for at least a week, to gather plenty data - and then see if I can generate some automated top 10 devices page (complete with those money-grabbing links). Look out for this going live in about a week's time.
I loved all the comments on my stationery blog. My squared paper arrived, and I've started scratching about on it. I forgot to mention my pen of choice - it's a Pilot V5 Hi-Tecpoint - a nice 0.5mm nib (although I'm tempted by the V7).
I hope you've had a good day. And if not, I hope tomorrow's better.
[EDIT: 78 blog streakers]
Strictly between you and I, it occurred to me that it'd be good to have a 'top 10 GPS watches', with links through a few affiliate schemes (like our Amazon and Wiggle ones in the footer) to generate a few quid from sales. Amazon has tightened things up over the last year. It used to be that you could just follow our link to the Amazon home page, and then everything you bought would translate into about 5% of the purchase price coming in our direction. But now, they've made it so that a generic link is only good for about 1% of any purchases you make.
You can still get 5% commission if you link to specific products - but that obviously takes more effort to curate. On the face of it, they are encouraging webslingers like me to produce 'engaging content' (mmmm, do you get a warm feeling? Is it a bit of sick in your mouth?) to make you feel happy, nay excited, about parting with your simoleons. Well, the 5% would be lovely, but I'd rather just tell you how it is
And I hope you'd agree that it'd be genuinely interesting to see which watches are most popular. It'd be cool to track the rise and fall of the different models; and to see what Garmin's share of our imports is (clue: it's very high). It's also potentially useful for me to see the range of models in use. For example, as barometric elevation becomes more widespread, it's more likely that I'll reinstate the straight import of elevation data from the watch (rather than the current system, which imports the route, samples it, and uses a third-party service to build the elevation profile).
I've left my data grab running for about 5 hours now - and have picked up data from 1000+ users. Not bad for a wet, windy and cold evening. I'll let it run for at least a week, to gather plenty data - and then see if I can generate some automated top 10 devices page (complete with those money-grabbing links). Look out for this going live in about a week's time.
I loved all the comments on my stationery blog. My squared paper arrived, and I've started scratching about on it. I forgot to mention my pen of choice - it's a Pilot V5 Hi-Tecpoint - a nice 0.5mm nib (although I'm tempted by the V7).
I hope you've had a good day. And if not, I hope tomorrow's better.
[EDIT: 78 blog streakers]
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Be interested to see what %ges of non Garmin users are like!3FrenchMs11:18pm, 14th Jan 2021
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You've forgotten to tell everyone how many blogadaws are left. There'll be an uprising....Angus Clydesdale12:01am, 15th Jan 2021
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I had some engaging content once but cleaned it off successfully with a clean, damp sponge.RichHL12:08am, 15th Jan 2021
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The V7 writes more smoothly, and what's 0.2mm between friends.flanker12:09am, 15th Jan 2021
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What about a "please publish a link to the thing I'm definitely thinking of buying" service, with the appropriate links sent to you and put on a page in the wiki. Would it work if people put their own links onto a wiki page , then clicked through? Hell, why not just make a page of Amazon GPS watch links just now anyway? The engaging content can follow laterDvorak12:10am, 15th Jan 2021
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That sounds like a gel pen. You know one of those that smudges across the side of your hand when you’re left handed.runnerbean2:46am, 15th Jan 2021
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Thinking on it, it has to be an affiliate link. Could you knock up a page, or pagelet; a box even, where people paste in an Amazon url and are fmailed back an affiliate link to click on?Dvorak2:53am, 15th Jan 2021
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Every type of pens seems to do that when you’re left handed RunnerbeanMerry Lip Gloss7:13am, 15th Jan 2021
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Do you get a notification of when someone buys through the affiliate link, and what they buy? I think if I was shopping for a watch again, of happily come to a page of watches most used by fetches on the fetch site, with links back to Amazon knowing you'd get a cut... But I also wonder if this could be expanded to other things fetchies had bought with affiliate links?BareHeadEm
Oo yes, that jacket looks like a good but I'll get that too... Or I like that mug... Like a little Fetchie corner of Amazon, could be interesting too to see what Fetchies buy with their affiliate link 😁7:30am, 15th Jan 2021 -
Amazon give you a report of what's been bought, but not who's bought it. I've looked at it a couple of times, but it's not usually too fascinating. Yesterday someone bought a phone case, for example (netting 20p for Fetch); and the day before, someone bought some vitamins (bringing in 99p).fetcheveryone
I don't know whether the link generating idea would work. It's the sort of thing they wouldn't like to happen, so it's probably not within the rules; and you'd have to go to Amazon in the first place to get the link, so they'd know that you were already sniffing around that product.7:38am, 15th Jan 2021 -
I bought vitamins so maybe the 99p was from my purchase *feels proud*Mrs Jigs (Luverlylegs)7:48am, 15th Jan 2021
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I will try and remember to use the link. Does it work for everything you purchase even if it’s books for a Kindle?Ness7:59am, 15th Jan 2021
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Ness - it should do.fetcheveryone8:02am, 15th Jan 2021
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So, out of interest, which third party service do you use at the moment to build elevation profile?Sigh8:10am, 15th Jan 2021
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fetcheveryone
8:15am, 15th Jan 2021
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I buy my Kindle books on my Kindle. I'm guessing that makes it impossible.LindsD
I.like Pilot, too, but the fatter one.8:19am, 15th Jan 2021 -
Interesting, thanks!Sigh8:36am, 15th Jan 2021
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Edited to show the blog streaker count (78)fetcheveryone8:40am, 15th Jan 2021
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I’m an Amazon refusenik but I’ve used the Wiggle link before. Are there any other traders who provide this discount for you!Raggedy runner8:48am, 15th Jan 2021
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Reinstating the straight import of elevation data from the watch will be greatiRan8:52am, 15th Jan 2021
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Elevation data would be good to be able to choose between "watch native" and "Fetch partner corrected". Because sometimes the watch goes horribly wrong and then your stats are screwed up. Great work Fetch meister.Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr) G9:19am, 15th Jan 2021
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Looks like I need to kill two blogs with one stone (or something) so next time I need to buy some stationery I will try to use the Amazon linkBaronessBL I will also be interested in what the Garmin/FIT upload research reveals.9:22am, 15th Jan 2021
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I am so confused by elevation data. I just blogged about it. Currently, I think I rely on Fetch's third-party estimation for anything vaguely accurate.Sampson10:52am, 15th Jan 2021
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I use garmin import, but don’t use a Garmin device to get it there, will be interesting to see how many come back like thatmattglen_11:24am, 15th Jan 2021
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My favourite pen is a Schneider Slider Edge XB. It's triangular and comes in lots of colours. The office staff at school used to cooo about mine so much that I bought them a pack each when I retired.GimmeMincepies12:40pm, 15th Jan 2021
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Sorry. As soon as you mentioned 'stationery', I forgot the blog was about elevation and watches.....GimmeMincepies12:46pm, 15th Jan 2021
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I would maybe make a post about Coros, and how syncing works with them; you need a new topic, they are growing fast with some great watches, and it mnight win you some converts for Fetch - especially if you post it in the facebook group for them, which is very active.boyband66661:08pm, 15th Jan 2021
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The trouble is they have so far denied me access to their API.fetcheveryone1:10pm, 15th Jan 2021
The boy needed some lined paper for his school-from-home lessons last week, so I surrendered what was left of my current notepad to him. This meant I had the task of buying a new notepad. I have spent £9 of your lovely donations on a five pack of A4 5mm squared paper, bound at the top like a flip chart. I am sure I'm not the only one who finds this a highly exciting prospect (though your preferred notepad configuration may differ).
I've mentioned the lure of diaries in a blog earlier this month. I remember being given a hardback notebook by my grandpa - probably nothing special in the scheme of things - but wow! An empty book. What can you put in that? I was given a nice pen by my cousin, and another pen with a little digital watch display in the shaft, and feeling they were like treasure. I remember being devastated when I lost them in school somewhere.
I had Letraset for Christmas, and started using it on my school stuff. I was a proper presentation geek. My English essays had cover sheets and those fancy wallets with bendy spokes that you could trap the pages in. I loved going to stationers, and looking at the notebooks, and the different types of pen. I never got into fountain pens - they were always a bit scratchy for my liking. But I picked up lots of fine tipped black pens for geography maps. A friend was into them too, but he was a skilled illustrator too. I was jealous of his ability to draw - but I still liked owning the pens.
When we went to Glasgow for the Big Fetch Mile, Katie and I wandered into an art exhibition, and found some drawings called Dialectograms, by an artist called Mitch Miller: dialectograms.com - I loved them, and had them in mind when I bought my squared paper.
I jot down lists, graphs, layouts and sums most days when I'm working on the site. My laptop is normally plugged into a monitor, so I've got two screens to drag windows around. But I see the paper as my third screen - infinitely flexible, and somehow a nice way to ground all the virtuality (that's like armography and musicality for coders i.e. bullshit). And it's nice to look back through the pad, and see all the things I planned to do, and wonder what the heck I was thinking.
Stationery fans - this is your safe space Confess below.
EDIT: 79 blog streakers!
I've mentioned the lure of diaries in a blog earlier this month. I remember being given a hardback notebook by my grandpa - probably nothing special in the scheme of things - but wow! An empty book. What can you put in that? I was given a nice pen by my cousin, and another pen with a little digital watch display in the shaft, and feeling they were like treasure. I remember being devastated when I lost them in school somewhere.
I had Letraset for Christmas, and started using it on my school stuff. I was a proper presentation geek. My English essays had cover sheets and those fancy wallets with bendy spokes that you could trap the pages in. I loved going to stationers, and looking at the notebooks, and the different types of pen. I never got into fountain pens - they were always a bit scratchy for my liking. But I picked up lots of fine tipped black pens for geography maps. A friend was into them too, but he was a skilled illustrator too. I was jealous of his ability to draw - but I still liked owning the pens.
When we went to Glasgow for the Big Fetch Mile, Katie and I wandered into an art exhibition, and found some drawings called Dialectograms, by an artist called Mitch Miller: dialectograms.com - I loved them, and had them in mind when I bought my squared paper.
I jot down lists, graphs, layouts and sums most days when I'm working on the site. My laptop is normally plugged into a monitor, so I've got two screens to drag windows around. But I see the paper as my third screen - infinitely flexible, and somehow a nice way to ground all the virtuality (that's like armography and musicality for coders i.e. bullshit). And it's nice to look back through the pad, and see all the things I planned to do, and wonder what the heck I was thinking.
Stationery fans - this is your safe space
Confess below. EDIT: 79 blog streakers!
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Clairefontaine Europe A4 lined. Was using A5 prior to telephone consulting, but had to upsize. And for pens as well as notebooks, can't beat the service from cultpens, schneider xpress a current fave. Stationery addiction, moi?poppyH10:56pm, 13th Jan 2021
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If I am trying to write anything creative, like scripts or songs for school productions, I am much more productive on paper than on anything electronic. I remember writing an English essay at school, in 2nd year of high school, with a feather that I kept dipping in ink. It wasn’t neat, or any good, but it did feel like fun.HowFar?10:57pm, 13th Jan 2021
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Love a bit of stationery and you can’t beat squared paper_Suze_10:57pm, 13th Jan 2021
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My name is D2 and I love stationery. When I worked for a living and had my own office I bought colour coordinated Lever Arch files because the ones supplied in black were just too .....you know..... ordinary.D25*xy4aXma5name!
As a child I had a very special rainbow coloured pencil, happy days.11:07pm, 13th Jan 2021 -
There is nothing like the feeling of that first pencil mark on that first line of a new notebook 😊BareHeadEm11:24pm, 13th Jan 2021
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I've already blogged about my need for the right biro but I am married to a Stationery Queen. Her fountain pen thing is a little overwhelming, if I'm honest and what she knows about Japanese journals is a little esoteric. Still, I know where I can borrow a notepad should I ever need one.RichHL11:25pm, 13th Jan 2021
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One the things I find exciting about having a Proper Job is the ability to get what I need form the stationery when I need it. I've been here for almost 13 years, but I still find New Notebook Day an exciting one.Jenelopy
PS. how many daily bloggers now?11:50pm, 13th Jan 2021 -
After many years trying to make an iPad work as a digital notepad and trying a wide variety of such apps (it's obviously a far better solution as it's greener, more searchable, automatically archived, easily shared with others, backed up, never obscured by coffee rings or aimless doodling, ...) I've gone back to pen and paper. Just a cheap Pukka Pad spiral-bound and the delectable Mitsubishi Uniball pens (despite having a whole set of very expensive Cross writing implements).flanker11:57pm, 13th Jan 2021
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Those dialectograms are a thing of beauty.MabelMoonface11:58pm, 13th Jan 2021
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I wouldn't go anywhere without my notebook. Not anywhere. My history is institutionally littered with notebooks, aides-memoire, et etc and there's no way I could give it up. But I'm not a fan of the current fad of decorating/doodling/designing your own space (waste of productive creativity) and I'm horrified by JUST HOW MUCH ££££s they want to rush you for a "special" book to write it all in. Tesco stationery aisle usually does it for me.Angus Clydesdale1:09am, 14th Jan 2021
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And I'm proud to still own a filofax.Angus Clydesdale1:13am, 14th Jan 2021
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Stationery makes my heart flutter. There is nothing like a new notepad. And ILindsD
Post-It notes. And pens. And highlighters. One of my best presents ever was a stationery caddy thingy.3:37am, 14th Jan 2021 -
I love squared paper, I splurged on a mix book containing lots of different pages, sort of like a beefed up diary.Pinks6:31am, 14th Jan 2021
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I only wish my writing would do my lovely notebooks and pens justice.Corrah6:57am, 14th Jan 2021
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(Barges in and sits down)EvilPixie
Can’t beat stationary makes me so happy!
Use an A5 notebook daily but not the cheap ones work buy I buy nice ones 😁
And pens
I use coloured pens
No reason it just looks nicer than blue can’t stand blank my geography teacher said black was messy and totally agree!6:57am, 14th Jan 2021 -
I have a squared paper notebook, 2 in fact. I call it my thinking paper. If I'm trying to either explain or understand a concept it usually gets scribbled in there. I owe my success in passing 2 Microsoft exams to the notes in those booksbigleggy7:00am, 14th Jan 2021
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Fountain pens and ink. I have all sorts of pens and lots of colours of ink and also make my own.Ground HogFather7:48am, 14th Jan 2021
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I have tried one note, trello, notepad, docs etc, and always come back to paper. I use a different colour pen everyday so I can easily see how far back to flip pages to find something. A5 ringbound at the side for preference. I also love whiteboards... I have one on the wall now in MY office and have just got an A4 easel one - idea being it's good for temporary notes that could get lost in the notebook and more eco than then post-its I used to use for that. I work in an Agile team though so it's hard to get away from post-it notes (Jamboard anyone?) . I'm sure there was a thread for this...JustCommando!7:53am, 14th Jan 2021
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An A4 sheet of paper wins. Pencil. Rubber. Nothing has ever changed.Ocelot Spleens8:10am, 14th Jan 2021
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I do love a bit of stationary but my life is too cluttered as it is and I need the organisation of electronic filing. I use an iPad for everythingchunkyblizzard however my daughter (and my wife!) have the love and let is spill out onto their personal spaces 8:14am, 14th Jan 2021
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Rubber? You're clearly a modernist, OS.fetcheveryone8:18am, 14th Jan 2021
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Funnily enough Bonners, my only major recollection of the song is my primary school teacher singing it, around about the time I was developing my stationery fixation. We all thought it was "Hit the B square" - some sort of gaming song.fetcheveryone8:36am, 14th Jan 2021
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Amongst all the clutter surrounding me on my dining table must be at least 8 notepads/books. They all have squared paper. The handy A5 ones come from a selection of sport shops in Austria.angelrose8:53am, 14th Jan 2021
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And a Proper Diary. I can’t do electronic diaries, always an A5 diary with Everything written in, including finances at the back. At my first teaching job they gave me a diary - I continued to go back to the same supplier even after I left there to buy one, and still do. I like the format. Always pen and paper - preferred biro a bic. After years of marking I can’t be doing with pretend biros. It’s that little craggy spot of funky ink they leave behind that does my head in. Love a notebook too.phal8:54am, 14th Jan 2021
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Craggy = claggy 🙄phal8:56am, 14th Jan 2021
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Funky = gunky 🙄🙄phal8:56am, 14th Jan 2021
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Oh my! My favourite words used to be "ruled narrow feint with margin" (I had small neat writing before the job knocked it out of me). I made "good" copies of all my lecture notes for most of my time at university (we were warned not to try because it was too time consuming, but it was totally doable if you didn't go to the pub every night or watch television and if, like me, you LIKED writing). I hung out fancy stationery shops and knew everything on the shelves even if I couldn't afford many of them. Fountain pens, yup, even though I hold my pen in an unusual way that meant I got an inky finger. But I also got a typewriter and learned to type at an early age and my crap novels and short stories were written on that.Raptors claws are coming to town
All my colleagues seem to be notebookers now. I'm like, "WTF?" But I still write out a "good" copy of notes from lectures etc. and file it in private blog entries.9:03am, 14th Jan 2021 -
I could show you a picture of my pens. I love pens. I have many pens . My Fischer space pen is my joy.runnerbean
Have to have an old fashioned diary too oh and a few old school notebooks I ‘acquire’ from in the college .....9:10am, 14th Jan 2021 -
I love A5 notepads (used to save a little weight when travelling)Albert O Balsam
Graph paper notebooks are my current 'go-to' as well9:16am, 14th Jan 2021 -
I love a notebook and still get excited in stationery shops! Got 3 for 4 quid on Amazon. I make my work meeting notes in a normal, lined, ring bound A4 notepad. There have been numerous times over the years, where referring back to my written notes has been the only record of something important for the company. You could say poor meeting recording, but I just say my pen and paper is a value-add! Happy noting!Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr) G9:17am, 14th Jan 2021
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Saw the title and thought you were raising funds by allowing people to buy their way to WSW victories!Snail9:42am, 14th Jan 2021
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About 15 years ago, I was invited, along with teachers from other schools, to visit one of the chemical manufacturers in our area, for a tour. When we were shown the stationery cupboard there was great excitement - it was the highlight of the tour. I’d never seen that much in one place outside of Staples.GimmeMincepies9:57am, 14th Jan 2021
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I have a paper diary and a notebook with a fancy cover that I write my Three Positive Things in They give me joy every day. Also, the right pen is very important.jennywren9:58am, 14th Jan 2021
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GM you haven’t seen Oletas bedroom 😂runnerbean9:58am, 14th Jan 2021
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Out work for a company that sells office supplies - when I started there I expected the stationary cupboard to be wonderful - it was notElsie Too10:13am, 14th Jan 2021
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I was browsing pen porn at 4am this morning.....LindsD10:43am, 14th Jan 2021
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I love fountain pens and still use a Parker 45 which I had at school. Plain unlined paper too, lines seem too constricting. Squared is good for my crafty notebooks when I'm working out the size of something to sew.sallykate11:20am, 14th Jan 2021
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Ref dialectrograms ... 9 years ago, when gainfully employed, I was part of a team running a week long workshop - 'Low Touch Cloud Computing Quote to Cash'. (you had to be there, it was thrilling!)um
But one of the 'innovations' we had, thanks to a big 6 consulting firm wanting to earn their $$, was to have an artist doing a sketch of each major section or presentation, live, while the person was presenting. It did create something of a stir in the company, especially as VPs & bigwigs got a signed picture of their speech. I was amazed how the artist drew as they went and somehow managed to fill the canvas.
He did say he hated speakers who dropped a bombshell or major topic in the last few mins when he'd already filled the canvas.
An example - hopefully now no longer confidential by bigco.com ...
Following that, I (or really the artist) was in demand to do similar stuff for other BUs in bigco.12:15pm, 14th Jan 2021 -
That’s an awesome graphic Um.fetcheveryone12:20pm, 14th Jan 2021
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It was quite special, watching him draw it as the person was speaking ...um
There were about 20 done by the end of the week.12:22pm, 14th Jan 2021 -
fraggle
12:56pm, 14th Jan 2021
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Another fetchie who gets it - I love stationary too. But a blank book... I bought a diary to log my training plans in (I use fetch training plan too) but there is something about writing it down. I made a mistake - I had to buy a new one. There is always some trepidation writing on the first page of a new bookgeordiebells2:56pm, 14th Jan 2021
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My favourite shop in my youth was the stationers...the only good part of "back to school" was the excuse to buy a brand new pencil case, plus co-ordinating ruler, rubber and pencil sharpener! And it's still with me...treated myself to a gorgeous inky blue hardback diary covered in gold leopard for 2021 😀Tom Tom5:59pm, 14th Jan 2021
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Might be able to do you a deal on an A5 notepad 🤨Nightjar7:34pm, 14th Jan 2021
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Anything dotted as I now bullet journal - I love Ottergami hardback jnls.Tazsedai9:41pm, 14th Jan 2021
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I have a lovely A4 notebook,Rosehip
but I don't want to spoil it by writing in it and either scribble on the back of enveloped or use notepad9:41pm, 14th Jan 2021
The tagging volunteers have continued to do a great job. I wanted to share some 'before and after' shots of the related threads box, because some of the stuff that the old one was spewing out was pretty funny on the face of it. There are still some coding improvements to be made, but it's looking way better.
Here are some nice examples:
The thread is about making connections from one film to the next, using the actors as links. What this has to do with new shoes, or Maidstone is anyone's guess. The 'Gad-day Bruce' thread (which is about naming people called Bruce) escapes the emoji because I thought of Bruce Wayne, Bruce Lee, Bruce Banner, and my own dad, who has done a lot of amateur dramatics Similarly, a thread about people who died might feasibly mention a lot of filmstars; Michael Gambon has been in films; Robert Harris writes books that get turned into films. People who work all day on film sets probably get a lot of blisters. And what 80's popstar *hasn't* been in a movie?
The "Things you want to say but can't" is the go-to place for lots of people to let off steam. Among the related threads, the thread for misanthropes sounds like it's the only really good match. Unless there are a lot of frustrated amateur wrestlers out there; or multisporters. It's possible that the weight loss challenge went so badly that although the participants wanted to say that they'd lost weight, they couldn't. And maybe the phrase "You're fired" crops up a lot on the TYWTSBC thread. I couldn't say.
And finally, want to talk about electric cars? Admirable stuff. If you can't start it one day, it might be related to the problems with your Garmin. Maybe if you want to coach a group of runners, you have to make sure they know about the terror of silent cars. What *is* the point of a £32.50 5k race - perhaps it's for the "I own an electric car" sticker. I'm a newbie with VLM questions - can I drive it? Hats off to probably the only reasonable match here - diesel vehicles - but then it's back to more Garmin nonsense, and measuring a 100 miler. Is that the charge radius these days? That'd do me.
--
Hopefully you've been checking out the new box over on the right-hand side of these three. The new matches could still do with a bit of improvement (like maybe prioritising threads based on recency, or number of followers as an indicator of usefulness), but I'm so pleased with what we've been able to achieve in about 24 hours. Between us, we've tagged 4211 of the 7774 threads, and by communicating with each other, we've built a set of less than 300 tags that make this system tick. If you volunteered on the previous blog, I'll go back now and add you to the group so we can push on with the rest.
--
Six miles this morning. Blowing away the cobwebs, and feeling grateful that I can run, walk and breathe. I'd crept up to 13st1 over Christmas (that's about half a stone up on where I normally am), so I was also pleased to see that I'm now 12st12.75 Katie and I are still alcohol free in 2021, and trying to stay off the crisps and chocolate too. Every time I am tempted, I try to head it off with something less bad, and wonder if *this* is the year where I get that rack of PB's
But don't mention the chess league. I am getting owned Nice to see some more Fetchies waiting in the wings to join the divisions (scroll down below the divisions to check if you are on the list) on Feb 1st: fetcheveryone.com/chess.php
EDIT: 82 blog streakers!
Here are some nice examples:
The thread is about making connections from one film to the next, using the actors as links. What this has to do with new shoes, or Maidstone is anyone's guess. The 'Gad-day Bruce' thread (which is about naming people called Bruce) escapes the emoji because I thought of Bruce Wayne, Bruce Lee, Bruce Banner, and my own dad, who has done a lot of amateur dramatics
Similarly, a thread about people who died might feasibly mention a lot of filmstars; Michael Gambon has been in films; Robert Harris writes books that get turned into films. People who work all day on film sets probably get a lot of blisters. And what 80's popstar *hasn't* been in a movie? The "Things you want to say but can't" is the go-to place for lots of people to let off steam. Among the related threads, the thread for misanthropes sounds like it's the only really good match. Unless there are a lot of frustrated amateur wrestlers out there; or multisporters. It's possible that the weight loss challenge went so badly that although the participants wanted to say that they'd lost weight, they couldn't. And maybe the phrase "You're fired" crops up a lot on the TYWTSBC thread. I couldn't say.
And finally, want to talk about electric cars? Admirable stuff. If you can't start it one day, it might be related to the problems with your Garmin. Maybe if you want to coach a group of runners, you have to make sure they know about the terror of silent cars. What *is* the point of a £32.50 5k race - perhaps it's for the "I own an electric car" sticker. I'm a newbie with VLM questions - can I drive it? Hats off to probably the only reasonable match here - diesel vehicles - but then it's back to more Garmin nonsense, and measuring a 100 miler. Is that the charge radius these days? That'd do me.
--
Hopefully you've been checking out the new box over on the right-hand side of these three. The new matches could still do with a bit of improvement (like maybe prioritising threads based on recency, or number of followers as an indicator of usefulness), but I'm so pleased with what we've been able to achieve in about 24 hours. Between us, we've tagged 4211 of the 7774 threads, and by communicating with each other, we've built a set of less than 300 tags that make this system tick. If you volunteered on the previous blog, I'll go back now and add you to the group so we can push on with the rest.
--
Six miles this morning. Blowing away the cobwebs, and feeling grateful that I can run, walk and breathe. I'd crept up to 13st1 over Christmas (that's about half a stone up on where I normally am), so I was also pleased to see that I'm now 12st12.75
Katie and I are still alcohol free in 2021, and trying to stay off the crisps and chocolate too. Every time I am tempted, I try to head it off with something less bad, and wonder if *this* is the year where I get that rack of PB's But don't mention the chess league. I am getting owned
Nice to see some more Fetchies waiting in the wings to join the divisions (scroll down below the divisions to check if you are on the list) on Feb 1st: fetcheveryone.com/chess.php EDIT: 82 blog streakers!
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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but the big question is, how many blog streakers?chunkyblizzard5:20pm, 12th Jan 2021
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Ooh, hang on...fetcheveryone5:27pm, 12th Jan 2021
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Yay, I’m glad it’s working well.Fragile Xmas Ornament6:09pm, 12th Jan 2021
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Glad it’s making a difference.Ness6:36pm, 12th Jan 2021
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Excellent workLindsD7:47pm, 12th Jan 2021
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Thanks!chunkyblizzard10:36pm, 12th Jan 2021
Ey up, how's it going?
Today has been mostly about getting the new method of thread tagging in place, and giving the tag team everything they need to get going I hope I picked up everyone who wanted to be a tagger - but if your comment on the Tag Team blog was a bit ambiguous, give me a shout if you want to join in.
It's already producing some great results. As I write, 6182 tags have been applied across 3265 threads. I've tried to do some of them in bulk (e.g. anything with the word 'marathon' in it gets tagged with 'marathon'). On a few occasions this produces a false tag - an ultramarathon =/=marathon; and a thread about bookings =/=a thread about books.
The fearless team of 13 taggers each have a shiny new virtual badge to thank them for volunteering their time and effort. They've started the process of rummaging through the threads. The existing 'Related Threads' box is getting harvested to sift the good connections from the lunacy, and an interconnected hierarchy of tags is emerging from the darkness.
Some tags are very common. The 'event' tag is attached to the most threads - I've stuck it on anything with marathon, 10k, 5k etc in the title. But it can also apply to things that aren't races - like bridges challenges, and even things that aren't running at all - like socials, and cataclysmic fireballs. Then there's '2021', 'training', 'shoes', '10k', 'gps', 'parkrun' and 'garmin' - all picking up lots of threads. There's an 'injury' tag, and an associated set of tags relating to body parts. And then we hit the more niche stuff, like 'hobbies', 'politics', 'tennis' and 'vo2max'; and all the training methodologies. The tag team can see the list of tags and how popular each one is - and I can amalgamate stuff (bike==bicyle, race==races==racing) where necessary.
By and large, it's going well - in the time it took me to write that last bit, another 63 tags have been added! I hope that with a couple of days more beavering, the new 'Related Threads' box will be public, so please enjoy the batshit associations from the old 'Related Threads' box whilst you can. The Batshit Association. Sounds like my day.
[83 blog streakers]
Today has been mostly about getting the new method of thread tagging in place, and giving the tag team everything they need to get going
I hope I picked up everyone who wanted to be a tagger - but if your comment on the Tag Team blog was a bit ambiguous, give me a shout if you want to join in. It's already producing some great results. As I write, 6182 tags have been applied across 3265 threads. I've tried to do some of them in bulk (e.g. anything with the word 'marathon' in it gets tagged with 'marathon'). On a few occasions this produces a false tag - an ultramarathon =/=marathon; and a thread about bookings =/=a thread about books.
The fearless team of 13 taggers each have a shiny new virtual badge to thank them for volunteering their time and effort. They've started the process of rummaging through the threads. The existing 'Related Threads' box is getting harvested to sift the good connections from the lunacy, and an interconnected hierarchy of tags is emerging from the darkness.
Some tags are very common. The 'event' tag is attached to the most threads - I've stuck it on anything with marathon, 10k, 5k etc in the title. But it can also apply to things that aren't races - like bridges challenges, and even things that aren't running at all - like socials, and cataclysmic fireballs. Then there's '2021', 'training', 'shoes', '10k', 'gps', 'parkrun' and 'garmin' - all picking up lots of threads. There's an 'injury' tag, and an associated set of tags relating to body parts. And then we hit the more niche stuff, like 'hobbies', 'politics', 'tennis' and 'vo2max'; and all the training methodologies. The tag team can see the list of tags and how popular each one is - and I can amalgamate stuff (bike==bicyle, race==races==racing) where necessary.
By and large, it's going well - in the time it took me to write that last bit, another 63 tags have been added! I hope that with a couple of days more beavering, the new 'Related Threads' box will be public, so please enjoy the batshit associations from the old 'Related Threads' box whilst you can. The Batshit Association. Sounds like my day.
[83 blog streakers]
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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I'm happy to help with tagging!!!BareHeadEm5:36pm, 11th Jan 2021
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I think we should have batshit as a tag, there are enough of those sort of threads to make it worthwhileDiogenes5:36pm, 11th Jan 2021
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I didn’t reply to your first blog Fetch, but if you need another tagger I’m happy to helpjennyh5:36pm, 11th Jan 2021
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great work!chunkyblizzard5:37pm, 11th Jan 2021
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I missed the last blog but would happily help out if you still need peeps_Suze_5:42pm, 11th Jan 2021
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I’m happy to help with tagging. Not the graffiti kind of tagging thoughNDWDave5:48pm, 11th Jan 2021
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The information guide was very useful. Will do a bit more tagging after dinner.Ness5:48pm, 11th Jan 2021
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I thought this was going to be a blog about America.flanker5:50pm, 11th Jan 2021
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I'm happy to help too. I missed your previous blog, in amongst the mass of daily blogsGimmeMincepies6:32pm, 11th Jan 2021
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I'd better get started, or there will be nothing leftDvorak7:40pm, 11th Jan 2021
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Can we put our heads together an think of a tag that covers all the -"kitchen table" (maybe that would do? ) threads such as donuts, tea, coffee, mundane, smile - type threads - all the nice places to go just to prove you exist/see that there are others out there?Rosehip7:49pm, 11th Jan 2021
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Would you be willing to start a Tag Team thread Rosehip, for discussing stuff like this?fetcheveryone8:03pm, 11th Jan 2021
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good idea - will doRosehip8:06pm, 11th Jan 2021
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I put my hand up but maybe you have enough people already?Pegg1:22pm, 12th Jan 2021
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Happy to join in if you need any more help.Chrisity10:13pm, 12th Jan 2021
I felt like now might be a good time to resurrect this idea. The combination of COVID-19 and Brexit has generated a lot of uncertainty and pressure on people to make ends meet. Like I said the other day, things are changing around us with businesses getting absorbed and steamrollered - or just finding their customers suddenly on the other side of a set of regulations. Unemployment has been on the rise since the end of last year - see ons.gov.uk
I'm not expecting this to change the world, (I'm not looking for a new England), but if it helps one person find a job, then it will be totally worth it. If you're looking for a job, or if you know of a job you can offer, then please add them here:
fetcheveryone.com/jobsboard.php
If this takes off, I can do some development work on it, and try to promote it further within the Fetch community. If you've got any suggestions for it, leave a comment. I've probably spent enough time developing our chess league page - this is a better side-project!
--
Ten miles this morning. My longest run since the end of October, and I came home feeling I could have gone further. I gave some very effusive good mornings. And I saw at least three separate individuals who were walking along whilst looking at their watches, then suddenly breaking into a run. I gave them extra big good mornings.
[84 blog streakers!]
I'm not expecting this to change the world, (I'm not looking for a new England), but if it helps one person find a job, then it will be totally worth it. If you're looking for a job, or if you know of a job you can offer, then please add them here:
fetcheveryone.com/jobsboard.php
If this takes off, I can do some development work on it, and try to promote it further within the Fetch community. If you've got any suggestions for it, leave a comment. I've probably spent enough time developing our chess league page - this is a better side-project!
--
Ten miles this morning. My longest run since the end of October, and I came home feeling I could have gone further. I gave some very effusive good mornings. And I saw at least three separate individuals who were walking along whilst looking at their watches, then suddenly breaking into a run. I gave them extra big good mornings.
[84 blog streakers!]
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Awesome ❤️Corrah2:28pm, 10th Jan 2021
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This is amazing!!!BareHeadEm2:36pm, 10th Jan 2021
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Excellent. All of it.LindsD2:41pm, 10th Jan 2021
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Wow, that's fantastic!Garfield2:46pm, 10th Jan 2021
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What a fantastic idea. Is there no end to them?!?TBR (TheBeardRunner)2:47pm, 10th Jan 2021
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Cool running and thread idea!AdrianB10662:49pm, 10th Jan 2021
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I love that you give extra big good mornings to certain people!Pegg3:01pm, 10th Jan 2021
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Nice Billy Bragg reference. If this helps one person it's worth it.Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr) G3:13pm, 10th Jan 2021
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That sounds like an ideal run this morning.GimmeMincepies4:19pm, 10th Jan 2021
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A most satisfying run, and an excellent idea re the job page.Helegant5:11pm, 10th Jan 2021
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Hats off to you. Tremendous idea.depeche_mould12:31am, 11th Jan 2021
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If it helps just one person. Great idea.JogWalker7:31am, 11th Jan 2021
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You are the milkman of human kindnessMcGoohan7:39am, 11th Jan 2021
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This is a lovely idea. 😀phal9:02am, 11th Jan 2021
Oh yeah, mustn't forget to blog
I'd like to be able to improve our 'related threads' box - sometimes it throws up some bizarre matches.
For example, our chess club thread (did I mention chess?) matches with the following threads:
1. World Chess Championship
2. Post your Christmas cracker joke
3. Boris Love
4. University Challenge 2017 (And, Perhaps, Only Connect)
5. If I was Prime Minister, the first law I'd introduce is...
6. Famous Alumni
7. Barefoot Arms - Inaugural Event
8. Rik Mayall's greatest hits: a deathmatch (20-03)
Out of those, #1 and perhaps #4 (because it's equally nerdy) are decent matches. The rest - how did that happen?!
The current algorithm looks for the most popular words in the thread, but then it tries to work out which of those popular words are not words that appear *everywhere* else.
For example, the word 'and' appears a lot in the chess thread. But it also appears very frequently in all other threads - so it's not a useful indicator of what makes that thread unique. The word 'queen' appears a lot too, but unlike 'and' it's probably not that common in other threads. Those threads where it appears a lot are therefore (in theory) potential good matches. I guess that's why the Boris thread appears, and perhaps the Prime Minister one, and also maybe the 'Famous alumni' one. And there's a sub-problem - a chess piece is not actually a monarch, even though they're called the same thing.
I'd like to revisit the idea of manual thread tagging to see if we can do better. So if human eyes have tagged the thread with 'boardgames', 'competition', 'hobbies', then we could be in a better position to match other threads, and discard the poor matches.
There are 7767 live threads at the moment - probably too many for me to tag by myself. My usual approach to this kind of problem is to make it a bit of a free-for-all, with everybody chipping in a little bit - but previous experiences have shown that people have different approaches to thread tagging - and the results can be a bit hit and miss. Different people use different words and plural/singular to describe the same thing e.g. "races" vs "race" vs "events", "threshold" vs "tempo", "tunes" vs "music", "parkrun" vs "race"
I wonder if it might work better if there are a finite set of tags which I can administer, and a 'team' of taggers with the ability to choose which ones to apply to a given thread. If you like the idea of being in a tag team, or if you have any other suggestions for this sort of thing, leave a comment. There are whole branches of thinking devoted to this sort of thing - so no doubt our way will be fairly simplistic by comparison - but I like the sound of it. This is the sort of AFK stuff that goes through my head on weekends anyway.
[86 blog streakers]
I'd like to be able to improve our 'related threads' box - sometimes it throws up some bizarre matches.
For example, our chess club thread (did I mention chess?) matches with the following threads:
1. World Chess Championship
2. Post your Christmas cracker joke
3. Boris Love
4. University Challenge 2017 (And, Perhaps, Only Connect)
5. If I was Prime Minister, the first law I'd introduce is...
6. Famous Alumni
7. Barefoot Arms - Inaugural Event
8. Rik Mayall's greatest hits: a deathmatch (20-03)
Out of those, #1 and perhaps #4 (because it's equally nerdy) are decent matches. The rest - how did that happen?!
The current algorithm looks for the most popular words in the thread, but then it tries to work out which of those popular words are not words that appear *everywhere* else.
For example, the word 'and' appears a lot in the chess thread. But it also appears very frequently in all other threads - so it's not a useful indicator of what makes that thread unique. The word 'queen' appears a lot too, but unlike 'and' it's probably not that common in other threads. Those threads where it appears a lot are therefore (in theory) potential good matches. I guess that's why the Boris thread appears, and perhaps the Prime Minister one, and also maybe the 'Famous alumni' one. And there's a sub-problem - a chess piece is not actually a monarch, even though they're called the same thing.
I'd like to revisit the idea of manual thread tagging to see if we can do better. So if human eyes have tagged the thread with 'boardgames', 'competition', 'hobbies', then we could be in a better position to match other threads, and discard the poor matches.
There are 7767 live threads at the moment - probably too many for me to tag by myself. My usual approach to this kind of problem is to make it a bit of a free-for-all, with everybody chipping in a little bit - but previous experiences have shown that people have different approaches to thread tagging - and the results can be a bit hit and miss. Different people use different words and plural/singular to describe the same thing e.g. "races" vs "race" vs "events", "threshold" vs "tempo", "tunes" vs "music", "parkrun" vs "race"
I wonder if it might work better if there are a finite set of tags which I can administer, and a 'team' of taggers with the ability to choose which ones to apply to a given thread. If you like the idea of being in a tag team, or if you have any other suggestions for this sort of thing, leave a comment. There are whole branches of thinking devoted to this sort of thing - so no doubt our way will be fairly simplistic by comparison - but I like the sound of it. This is the sort of AFK stuff that goes through my head on weekends anyway.
[86 blog streakers]
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Tagging sounds right up my streetFragile Xmas Ornament11:17pm, 9th Jan 2021
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Ooh me me! Taggity-tagDvorak11:40pm, 9th Jan 2021
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Happy to helpSarahWoo11:51pm, 9th Jan 2021
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I like sorting things into categories. But do you remember the last time you tried something like this - keywords for threads or similar - and a contingent of the slightly more imaginative Fetchies spammed the threads with made up words?Carpathius1:28am, 10th Jan 2021
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Not me #hashtagNightjar5:24am, 10th Jan 2021
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What if you only apply the current matching to the thread title?Nightjar5:27am, 10th Jan 2021
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One of my school’s (not very) famous alumni was an international grand master, so it’s my fault. I quite like some of the random links that appear, but I’d also be happy to play tag.Diogenes6:25am, 10th Jan 2021
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Carp - that’s what I was politely alluding tofetcheveryone7:17am, 10th Jan 2021
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Nightjar - if a thread has a less-than-straightforward title, it falls down e.g. 'Fetchie Flab Fighters' wouldn't match any of the other weight loss threads. There are dozens of threads that are related to shoes that don't include the word 'shoes' in the title.fetcheveryone7:43am, 10th Jan 2021
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Yep, I have the time and the peculiar mental acuity for that type of task. If needed, I am happy to assist.Dave W8:08am, 10th Jan 2021
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Tag tag I'm in.Pinks8:10am, 10th Jan 2021
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I'll happily play tagRosehip8:23am, 10th Jan 2021
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I’m almost certain my words would not match up to threads 😂runnerbean8:26am, 10th Jan 2021
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I’d be happy to help.Ness8:29am, 10th Jan 2021
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Happy to help if required. (And is it board games? 😀 )♪♫ Synge ♪♫8:40am, 10th Jan 2021
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Happy to helpmerry minardi *hic*9:18am, 10th Jan 2021
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Tagging things on websites is relevant to my job, albeit on a very different system and I have developers who do the thingsJustCommando! happy / keen / interested to get involved. Forgot to blog last night after bike race, so you're down to 85!9:26am, 10th Jan 2021
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How do you define 'live' ? Would it be appropriate to limit the related threads to only those active in the last 2 (or 4 or n) years? Muybe with a user filter selection? (not massive, just all orum9:27am, 10th Jan 2021
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Before going down the manually tagging route, could you try a quick variation of the current approach?roberton
Build the relevance score just as you do know but exclude “stop” words (e.g. “and”) in the comparisons. Many text processing systems do that as one of their pre-processing steps. It also means there are lists and libraries of stop words readily available 😀
(If you try this and it seems promising you can then try extending it with something like stemming)10:22am, 10th Jan 2021 -
I'd agree that University Challenge and the chess thread are related. However, I've always thought "University Challenge 2017" is now unrelated to everything, given that it's 2021. The solution in my opinion would be to have a "University Challenge" thread that's not specific to any year, therefore will continue to stay relevant.mattglen_1:01pm, 10th Jan 2021
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roberton - I do exclude stop words. The existing method that I described above should exclude these naturally, but there is a manual list too.fetcheveryone9:50am, 11th Jan 2021
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It looks like the internet chewed up my answer and spat out half of it.um
Trying again …
How do you define 'live' ? Would it be appropriate to limit the related threads to only those active in the last 2 (or 4 or n) years? Maybe with a user filter selection? (not massive, just all or a year limit)
Although I do like the random and unstructured links – not everything in life has to be categorised and classified. Is there any way to keep both options – ‘real relations’ and 'somewhat more esoteric random relations'.10:04am, 11th Jan 2021 -
Fetch - just seen the secret tag team page and tried out some tagging, but when I come out of the thread and ooh back in I’m not seeing the tags I’ve added.Fragile Xmas Ornament1:49pm, 11th Jan 2021
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(Go, not oohFragile Xmas Ornament )1:50pm, 11th Jan 2021
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Fmail coming your way.fetcheveryone1:59pm, 11th Jan 2021
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Add me to the team pleaseGround HogFather5:56pm, 11th Jan 2021
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I'm happy to tagPegg7:36pm, 11th Jan 2021
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I didn't see this. I quite like the random "related threads" list. It makes me smile or reminds me of something sometimes unrelated. I could poss do some tagging too, though you've got lots of volunteers already.Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr) G9:11am, 12th Jan 2021
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Only just come across this but if you're still looking for help with tagging let me knowMisterTea9:24am, 15th Jan 2021
I've updated our VO2Max calculator - you can put any training run in, along with your average heart rate on that run - and your age and weight - and it will give you an estimate.
fetcheveryone.com/training-calculators-vo2max.php
After my most recent run (yesterday morning), my Garmin updated my VO2max from 48 to 49 (go me!). I plumbed the numbers into the calculator (7.76mi, 1h12m21s, 139bpm, 83.2kg(!), 45yo), and it gave me a VO2max of 51.2.
A little bit of disagreement there - but I know that fancy watches do stuff to iron out stuff e.g.
1) if you go up a hill, your pace goes down, and your HR goes up;
2) likewise on a downhill, your HR will come down because it's easier, or your pace will go up for the same HR;
3) bad signal - tree cover, tunnels, Bill Gates attempting to control you etc.
4) pauses for photo opportunities, traffic lights, toilet stops, finding dead bodies, etc etc.
5) warm ups and cool downs.
6) perhaps doing some overall smoothing of scores from each individual run.
My run was fairly flat, like most of Bedford - with only a bridge over the dual carriageway (at 2mi and again at 5.7mi on the way home) spoiling an otherwise flat run. The signal was pretty good too, and I tried to run consistently throughout.
That only leaves the first few miles as a potential mitigating factor. After the first two miles, until the very end, my HR was fairly consistent, each mile with an average of between 141-146bpm. The actual HR varied from 130 to 156, with the lowest value coming as I ran down the slope from the bridge; and the highest value as I reached the top of the bridge on my way back home.
If I (pen and paper time) remove the first mile from my run, the calculator gives me 50.9. If I remove the second mile as well, I get 49.6, which seems reasonably close, considering it's a fairly simple formula.
I tried it on another run that is largely flat: fetcheveryone.com/t-18509636
Using the overall numbers (5.15mi, 48m39s, 141bpm, 83.2kg, 45yo), I get a VO2max of 50.5 with the calculator. Applying the same logic, I chopped off the first two miles, leaving (3.15mi, 29m33s,148bpm,83.2kg,45yo), and a VO2max of 49.7.
One more run - the tempo I did on Christmas eve: fetcheveryone.com/t-18471921
Overall (5.01mi, 41m23s,157bpm,83.2kg [I was probably a bit lighter than this, pre-Christmas feasting],45yo) gives me a flattering 52.1; but when I cut the first two miles out, I'm left with (3.01mi, 24m10s, 166bpm, 83.2kg, 45yo), and a still-a-bit-high 51.7.
One thing that crosses my mind with this run (and I don't know if it's relevant or not) is that my HR was rising throughout this run. So whether this calculator works best on steady state running, or whether that's bullshit, or whether I've just got reasonably lucky and I'm a good fit to the curve - is still up for debate.
Oh go on, one more...: fetcheveryone.com/t-18464483
This was an attempt at keeping my HR at or just below 143bpm, by regularly checking my watch.
Overall (6.53mi, 1h0m41s, 139bpm, 83.2kg, 45yo) = 51.2
Without first two miles (4.53mi, 42m33s, 142bpm, 83.2kg, 45yo) = 50.5
Also a little higher than the other predictions - hmmm, I've got no explanation for that. Perhaps that sixth step that the fancy watches take will smooth this one out.
--
What does any of it mean?
Putting aside the validity of the Fetch predictor (and the Garmin one, and any others for that matter), what does VO2max tell us? In my blog from the other day, Fenland Flier said "what does the information mean to me and what can I do with that information (to improve my running or have a better healthier life)".
As far as I can see, it's just a boiled down indicator of fitness level. Any predictor will throw up an outlier now and then - but the overall trend of your magic number is a good indicator of whether you're going in the right direction. We all know that doing the right types of training will improve our fitness. Those long steady runs can improve your ability to use fat as a fuel. High intensity runs help to train your body to develop more mitochondria, and push back the point at which it can't handle the lactate levels. Running in general makes your heart stronger, so that it can pump that oxygen round to where it's needed with less effort. Good nutrition makes sure that your blood carries the right *thingies* (knowledge getting a bit hazy here - hemoglobin? Getting your iron?) to help make it an efficient oxygen carrier, and that your muscles are well-fuelled. And **rest** allows your muscles to rebuild and adapt to cope with the extra work you're asking them to do. I would be very happy if someone who knows what they're talking about would point out all the flaws in what I've just said - but I hope that the gist is ok.
Anway. All these things feed the same monster. Maximising your ability to suck in that delicious cool life-giving air, and convert into raaaaar! So I guess that's what VO2max does - it gets you thinking about that system, finding out where the bottlenecks can be, and working out what kind of training can help you smash them. Have a nice evening!
[87 blog streakers!]
fetcheveryone.com/training-calculators-vo2max.php
After my most recent run (yesterday morning), my Garmin updated my VO2max from 48 to 49 (go me!). I plumbed the numbers into the calculator (7.76mi, 1h12m21s, 139bpm, 83.2kg(!), 45yo), and it gave me a VO2max of 51.2.
A little bit of disagreement there - but I know that fancy watches do stuff to iron out stuff e.g.
1) if you go up a hill, your pace goes down, and your HR goes up;
2) likewise on a downhill, your HR will come down because it's easier, or your pace will go up for the same HR;
3) bad signal - tree cover, tunnels, Bill Gates attempting to control you etc.
4) pauses for photo opportunities, traffic lights, toilet stops, finding dead bodies, etc etc.
5) warm ups and cool downs.
6) perhaps doing some overall smoothing of scores from each individual run.
My run was fairly flat, like most of Bedford - with only a bridge over the dual carriageway (at 2mi and again at 5.7mi on the way home) spoiling an otherwise flat run. The signal was pretty good too, and I tried to run consistently throughout.
That only leaves the first few miles as a potential mitigating factor. After the first two miles, until the very end, my HR was fairly consistent, each mile with an average of between 141-146bpm. The actual HR varied from 130 to 156, with the lowest value coming as I ran down the slope from the bridge; and the highest value as I reached the top of the bridge on my way back home.
If I (pen and paper time) remove the first mile from my run, the calculator gives me 50.9. If I remove the second mile as well, I get 49.6, which seems reasonably close, considering it's a fairly simple formula.
I tried it on another run that is largely flat: fetcheveryone.com/t-18509636
Using the overall numbers (5.15mi, 48m39s, 141bpm, 83.2kg, 45yo), I get a VO2max of 50.5 with the calculator. Applying the same logic, I chopped off the first two miles, leaving (3.15mi, 29m33s,148bpm,83.2kg,45yo), and a VO2max of 49.7.
One more run - the tempo I did on Christmas eve: fetcheveryone.com/t-18471921
Overall (5.01mi, 41m23s,157bpm,83.2kg [I was probably a bit lighter than this, pre-Christmas feasting],45yo) gives me a flattering 52.1; but when I cut the first two miles out, I'm left with (3.01mi, 24m10s, 166bpm, 83.2kg, 45yo), and a still-a-bit-high 51.7.
One thing that crosses my mind with this run (and I don't know if it's relevant or not) is that my HR was rising throughout this run. So whether this calculator works best on steady state running, or whether that's bullshit, or whether I've just got reasonably lucky and I'm a good fit to the curve - is still up for debate.
Oh go on, one more...: fetcheveryone.com/t-18464483
This was an attempt at keeping my HR at or just below 143bpm, by regularly checking my watch.
Overall (6.53mi, 1h0m41s, 139bpm, 83.2kg, 45yo) = 51.2
Without first two miles (4.53mi, 42m33s, 142bpm, 83.2kg, 45yo) = 50.5
Also a little higher than the other predictions - hmmm, I've got no explanation for that. Perhaps that sixth step that the fancy watches take will smooth this one out.
--
What does any of it mean?
Putting aside the validity of the Fetch predictor (and the Garmin one, and any others for that matter), what does VO2max tell us? In my blog from the other day, Fenland Flier said "what does the information mean to me and what can I do with that information (to improve my running or have a better healthier life)".
As far as I can see, it's just a boiled down indicator of fitness level. Any predictor will throw up an outlier now and then - but the overall trend of your magic number is a good indicator of whether you're going in the right direction. We all know that doing the right types of training will improve our fitness. Those long steady runs can improve your ability to use fat as a fuel. High intensity runs help to train your body to develop more mitochondria, and push back the point at which it can't handle the lactate levels. Running in general makes your heart stronger, so that it can pump that oxygen round to where it's needed with less effort. Good nutrition makes sure that your blood carries the right *thingies* (knowledge getting a bit hazy here - hemoglobin? Getting your iron?) to help make it an efficient oxygen carrier, and that your muscles are well-fuelled. And **rest** allows your muscles to rebuild and adapt to cope with the extra work you're asking them to do. I would be very happy if someone who knows what they're talking about would point out all the flaws in what I've just said - but I hope that the gist is ok.
Anway. All these things feed the same monster. Maximising your ability to suck in that delicious cool life-giving air, and convert into raaaaar! So I guess that's what VO2max does - it gets you thinking about that system, finding out where the bottlenecks can be, and working out what kind of training can help you smash them. Have a nice evening!
[87 blog streakers!]
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Food for thought indeed.TBR (TheBeardRunner)4:59pm, 8th Jan 2021
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Interesting. How come weight is a required variable?NDWDave5:04pm, 8th Jan 2021
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I compared the value I got (using my stats from a hard 10k on NYE) with a few charts on the internet. It seems I'm excellent/superior. I am sceptical that is the caseTeeBee May try it with some other data just to see.5:08pm, 8th Jan 2021
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VO2Max is typically measured in ml/kg/min, so it sort of makes sense to include mass i in the equation. Have just found this paper, which suggests significance between VO2max and RHR, age and mass: researchgate.netfetcheveryone5:09pm, 8th Jan 2021
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Interesting. I tried it on my 5k Pb from November and it is spot on with my Garmin ... if I identify as a woman... (*)(*)NDWDave5:09pm, 8th Jan 2021
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TeeBee - I've been wondering about that - both Katie and I get flattering comments from our Garmins, and yet we're not front-of-the-field runners. My guess is that the range of VO2max on which the bands are based includes people who don't do any exercise - hence we're all relatively specialfetcheveryone5:12pm, 8th Jan 2021
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seems like the blog streak numbers are stabilizing. Not sure we will lose too many more by the end of Jan.chunkyblizzard5:14pm, 8th Jan 2021
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According to my Garmin, today's run which was frankly a grind gave me a VO2 max of 45 (top 1% for my age and gender! Go me!) and your calculator says 40. In the 12 months I've had this particular Garmin it's never given me less than 44. Quite honestly, I don't believe it. 40 sounds more like how I feel!LittleDonkeyDaisy5:17pm, 8th Jan 2021
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Very interesting. Thx.JogWalker9:23am, 9th Jan 2021
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I think the problem / challenge with the base calculation in the academic paper is that it is only validated at jogging speed; that's the purpose of the paper (to give an easy way to predict VO2Max without stressing the systems of potentially unhealthy individuals) so it won't be / may not be valid across all running paces. Plus they margin of error in their paper was +/- 5.6 which is pretty huge. Would be important to highlight that limitation I think otherwise the results might confuse.larkim3:16pm, 9th Jan 2021
Way back in November, Katie and I watched The Queen's Gambit on Netflix. It gave me the incentive to download the chess.com app on my phone, and play a few games against the computer. I blogged about it:
fetcheveryone.com/blog/3/2020/11#blog412686
Then Diogenes started the Fetch Chess Club thread:
fetcheveryone.com/forum/fetch-chess-club-61700/
and over time, in bits and pieces of my time, I've pulled together a Fetch Chess League, which currently has 43 players Come for a look here:
fetcheveryone.com/chess.php
We're in our first month of 'divisions', with promotion and relegation - and by all accounts, people are enjoying playing other Fetchies who are at the same level as themselves. Thanks to JulesR and SPR, we're also involved in a couple of tournaments with rival running groups - and also planning our own FA Cup-style knockout tournament later this month.
To encourage participation, I'm putting together a set of badges, which can be won by gaining promotion through our divisional system. If you'd like to join in, you can start in Division 9 (the bottom division), and work your way up in line with your ability.
I've played 40 games now, and I'm still enjoying it! The biggest skill seems to be the ability to put yourself into your opponent's shoes. Given the move that you're about to make, how will your opponent react?
If you'd like to join us, call in to the chess club thread and make yourself known. *pushes glasses up nose*
fetcheveryone.com/blog/3/2020/11#blog412686
Then Diogenes started the Fetch Chess Club thread:
fetcheveryone.com/forum/fetch-chess-club-61700/
and over time, in bits and pieces of my time, I've pulled together a Fetch Chess League, which currently has 43 players
Come for a look here: fetcheveryone.com/chess.php
We're in our first month of 'divisions', with promotion and relegation - and by all accounts, people are enjoying playing other Fetchies who are at the same level as themselves. Thanks to JulesR and SPR, we're also involved in a couple of tournaments with rival running groups - and also planning our own FA Cup-style knockout tournament later this month.
To encourage participation, I'm putting together a set of badges, which can be won by gaining promotion through our divisional system. If you'd like to join in, you can start in Division 9 (the bottom division), and work your way up in line with your ability.
I've played 40 games now, and I'm still enjoying it! The biggest skill seems to be the ability to put yourself into your opponent's shoes. Given the move that you're about to make, how will your opponent react?
If you'd like to join us, call in to the chess club thread and make yourself known. *pushes glasses up nose*
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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I gave chess a try once and I was pretty hopeless. I lack the ability to be able to figure out what my opponent will do. Kind of need that. Have fun allCorrah6:13pm, 7th Jan 2021
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I recommend it. Playing against other Fetchies has really helped my game improve and the app is really good.GimmeMincepies6:13pm, 7th Jan 2021
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I haven’t played in a long time but have been tempted, though I also recently installed a Scrabble app and have ended up playing regularly on that. If it’s not too time-intensive, I suppose I could give chess a go too!Funky Chicken6:18pm, 7th Jan 2021
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My running buddy only asked me on Monday if I played chess. I had to fess up that although I was terrible at it now, I used to play when I was kid and perhaps I could dabble again.roberton
So fancy seeing this! Intensive chess training programme about to begin!7:16pm, 7th Jan 2021 -
I hadn’t played chess for about 40 years until a few weeks ago. I’m really very rusty (and wasn’t that good to start with) but I’m absolutely loving it.Angus Clydesdale8:33pm, 7th Jan 2021
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Ah, I wondered where all the new chess Fetchies were suddenly coming from, but all is clear now:)JulesR9:19am, 8th Jan 2021
Way back in a September blog fetcheveryone.com/blog/3/2020/9#blog410599 - I picked up on an equation in Daniels' Running Formula that estimated VO2Max. What I missed at the time is that this formula is based on the assumption that the runner is going at it hard.
VO2Max is (*awaits corrections in the comments*) the maximum rate of oxygen usage that your body is capable of. Your lungs take it in, your heart pumps it round, your muscles use it to produce movement, and you run. It follows that the rate you use oxygen is tied to how quickly you can move.
The problem with the initial equation I used is that none of us go at it hard every time we run. So it'd be great if there was a way of estimating the max value without going through the stress of a max effort run.
Step forward submaximal VO2max estimates!
Today I found this white paper (from 2007 - wow!) that offers an equation to estimate VO2Max from less-than-max-effort runs:
tandfonline.com
I admit to not having read it all, but the summary includes an equation that estimates VO2Max as a function of age, pace, heart rate and weight. I have only played with it so far. I've plugged in some estimated data from a tempo run I did on Christmas Eve, and the easier run I did yesterday morning. Rather than use the whole run, I used the 5k benchmark time, and I estimated what my HR was doing during that 5k part. The tempo gave me a value of 51.6, and the easier run gave me 50.7. These are both a little bit higher than the 48 that Garmin is giving me, but it's encouragingly closer than anything I'd calculated previously.
SIDE PROJECT: The equation from the white paper suggests that, if age and weight are assumed to be constant (and my weight certainly hasn't been constant over the last month - 13st1 this morning, but that's for another blog), then we might get somewhere by coming at this with some kind of graph like the following:
At present, I can run 5k in 29 mins at 140bpm, and a 5k in 24 mins at 165bpm. Get more of these readings, and the dotted line that can be drawn through them leads to an estimate of 5k time at max HR, which in turn brings us back to the Daniels' Formula. I would be interested to see if that leads to similar numbers.
That part is all pie in the sky - but I will do more digging with the rest of my training data since getting my new HRM (yay), and see how consistent the white paper formula proves to be. Leave me a comment if you're interested.
VO2Max is (*awaits corrections in the comments*) the maximum rate of oxygen usage that your body is capable of. Your lungs take it in, your heart pumps it round, your muscles use it to produce movement, and you run. It follows that the rate you use oxygen is tied to how quickly you can move.
The problem with the initial equation I used is that none of us go at it hard every time we run. So it'd be great if there was a way of estimating the max value without going through the stress of a max effort run.
Step forward submaximal VO2max estimates!
Today I found this white paper (from 2007 - wow!) that offers an equation to estimate VO2Max from less-than-max-effort runs:
tandfonline.com
I admit to not having read it all, but the summary includes an equation that estimates VO2Max as a function of age, pace, heart rate and weight. I have only played with it so far. I've plugged in some estimated data from a tempo run I did on Christmas Eve, and the easier run I did yesterday morning. Rather than use the whole run, I used the 5k benchmark time, and I estimated what my HR was doing during that 5k part. The tempo gave me a value of 51.6, and the easier run gave me 50.7. These are both a little bit higher than the 48 that Garmin is giving me, but it's encouragingly closer than anything I'd calculated previously.
SIDE PROJECT: The equation from the white paper suggests that, if age and weight are assumed to be constant (and my weight certainly hasn't been constant over the last month - 13st1 this morning, but that's for another blog), then we might get somewhere by coming at this with some kind of graph like the following:
At present, I can run 5k in 29 mins at 140bpm, and a 5k in 24 mins at 165bpm. Get more of these readings, and the dotted line that can be drawn through them leads to an estimate of 5k time at max HR, which in turn brings us back to the Daniels' Formula. I would be interested to see if that leads to similar numbers.
That part is all pie in the sky - but I will do more digging with the rest of my training data since getting my new HRM (yay), and see how consistent the white paper formula proves to be. Leave me a comment if you're interested.
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Very interested. I know it's academic, but if I'm going to get numbers I like them not to be misleading.Raptors claws are coming to town5:56pm, 6th Jan 2021
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I like numbers.Bob!
Would you need current weight against each training entry?6:04pm, 6th Jan 2021 -
InterestingNess6:12pm, 6th Jan 2021
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As a suggestion: why not create a free account with Runalyze and push your Garmin data to them, so you can see what they do with VO2 max. Might be helpful in deciding how to (or how not to) interpret it yourself.Sigh6:15pm, 6th Jan 2021
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There’s a critique of this paper online, but unfortunately behind a paywallFeleecy Navidad
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=579932729669324155&as_sdt=2005&sciodt=0,5&hl=en#d=gs_qabs&u=%23p%3Dh12z8CrjxrsJ
You definitely shouldn’t check on scihub to see if it’s available for free though6:26pm, 6th Jan 2021 -
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=579932729669324155&as_sdt=2005&sciodt=0,5&hl=en#d=gs_qabs&u=%23p%3Dh12z8CrjxrsJFeleecy Navidad6:26pm, 6th Jan 2021
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Oh wait it’s giving the whole scholar link, will find the correct one link.springer.comFeleecy Navidad
I probably have library access though if anyone wants it6:28pm, 6th Jan 2021 -
Always interested / curious but what does the information mean to me and what can I do with that information (to improve my running or have a better healthier life).Festive Flier7:01pm, 6th Jan 2021
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Yep, interestedchunkyblizzard7:22pm, 6th Jan 2021
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Also interested.Gooner9:15pm, 6th Jan 2021
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Sign me up, boss.RichHL10:54pm, 6th Jan 2021
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Interested too. Sucker for a graph and a spreadsheet.Strutbrother11:23pm, 6th Jan 2021
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Yes interestedTeeBee7:07am, 7th Jan 2021
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I think this relates to a different area too, which is looking at how hard each run is, something along the lines of the training impulse (TSS) system they have in Training Peaks. I think that's perhaps a more standard thing to implement, and might be more useful? After all ti can show when you are really loading yourself up, and at high(er) risk of injury.boyband66662:40pm, 7th Jan 2021
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The critical paper can be downloaded without paywall from here researchgate.netpuzzler
One of the key issues it highlights is small sample. That’s surely something that fetch’s Massive database of training runs could fix.5:45pm, 7th Jan 2021 -
I find the V02 figures from Garmin are a good indicator of my fitness, so long as I use a chest strap. The actual number doesn’t mean much to me, but it does show improvement, or loss of fitness, and can compare my fitness from year to yearDillthedog6:42pm, 7th Jan 2021
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Is it just me, but I have no confidence in the VO2 readings from the Garmin anyway - and never have since getting my first Garmin. Garmin estimates my VO2 at 50 odd today - 'Your fitness age is that of an excellent 20 year old. That's the top 10% for your age and gender. ' Your initial formula suggests I am at the 30 odd level for the same run (which I feel is a little low), I would have thought its really awkward to measure effort though, heart rate doesn't tell all the story eitherMinimag7:32pm, 7th Jan 2021
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se si potesse avere sarebbe comunque un ottimo parametro di confronto ulteriore e quindi è sempre meglio avere piu notizie per poi fare un eventuale media Ben fatto e spero presto tu possa renderci partecipe di tuttoZORBAX659:23am, 8th Jan 2021
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Fetch: regarding hr vis a vis times: I think mine matches up, not on raw hr, but working HR. That is: say I do a run at average 65% whr. For the same run at 75%, the time will reduce by 10%. At 85%, the time will reduce by 20%. This is taken from general observations, rather than stringent analysis, but may be another avenue to look down?Dvorak10:52am, 21st Jan 2021
[95 bloggers still on the New Year streak.]
I am somewhat fuzzy-headed. After staying up 'til around midnight with the boy, I had a disturbed night. The dog barked at something at 3ish. The next door neighbour's kid had some kind of yelling and screaming incident at about 4.30, and then the dog barked again at 5am - this time keen to go out for a poo. I let him out, whilst maintaining a squint to keep the light out of my brain (does anyone else do that?), and stumbled back to bed. But ten minutes later, it was clear that I wouldn't sleep any more - my allergies had started up. I spent the next few hours doing a lot of sneezing - but I did get some work done. I passed prizewinner details on to the companies that provided the Christmas prizes. One more neighbour yelling incident at just gone 7, and then I got out for a run at about 8.30.
The run was one of two halves. There was little-to-no joy in the first half. My hands were cold and painful, and I felt like a lump of lard. I felt the eyes of every passing driver, and wanted to say "I'm not new at this - I'm just having a tough one today". And I took heart from knowing that if anything will make you feel less lard-like, it's doing a bit more running. On to the canal, and I felt a little bit better - more birds and less humans. They are more visible in the hedgerow at this time of year - I like looking out for them, even though I can never remember the different types - and a little gang of three flew along with me for a short while. It was still hard work though, it felt like a real grind. It felt like I was running into the wind, but the Beaufort scale didn't back that up. My heart rate was reporting higher than I'd like it for the pace - but I reasoned that I was pretty tired, and the cold weather made everything a bit stiff, like a cold engine.
I turned at 2.5 miles, and somewhere around there things felt better. I was heading for home. The sun came out a little bit and warmed my face. I imagined that the imaginary wind I'd ran into was behind me. I felt like I found some rhythm. My heart rate actually dropped as I got faster! (Although I discovered when I got home that it was probably down to the watch changing its mind a couple of times mid-run). I left the canal and ran back past all the drivers, with a bit more spring and confidence. I was really tempted to do a bit more - but I decided to go home with a smile.
Inside the front door, the dog had done a poo.
Lol.
But apart from that, it was one of those occasions where running changes your mood for the better. I don't need to ask for comments - I know it will have happened to you too. Remember to breathe. Take a minute. Feel the oxygen rushing in, burn it, and breathe out all the crap. You can do this.
I am somewhat fuzzy-headed. After staying up 'til around midnight with the boy, I had a disturbed night. The dog barked at something at 3ish. The next door neighbour's kid had some kind of yelling and screaming incident at about 4.30, and then the dog barked again at 5am - this time keen to go out for a poo. I let him out, whilst maintaining a squint to keep the light out of my brain (does anyone else do that?), and stumbled back to bed. But ten minutes later, it was clear that I wouldn't sleep any more - my allergies had started up. I spent the next few hours doing a lot of sneezing - but I did get some work done. I passed prizewinner details on to the companies that provided the Christmas prizes. One more neighbour yelling incident at just gone 7, and then I got out for a run at about 8.30.
The run was one of two halves. There was little-to-no joy in the first half. My hands were cold and painful, and I felt like a lump of lard. I felt the eyes of every passing driver, and wanted to say "I'm not new at this - I'm just having a tough one today". And I took heart from knowing that if anything will make you feel less lard-like, it's doing a bit more running. On to the canal, and I felt a little bit better - more birds and less humans. They are more visible in the hedgerow at this time of year - I like looking out for them, even though I can never remember the different types - and a little gang of three flew along with me for a short while. It was still hard work though, it felt like a real grind. It felt like I was running into the wind, but the Beaufort scale didn't back that up. My heart rate was reporting higher than I'd like it for the pace - but I reasoned that I was pretty tired, and the cold weather made everything a bit stiff, like a cold engine.
I turned at 2.5 miles, and somewhere around there things felt better. I was heading for home. The sun came out a little bit and warmed my face. I imagined that the imaginary wind I'd ran into was behind me. I felt like I found some rhythm. My heart rate actually dropped as I got faster! (Although I discovered when I got home that it was probably down to the watch changing its mind a couple of times mid-run). I left the canal and ran back past all the drivers, with a bit more spring and confidence. I was really tempted to do a bit more - but I decided to go home with a smile.
Inside the front door, the dog had done a poo.
Lol.
But apart from that, it was one of those occasions where running changes your mood for the better. I don't need to ask for comments - I know it will have happened to you too. Remember to breathe. Take a minute. Feel the oxygen rushing in, burn it, and breathe out all the crap. You can do this.
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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It happened to me this very lunchtime. Nice running Fetch. Shame about the poo :/_Suze_12:31pm, 5th Jan 2021
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Stephen! What a little shitebag!MazH12:32pm, 5th Jan 2021
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95! down almost a third.Ocelot Spleens12:32pm, 5th Jan 2021
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I love this blog. Thank you.LindsD12:33pm, 5th Jan 2021
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Glad it picked up. I'm familiar with that "I've done this before, honest" feeling. Especially in January. "I ran in December! It's not a resolution!!"Dvorak12:34pm, 5th Jan 2021
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You're not wrong, we've all experienced that at times.Festive Flier12:34pm, 5th Jan 2021
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Nature healed you and the birds were cheering. Get inrunnerbean12:36pm, 5th Jan 2021
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Other than the obvious ones that everyone knows, I can never remember the different types of birds, trees, flowers...Goofee12:41pm, 5th Jan 2021
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Great blog!BareHeadEm1:04pm, 5th Jan 2021
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Second half sounds much better.Corrah1:07pm, 5th Jan 2021
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Dogs will poop. Those kind of runs are just another way of character building.Gooner1:07pm, 5th Jan 2021
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Not stepping in the poo just inside the front door is another win 👍Eynsham the Red Knows Rain Dear1:19pm, 5th Jan 2021
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Running on ice is horrid and really dangerous. Still glad I went out though. Glad you did too!Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr) G1:26pm, 5th Jan 2021
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More birds is definitely the way to go.sallykate1:59pm, 5th Jan 2021
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we should have gotten a brown triangle warning at the top of the blog!chunkyblizzard2:34pm, 5th Jan 2021
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The Cookster did the same two nights in a row - refused to go out to walk or out for the loo as the fireworks had filled him with fear again. 4am two nights in a row - I do the squinty thing too, although had to abandon the squinty thing as I thought I’d have to go out and help - TMI (they enjoy eating grass) - didn’t get back off for ages afterwards 🙄 We got back in the other day and he’d we’ed as some git had set of fireworks again and he was scared cos we weren’t there. His new toy had to go in the washing machine as it fell in it. His sister from another mister was no help to him for comfort obviously 🙄phal
Solidarity.
Your run sounds ace.2:36pm, 5th Jan 2021 -
Not getting enough sleep is so tiring! Hope you get a better sleep tonight.Mrs Jigs (Luverlylegs)3:33pm, 5th Jan 2021
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I'm sorry but I laughed at the bit about the dog poo. Ours was sick on the carpet just outside the bedroom door the other night though.....BaronessBL3:54pm, 5th Jan 2021
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I'm so glad I have chickens instead!Carpathius5:00pm, 5th Jan 2021
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Another night time sneezer here - bizarre! Glad you ended your run with a smile on your faceAlice Navidad6:51pm, 5th Jan 2021
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❤mulbs12:32pm, 6th Jan 2021
First day back at the keyboard today, after as nice a bit of time off as anyone could have hoped for in the circumstances. I think I referred to it earlier whilst answering some feedback messages as 'a patchwork of Zoom calls, walks, hugs with Katie, and trips to see my boy, held together with gin, chocolate and movies'. Oh, and some chess - but I'll save that for another blog.
I came back to 79 messages in the Fetch feedback inbox. That's not an uncommon swelling - I have to make a concerted effort to hack at it every week, and sometimes it grows wild. We have a small garden with trellis round the edges, and during the summer and early autumn, I enjoyed the sadistic challenge of hacking back the ivy that has taken over virtually everything. Both feel like Canutian (Canute? Cnut?) tasks, but the feedback inbox battle feels like it's a journey towards optimal Fetch. Optimistic Fetch more like - this is crap of course - I've never analysed the 'bugs fixed to bugs created' ratio, but every new line of code brings with it another opportunity for Unintended Consequences But at least the code doesn't set off my hayfever or stab me in the fingers. Yet.
I've pulled it back to 35 messages now. Quite a few were people claiming their Christmas prizes, so that was nice. The most recent one I've answered was less of a bug, more of a conundrum - and so I'd appreciate any useful suggestions
It relates to the benchmarks and predictions in your training log. The former are the fastest chunks of your run, no matter where they occur. The latter are generated by looking at the overall time and distance that you ran. A runner noticed that one of his benchmarks was quicker than the predicted time, and he flagged it to me.
Imagine you run a half marathon and you want to predict your marathon time, or your 10k time, or whatever. Here are two extreme ends of the puzzle:
1) You run a very gentle 2 miles at the start, run a comfortably hard 10 miles, and then ease off with a very gentle 1.1 miles at the end.
2) You run most of the half marathon at a consistent pace, but it includes a 100 metre sprint at some point in the middle.
In scenario 1, that 10 mile benchmark would probably be a better basis for generating predictions than your overall time.
In scenario 2, the overall half marathon time would probably be a better basis for predictions than your 100mt benchmark, except maybe for distances close to 100mt.
Hopefully you're all thinking the same - but the question is... what's the tipping point? At what point does a portion of your run offer a better basis than the overall? No doubt you can work this out for yourselves with common sense when viewing any particular run - but it'd be nice to have a reasoned approach that gave the best predictions.
For any prediction, I think the margins of reasonable error (i.e. you didn't break your leg or get lost or something like that) look like this:
A run of 5k will produce fabulously accurate predictions for 4.9k and 5.1k, but as the distance-to-be-predicted gets further away, so the potential outcomes get broader and less reliable. I know from previous stuff I've done that the translation between 5k and 10k is fairly consistent (if the runner has enough attempts to iron out problems with broken legs and getting lost etc). But imagine how wide the 100 metre error bars would have scattered at 26.2 miles!
So each benchmark could yield a prediction *with* an error bar determined by the difference between your inputed distance and the distance you wanted to predict. But then... you still might break your leg or get lost.
Another 35 puzzles to go I pick the easy ones first, like the password resets, or the 'how do I change to kilometres' - but the ones lurking towards the bottom of the heap have probably compressed into something resembling string theory. Which I seem to recall is the old-fashioned way of measuring routes.
I came back to 79 messages in the Fetch feedback inbox. That's not an uncommon swelling - I have to make a concerted effort to hack at it every week, and sometimes it grows wild. We have a small garden with trellis round the edges, and during the summer and early autumn, I enjoyed the sadistic challenge of hacking back the ivy that has taken over virtually everything. Both feel like Canutian (Canute? Cnut?) tasks, but the feedback inbox battle feels like it's a journey towards optimal Fetch. Optimistic Fetch more like - this is crap of course - I've never analysed the 'bugs fixed to bugs created' ratio, but every new line of code brings with it another opportunity for Unintended Consequences
But at least the code doesn't set off my hayfever or stab me in the fingers. Yet. I've pulled it back to 35 messages now. Quite a few were people claiming their Christmas prizes, so that was nice. The most recent one I've answered was less of a bug, more of a conundrum - and so I'd appreciate any useful suggestions
It relates to the benchmarks and predictions in your training log. The former are the fastest chunks of your run, no matter where they occur. The latter are generated by looking at the overall time and distance that you ran. A runner noticed that one of his benchmarks was quicker than the predicted time, and he flagged it to me.
Imagine you run a half marathon and you want to predict your marathon time, or your 10k time, or whatever. Here are two extreme ends of the puzzle:
1) You run a very gentle 2 miles at the start, run a comfortably hard 10 miles, and then ease off with a very gentle 1.1 miles at the end.
2) You run most of the half marathon at a consistent pace, but it includes a 100 metre sprint at some point in the middle.
In scenario 1, that 10 mile benchmark would probably be a better basis for generating predictions than your overall time.
In scenario 2, the overall half marathon time would probably be a better basis for predictions than your 100mt benchmark, except maybe for distances close to 100mt.
Hopefully you're all thinking the same - but the question is... what's the tipping point? At what point does a portion of your run offer a better basis than the overall? No doubt you can work this out for yourselves with common sense when viewing any particular run - but it'd be nice to have a reasoned approach that gave the best predictions.
For any prediction, I think the margins of reasonable error (i.e. you didn't break your leg or get lost or something like that) look like this:
A run of 5k will produce fabulously accurate predictions for 4.9k and 5.1k, but as the distance-to-be-predicted gets further away, so the potential outcomes get broader and less reliable. I know from previous stuff I've done that the translation between 5k and 10k is fairly consistent (if the runner has enough attempts to iron out problems with broken legs and getting lost etc). But imagine how wide the 100 metre error bars would have scattered at 26.2 miles!
So each benchmark could yield a prediction *with* an error bar determined by the difference between your inputed distance and the distance you wanted to predict. But then... you still might break your leg or get lost.
Another 35 puzzles to go
I pick the easy ones first, like the password resets, or the 'how do I change to kilometres' - but the ones lurking towards the bottom of the heap have probably compressed into something resembling string theory. Which I seem to recall is the old-fashioned way of measuring routes.
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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Either the old-fashioned way of measuring routes, or of holding up trousers.HowFar?4:42pm, 4th Jan 2021
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Somewhere I have a blog to write about your version of string theory.ChrisHB4:53pm, 4th Jan 2021
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What about using the wava?PeteFastFeet5:00pm, 4th Jan 2021
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Do I need to send more paper or ink ?runnerbean5:12pm, 4th Jan 2021
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My dad used to tell me that I should always carry in my pocket a clean handkerchief, a piece of string and a sixpence.♪♫ Synge ♪♫6:01pm, 4th Jan 2021
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Your graph reminded me of these hurricane tracker pics you get in America, for some inexplicable reason:Sigh6:12pm, 4th Jan 2021
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I would ask Fetchies to assign their benchmark in a run, if they don't want to use the whole run for the prediction.Bright Strider
I think of a benchmark test as a standard for judging others, rather than definitely the fastest/best. To be useful, you don't want a benchmark to be an extreme outlier, one way or another.6:20pm, 4th Jan 2021 -
Putting a prediction in based on a training run isn't really useful though is it for most runs unless the site "knows" what level of effort was being applied? Fair enough if its a race, but in any other scenario all it predicts a relatively meaningless number, surely?larkim7:20pm, 4th Jan 2021
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Don’t know enough about the benchmarking to comment but people getting their advent calendar prizes is lovely. Thank you for your hard work with that and glad you did at least get some time away from the keyboard in these strange times.Ness7:24pm, 4th Jan 2021
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It does look odd when the prediction for a mile or 5k time is slower than the benchmark fastest mile/5k. Could you at least get the prediction to be overriden by the benchmark time in those cases?Rosehip7:41pm, 4th Jan 2021
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- or as Larkim implies, only do the predictions if the run is flagged as race or time trial or race pace?Rosehip7:42pm, 4th Jan 2021
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RH - that’s my point entirely: at what point is it ok?fetcheveryone
Larkim - of course it’s not going to be relevant for easy runs, in much the same way that WAVA and VO2Max only come into play on your hardest efforts. I didn’t feel that needed to be said.8:24pm, 4th Jan 2021 -
Of course, but as it's there for all runs it implies a level of relevance or usefulness for all runs too. If it was only visible for certain types of runs out might accentuate it's importance / relevance?larkim9:44pm, 4th Jan 2021
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Sorry for the extra messages where people message you for help, realise they problem is user based, and message you again *coughs*Serendippily10:32pm, 4th Jan 2021
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But those are so easy to deal with Seren - they make me look more productive:-)fetcheveryone11:06pm, 4th Jan 2021
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Not sure what the old spelling would have been, but «Knut» is a reasonably common male name here in Norway. (We had a spelling reform in the early 1900s so it could well have been Cnut before then.) An early hurdle for learners of the language is to pronounce the K and the N. Many speakers are initially unable to avoid putting an a or uh in between, which is possibly why it gets transliterated as Canute in english.Nord Rundeer 🦌4:33pm, 5th Jan 2021
[A correction - on the 1st of Jan there were 121 individual bloggers (I forgot to remove the multiples - thanks Trin for making me think of that), of which 106 also wrote a blog on the 2nd. There's every likelihood that at least some of those 15 missing bloggers had no intention of 'streaking', but I guess some of them gave up or forgot. I still have a five year diary from when I was in my early twenties, with the first seven days filled in.]
For my birthday last month I got a new Garmin - it's a fancy one that I've been lusting after for a year or so. It does wrist-based heart rate - I know some folks say they can be a bit flaky at times, but it's certainly giving me more information than I had before. My previous watch had a chest band, which was (a) not all that comfortable, and (b) prone to massive mood swings - to the extent that the data was unusable.
I've enjoyed wearing this watch continuously, and not just tracking my HR whilst I run, but also looking at my overnight resting heart rate. It's fascinating to see what affects it. On my actual birthday, Katie and I had a meal and what scientists refer to as a 'shitload of wine', followed up by a birthday viewing of Withnail and I, and a few large gins and a couple of pints of cider (ice in the cider). Actually, we didn't have any cider, but I love that film and I did have the large gins. Overnight I got my highest resting HR since records began (which on reflection, was pretty much guaranteed).
From then on, I've been looking at what drives it up. Harder training sessions and over-boozing tend to do it. It's all within the range of a few beats - I've got a lowest low of 47bpm, and a highest low of 56bpm - but it definitely appears to track up or down. Common sense is telling me that it's showing my body working harder to recover from the good and bad efforts I am putting it through.
It's a rare person that doesn't overdo things a bit in one way or another around the Christmas break. And the volume that I can drink tends to creep up in a way that I don't especially like. I'd prefer to make sure it's a treat rather than a habit. I know I'm not alone in considering reducing my alcohol intake for the new year, even if some folks view sea-change resolutions with suspicion. Our plan (Katie too) is to ditch it for January. Cutting back on *everything* at the start of the year has been something we've done anyway, ever since 'Church Mouse January', back in the first month post-independence, when we were crapping ourselves about whether it would all work out.
This morning I got an overnight 49bpm - up one beat on the day before. Yesterday was an early wake-up to collect shopping; a five mile run (calf has thankfully not reacted badly to that); a 90 minute walk with the boy and Stephen; an upturned water bowl in the kitchen prompting all hands on deck; a brief painful snowball fight in the garden; watching the boy searching through Minecraft cave systems as I lay dribbling on the sofa - I don't do much piloting these days, but I like to go along; and some Breaking Bad (third watch-through for me, first for the boy). But no alcohol. And that felt pretty liberating.
EDIT: Want to be alcohol free? Join the TBOGUA thread: fetcheveryone.com/forum/the-benefits-of-giving-up-alcohol-18416
For my birthday last month I got a new Garmin - it's a fancy one that I've been lusting after for a year or so. It does wrist-based heart rate - I know some folks say they can be a bit flaky at times, but it's certainly giving me more information than I had before. My previous watch had a chest band, which was (a) not all that comfortable, and (b) prone to massive mood swings - to the extent that the data was unusable.
I've enjoyed wearing this watch continuously, and not just tracking my HR whilst I run, but also looking at my overnight resting heart rate. It's fascinating to see what affects it. On my actual birthday, Katie and I had a meal and what scientists refer to as a 'shitload of wine', followed up by a birthday viewing of Withnail and I, and a few large gins and a couple of pints of cider (ice in the cider). Actually, we didn't have any cider, but I love that film and I did have the large gins. Overnight I got my highest resting HR since records began (which on reflection, was pretty much guaranteed).
From then on, I've been looking at what drives it up. Harder training sessions and over-boozing tend to do it. It's all within the range of a few beats - I've got a lowest low of 47bpm, and a highest low of 56bpm - but it definitely appears to track up or down. Common sense is telling me that it's showing my body working harder to recover from the good and bad efforts I am putting it through.
It's a rare person that doesn't overdo things a bit in one way or another around the Christmas break. And the volume that I can drink tends to creep up in a way that I don't especially like. I'd prefer to make sure it's a treat rather than a habit. I know I'm not alone in considering reducing my alcohol intake for the new year, even if some folks view sea-change resolutions with suspicion. Our plan (Katie too) is to ditch it for January. Cutting back on *everything* at the start of the year has been something we've done anyway, ever since 'Church Mouse January', back in the first month post-independence, when we were crapping ourselves about whether it would all work out.
This morning I got an overnight 49bpm - up one beat on the day before. Yesterday was an early wake-up to collect shopping; a five mile run (calf has thankfully not reacted badly to that); a 90 minute walk with the boy and Stephen; an upturned water bowl in the kitchen prompting all hands on deck; a brief painful snowball fight in the garden; watching the boy searching through Minecraft cave systems as I lay dribbling on the sofa - I don't do much piloting these days, but I like to go along; and some Breaking Bad (third watch-through for me, first for the boy). But no alcohol. And that felt pretty liberating.
EDIT: Want to be alcohol free? Join the TBOGUA thread: fetcheveryone.com/forum/the-benefits-of-giving-up-alcohol-18416
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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A good startLindsD1:39pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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cutting alcohol to very rarely has certainly brought my RHR downDingDocMerrily1:43pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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I've found the optical HR to be good enough for me, and wear mine 24/7. I swap it to the other wrist at night so the skin has a break!Sigh1:51pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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It will be interesting to see the numbers for daily blogging as we go through January. Any guess at how many will see the month out?chunkyblizzard1:52pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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I do the swap thing too Sigh, although I'm finding the initial irritation has settled somewhat.fetcheveryone1:53pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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CW - we first did something like this in 2014. Of 83 bloggers on Jan 1st, 37 blogged on Jan 31st - about 45%. So more than 54 streakers by the end of this January would be a double win.fetcheveryone1:57pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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I find an evening training session or drinking (gin worse than wine) increases my “stress” over night.EvilPixie2:05pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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My wrist gets a breather charging feels odd on other wrist!EvilPixie
I have a fenix 5 and love it
It’s a bit large in bed and I subconsciously worry about slapping hubby!
The alarm on vibrate is invaluable to me as I have shit hearing.
See this is why you need to import more stats from garmin!2:07pm, 3rd Jan 2021 -
I have the forerunner 225,the first one I think with HRM. It is very unreliable. Got a chest strap during the summer and loved proper 80/20 heart rate training with it.TBR (TheBeardRunner)2:17pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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Great goal setting Fetch. TBOGUA thread is a very welcoming & supportive place to hang out.AdrianB10662:24pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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I gave up wearing my watch all the time after about two days. For me it’s rather like a bra, serves a useful purpose when I’m out of the house, but I can’t wait to take it off when I get home.Fragile Xmas Ornament2:29pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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Ooh, thanks for the thread advert. Sounds like some great New Year goals. All the best for 2021!Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr) G2:39pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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this reminded me of when my son had his first Garmin... must be 30 years ago... (is that possible?) and he used to announce his resting heart rate from the night before every morning at breakfast. As him mum of course I was impressed.D25*xy4aXma5name!2:39pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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I love all the HR starts from mine too, but on longer runs finds it eats the battery so I turn it off then forget to turn it back on again.... I think a spell of giving up something that generally isn't too good for us and our bodies is a good thing and January is as good a time as any - good luck to you both xBareHeadEm3:20pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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Breaking bad fan as well. Nice one👍Wezza3:32pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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Interesting stats on the blogadawing. I also wear my Garmin 24/7 but hadn't thought of swapping wrists at night; thanks for the idea. We're also re-watching Breaking Bad - for the 4th or 5th time. We're on Season 5 now, nearing the end.GimmeMincepies3:53pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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I’ve found the same with my Garmin at night. A couple of glasses and up goes the HR. Similar result if I train in the evening. Whether or not it’s accurate, it’s made me more aware of what I do and the effects it haslaterunner4:05pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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We are doing Dry January too. My wrist gets quite red from my Garmin, I’m sort of glad to hear it’s not just me’jennywren4:19pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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I’ve been told the alcohol change is linked to your blood sugar being driven up as the alcohol is metabolised and your circulation is working to redistribute it - it’s certainly very noticeable, and at the least a reminder that it’s affecting your physiology in more ways than you might realise. (Recollection of a conversation with someone who’d been to a lecture on training where it came up, might not be exactly accurate!)Santa Badgey4:31pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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I’m obsessed with my resting HRSushi4:49pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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Coincidentally a heart rate strap was delivered this afternoon while I was out running - a run for which my 235 optical heart rate monitor closely tracked my cadence for all but the last few yards (yesterday's same run ave heart rate 147, today's apparently 167!), so I'm moving the other way ostensibly also for accuracy!ThorntonRunner5:37pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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I think there was something wrong with my old HR belt - the trace was extremely jagged.fetcheveryone5:43pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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My Garmin recorded my highest heart rate ever when I accidentally stood on a dead seagull 🤣Minnie Mince Pie Mad6:23pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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I happen to have blogged each day, but not sure I;d want to be counted as a blogadaw contender.Helegant6:47pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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Withnail and I - my favourite-ist film ever 😍Qwerty10:47pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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I hope it wasn't just regular wine, but the finest wines available to humanity that was consumed?depeche_mould11:04pm, 3rd Jan 2021
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It’s the same with me - alcohol can add around 6 bpm to my resting heart rate. A 12% increase just for the stress of processing it out of the body. Whether we get a ‘hangover’ or not there are the hidden effects taking place internally. Now then, where’s the eggnog?JogWalker8:23am, 4th Jan 2021
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I have also had the same observations relating to alcohol, and also affects my body battery and stress levels - not managed to stop me having a few wines... but I'm working on it.geordiebells11:39am, 4th Jan 2021
Yesterday there were 142 blogs For those who were asking, I don't mind whether you do them as public, buddies or private - or any combination that suits you - I wouldn't want to discourage anyone.
I did see a few comments about the quantity of blogs watering down the quality - and I know this discouraged at least one person from writing, which doesn't feel great. I do understand - if you're used to seeing just our regular bloggers, then all the extra ones might feel like a bit much. There are ways around this. You can favourite the ones that you enjoy reading. Or you can rely on the Fetch community to collectively filter out the best ones on any given day, through their comments and upvotes.
I'd like to compare it to running. Where would we be if we discouraged people who didn't start out too well? Writing about your experiences and sharing your innards is not that dissimilar. It takes a bit of courage to don that super suit and run past the hecklers. The more you do, the better you get. And you should do it for yourself, not for anyone else - not even for badges and socks.
Some ideas:
1) if it's a big blog, try making it a two parter. You could add a cliffhanger!
2) have some recurring themes. Race reviews; book reviews; stuff you find when you're running.
3) plan ahead. There's nothing that says a blog has to be written on the day.
4) read other blogs. Some of our regular bloggers cover a wonderfully diverse set of subjects.
5) it doesn't have to be about today. It's nice to have a place to recall past events.
6) explore yourself. Your blog doesn't have to be about things that happen outside of your head.
7) Make plans. Write about what you hope to do, then revisit it later.
8) If someone comments, see where that takes you next time.
9) Support your fellow bloggers by upvoting and commenting on blogs you like.
10) Remember your super suit.
For those who were asking, I don't mind whether you do them as public, buddies or private - or any combination that suits you - I wouldn't want to discourage anyone. I did see a few comments about the quantity of blogs watering down the quality - and I know this discouraged at least one person from writing, which doesn't feel great. I do understand - if you're used to seeing just our regular bloggers, then all the extra ones might feel like a bit much. There are ways around this. You can favourite the ones that you enjoy reading. Or you can rely on the Fetch community to collectively filter out the best ones on any given day, through their comments and upvotes.
I'd like to compare it to running. Where would we be if we discouraged people who didn't start out too well? Writing about your experiences and sharing your innards is not that dissimilar. It takes a bit of courage to don that super suit and run past the hecklers. The more you do, the better you get. And you should do it for yourself, not for anyone else - not even for badges and socks.
Some ideas:
1) if it's a big blog, try making it a two parter. You could add a cliffhanger!
2) have some recurring themes. Race reviews; book reviews; stuff you find when you're running.
3) plan ahead. There's nothing that says a blog has to be written on the day.
4) read other blogs. Some of our regular bloggers cover a wonderfully diverse set of subjects.
5) it doesn't have to be about today. It's nice to have a place to recall past events.
6) explore yourself. Your blog doesn't have to be about things that happen outside of your head.
7) Make plans. Write about what you hope to do, then revisit it later.
8) If someone comments, see where that takes you next time.
9) Support your fellow bloggers by upvoting and commenting on blogs you like.
10) Remember your super suit.
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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11) If you are struggling with a topic, post a picture of a cat in a boxNDWDave12:48pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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Had to look at this twice as wondered what fetch was doing with Dave's catNight-owl12:52pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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Excellent! I see we had the same discussion on the thread last time round. I know my sister is no longer on here, but reading back I felt very proud of her for sticking up for the rights of EVERYONE to have a go at blogging. A busy blog section makes me very happyRaptors claws are coming to town1:00pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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As some one who does blog regularly, I *love* seeing new people cropping up and blogging - I always wonder who the community of Fetch is that don't post.McGoohan1:01pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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I'm also enjoying seeing some new bloggers. I like getting to know fetchies - and if their blog content is really interesting I'll favourite so I don't miss the next one 😊 happy blogging folks xBareHeadEm1:12pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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I enjoy reading blogs from new Fetchies and the ones who’ve been around a while too. In 2020 Bvo’s blog about his 5k a day were lovely to read.Ness1:12pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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Ooooo a long time ago someone complained about the blogs on here and in protest I developed a series of blogs known as Pumpkin Watch to annoy even morebigleggy1:25pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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i hope there will be more cats in boxes on blogs. My favorite blogs have pictures.DingDocMerrily1:34pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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Pictures of dogs with large imploring eyes also good DocSerendippily1:52pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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Must get cat for future blogging 😂SooWoo2:11pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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Ok, good arguments Fetch. Is there an amnesty for missing the first day of new year’s blogging though?roberton2:22pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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Nice box NDWDave.TBR (TheBeardRunner)2:26pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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Thank you - that chimes very much with what I was thinking. Read ‘em or not, comment or not, but don’t be discouraging.In the bleak midWinniefree2:29pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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We have neither cat nor dog. 😢 I do have a lot of boxes.Nightjar2:40pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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Thanks for understanding how much of a challenge it can be to enter the blogging world for the first time! Tried it yesterday and was really encouraged by the kind and encouraging comments. Good tips for future blogs here, thanks all.gardengirl3:04pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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I blog the biggest heap of rubbish at times but hey ho it’s fun. I also like reading blogs although I don’t always comment on them.Merry Lip Gloss3:21pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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Nice writing prompts there FetchTheScribbler Jennyh reminded me of a 100 word challenge I set some time ago, so I'm mulling over a blog challenge again.3:39pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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I wondered why there were so many new posts yesterday. My own fault for not really paying attention.RichHL3:57pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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I wouldn't expect anything less than an all inclusive attitude to blogging on this site. It's one of the unique qualities of FetchTeeBee4:42pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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Oh dear - I made a comment on the blog of a Fetchie who I consider a friend too that their blogs are always quality and I'd rather see that than expect quantity from them but I hope it didn't put them off - I hope they know me well enough to ignore any advice I'd care to give and I certainly wouldn't have aimed that comment at someone I didn't 'know'. I love seeing new blogs from both new and established fetchies but as I have blogged myself today I hope nobody would beat themself up about a blogging challenge. It's great to blog but every other day (or week or month as you wish) is just as enjoyable to read if writing a blog a day is going to be a stress that you don't need (and I'm aiming that last sentence at myself as much as anyone!)BaronessBL7:01pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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Good words👍 I know it's late and I've had a beer, but I have to say that if you were a politician I'd vote for you.Wezza12:21am, 3rd Jan 2021
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I'm trying to find a theme or a style at the moment. I used to only blog about races but that would mean not blogging at all so I'm extending my range! It's good to read about new Fetchies.Minnie Mince Pie Mad8:44am, 3rd Jan 2021
When I was in primary school, we had to do a project about our village. It's quite a little place - there were about 120 houses back then, but it's grown a little over the years as the gaps between other villages have been filled with housing.
A friend of my grandma's got hold of a printed map (a bit like a surveyor's drawing) showing all the buildings in the village - and she coloured in the houses that used to have shop fronts, back before my grandma was grand. I couldn't believe it - I think there were at least 20 - each performing some niche service for the folk of Glan-y-nant.
By my time, there were just seven shops including the post office. Nowadays I think there are five.
Things change, I guess. We moved out of the village when I was nine, to nearby Bargoed. Well, technically Gilfach, if you want to show off - but that's another village that has been assimilated. In Bargoed there was a Woolworths. I would buy my Christmas presents there; I bought my first ever albums there; and I bought chocs for my first ever date at the cinema opposite. We saw The Delinquents, but I can't remember a thing about it.
Can you tell where this is going? Woolworths closed in 2008. The cinema (of which there used to be several in the town) went. Most of the little shops in the town went. Unless you want your hair cut, or to buy vape stuff, or to rummage a charity shop, there's not much in the way of choice. The supermarket is now the town's main shop.
Bedford town centre has taken several punches to the mouth since I moved there. M&S, River Island, Debenhams - too many names to list - all gone or going. If you don't want coffee, phone covers, vaping or rummaging, your choices are limited. There are still niche shops - part of having a higher population density I guess. But it feels like there's an inevitable force of change that's been in play since my grandma was young, and before that too, I'm sure.
Convenience. Everything in one place. No effort required. Palm of your hand.
But also... no longer dozens of shopkeepers. Just a big anonymous shopkeeper who doesn't know you or your family. Unless you count big data. One big transaction machine. Sure, Mr Lloyd* would have his finger on the scales when he weighed your meat. Mrs Jones would try to charge you twice for your newspaper delivery. Mr Evans would short change the kids for their sweets. But everyone in the village knew it, and we got on with it - a local tax regulated by fists and gossip
I think about all this when I look at the internet. A great place for people to share information and ideas; to come together for the greater good. Yes, if we didn't have it, we'd probably still have high streets. But that spirit of collaboration is the important part, and the bit worth fighting for. Big money comes, and applies the squeeze - walling off a piece of the world. The corner shop closes, and we trudge round the supermarket. Until that closes, and we're faced with ordering something online that won't look like the picture. The great big burger menu of disappointment.
Not here.
Everybody has access to everything I can produce. No board of directors. No shareholders. Just Fetchies, and my best shot at enabling you all to make this place the way you want it. If you like Fetch, and want to support our community, please do. If you like Fetch, but can't support us, that's ok - we've got you covered. And this isn't meant to be emotional blackmail - it's just where my thoughts went today.
Here's to 2021 - I hope it works out for you.
*names changed to prevent fists and gossip
A friend of my grandma's got hold of a printed map (a bit like a surveyor's drawing) showing all the buildings in the village - and she coloured in the houses that used to have shop fronts, back before my grandma was grand. I couldn't believe it - I think there were at least 20 - each performing some niche service for the folk of Glan-y-nant.
By my time, there were just seven shops including the post office. Nowadays I think there are five.
Things change, I guess. We moved out of the village when I was nine, to nearby Bargoed. Well, technically Gilfach, if you want to show off - but that's another village that has been assimilated. In Bargoed there was a Woolworths. I would buy my Christmas presents there; I bought my first ever albums there; and I bought chocs for my first ever date at the cinema opposite. We saw The Delinquents, but I can't remember a thing about it.
Can you tell where this is going? Woolworths closed in 2008. The cinema (of which there used to be several in the town) went. Most of the little shops in the town went. Unless you want your hair cut, or to buy vape stuff, or to rummage a charity shop, there's not much in the way of choice. The supermarket is now the town's main shop.
Bedford town centre has taken several punches to the mouth since I moved there. M&S, River Island, Debenhams - too many names to list - all gone or going. If you don't want coffee, phone covers, vaping or rummaging, your choices are limited. There are still niche shops - part of having a higher population density I guess. But it feels like there's an inevitable force of change that's been in play since my grandma was young, and before that too, I'm sure.
Convenience. Everything in one place. No effort required. Palm of your hand.
But also... no longer dozens of shopkeepers. Just a big anonymous shopkeeper who doesn't know you or your family. Unless you count big data. One big transaction machine. Sure, Mr Lloyd* would have his finger on the scales when he weighed your meat. Mrs Jones would try to charge you twice for your newspaper delivery. Mr Evans would short change the kids for their sweets. But everyone in the village knew it, and we got on with it - a local tax regulated by fists and gossip
I think about all this when I look at the internet. A great place for people to share information and ideas; to come together for the greater good. Yes, if we didn't have it, we'd probably still have high streets. But that spirit of collaboration is the important part, and the bit worth fighting for. Big money comes, and applies the squeeze - walling off a piece of the world. The corner shop closes, and we trudge round the supermarket. Until that closes, and we're faced with ordering something online that won't look like the picture. The great big burger menu of disappointment.
Not here.
Everybody has access to everything I can produce. No board of directors. No shareholders. Just Fetchies, and my best shot at enabling you all to make this place the way you want it. If you like Fetch, and want to support our community, please do. If you like Fetch, but can't support us, that's ok - we've got you covered. And this isn't meant to be emotional blackmail - it's just where my thoughts went today.
Here's to 2021 - I hope it works out for you.
*names changed to prevent fists and gossip
Click here to suggest fetcheveryone's blog for today's highlights.
Comments
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What you do is greatly appreciated. Thank you. 😀Eynsham the Red Knows Rain Dear4:39pm, 1st Jan 2021
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idle_wilder4:40pm, 1st Jan 2021
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And to you. Thank you for FetchTeeBee4:41pm, 1st Jan 2021
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The Delinquents was that the one with Kylie.Night-owl4:41pm, 1st Jan 2021
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Thank you for creating this wonderful corner of the internet Fetch, hope 2021 is amazing for you and yours 😁BareHeadEm4:43pm, 1st Jan 2021
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This is why we love it here so much xxCorrah4:44pm, 1st Jan 2021
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Wow. I thought you were going to do paint drying. If your daily blogs are going to be the quality I'm questioning should I bother trying myself 😊TBR (TheBeardRunner)4:46pm, 1st Jan 2021
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A celebration of traditional local shops continues around here through local pages on social media, which is a great way of using the Internet to keep the local traders going. We even still have a local vinyl record shop!Sigh4:47pm, 1st Jan 2021
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And as if by magic, the shopkeeper appeared. HNY fetchNDWDave4:49pm, 1st Jan 2021
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Great first blog of the year, but will you second one have a picture of a cat in it?chunkyblizzard4:50pm, 1st Jan 2021
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thanks for another great year of fetchingDingDocMerrily4:55pm, 1st Jan 2021
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Hope 2021 works out for you too, thank you for this lovely little corner of the Internetnorthernslowcoach4:59pm, 1st Jan 2021
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There’s a reason I’ve been here so long (am I still the 2nd oldest fetching?) and that’s because you’ve created an awesome place and amazing site and community.EvilPixie
For that we thank the5:00pm, 1st Jan 2021 -
Happy New Year to you & Katie xmerry minardi *hic*5:05pm, 1st Jan 2021
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This is the corner shop of the internet. I used to sit in the corner of our village shop and excitedly open my packet of Panini football stickers. Nobody minded that I was there, or thought I was getting in the way. Some people nipped in, did whatever they had to do, then rushed off on their way. Others hung around and chatted about this and that. For some, I’m sure, it was the focal point of their day. Somewhere to meet friends and have a catch up.HowFar?
I’ll be behind the birthday cards if you need me, sorting out my swaps.5:11pm, 1st Jan 2021 -
This corner of the internet makes us happy just like a friendly corner shop but without the finger on the scales.D25*xy4aXma5name!5:11pm, 1st Jan 2021
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Thank you for working long hours in our corner shop - much appreciatedjennywren5:16pm, 1st Jan 2021
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Your Welsh village sounds a lot like my Welsh village but I'd be interested to know how many pubs there were then and how many there are now. Pubs and corner shops (and even shops in people's tiny front rooms) abounded. Not now.LittleDonkeyDaisy
Without you to keep us in order I think we could easily degenerate into a rabble.5:21pm, 1st Jan 2021 -
Happy New year, and many thanks for this corner of the internetKOG5:42pm, 1st Jan 2021
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HNY to you and Katie! Love this corner shop - long may it exist. xxSarahWoo5:46pm, 1st Jan 2021
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Happy New Year to you and yours!Ness5:49pm, 1st Jan 2021
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Dude.RichHL6:01pm, 1st Jan 2021
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I love it here. XLindsD6:16pm, 1st Jan 2021
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HNY to you and Katie and thank you for all you do here. It's a very comfortable place to hang out.GimmeMincepies6:43pm, 1st Jan 2021
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We have a fish shop round the corner. It attracts people in droves. At Christmas the queues were hundreds of metres long.Feleecy Navidad
Why is the fish shop so popular? Partly because the fish is high quality but inexpensive. But mostly because the staff are friendly and welcoming and people love to go there for a chat and advice.
Hopefully the metaphor works!
I just realised I should have saved this for my blogadaw tomorrow but never mind!6:47pm, 1st Jan 2021 -
As someone who was brought up in a bike shop that opened 7 mornings and 5 afternoons a week, I have always had a lot of respect for local shops and their keepers. This has always felt like home, HNY to yourself and Katie, children and dogs.Chrisity9:43pm, 1st Jan 2021
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Thank you, as ever, Fetch!3FrenchMs9:45pm, 1st Jan 2021
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Merry Christmas and Happy NewG(rrr)
10:02pm, 1st Jan 2021
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I'm consistently amazed with how much time and effort you both personally put into this place and that is a major reason that so many of us have kept coming back for such a long time!Gooner10:04pm, 1st Jan 2021
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I'm a firm believer in things being only as good as the person who is at the top - and it's absolutely the case with this site. Thank you for all that you do and happy new year.BaronessBL10:27pm, 1st Jan 2021
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angelrose Love you all, long may you reign. 10:40pm, 1st Jan 2021
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Fetch is a great cornershop of the internet because Fetch is a great person! Thank you. HNY to you and KatieSushi11:17pm, 1st Jan 2021
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The best corner of the internet and a bit like a old fashioned corner shop with a bit of everything all mingled together. Want to discus COVID you can it’s over there next to people counting mince pies. Want help of training or gear have a natter and whilst your here have a look at our race listingsriggys99
Happy new year to fetch and all the Fetchies11:26pm, 1st Jan 2021 -
Thanks for all your hard work. It's nice here. I like it. A lot.Wezza11:39pm, 1st Jan 2021
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I have to agree with Baroness so trueNight-owl12:42am, 2nd Jan 2021
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❤️😍 thank you for being here this year. An isle of tranquillity amongst the madness.2triornot2tri8:27am, 2nd Jan 2021
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Thankyou xNaughty_nickers9:04am, 2nd Jan 2021
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Thankyou 👍Stevewjj10:46am, 2nd Jan 2021
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There’s a reason I log in here everyday - badges 😂 - only joking 😁MisterTea11:05am, 2nd Jan 2021
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Brilliant blog. Brilliant site. I'd be lost without FE.milemonster8:15pm, 2nd Jan 2021
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And I thought the title just meant you had decamped from home for a couple of days. Glad to see Fetch is still Fetch and that's a good stability point in our little world.Helegant8:20pm, 2nd Jan 2021
About Me
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!Blog Archive
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2024 (124)
December (3)
Pics for 2024 :-)
Counterintuitivityness
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Spam Audit
Granville... fetch your cloth
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Saddle Up
Beat that, Andy Dufresne
On the train
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Swittle's Bench!
Escape to Meriden
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October (16)
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Tagging in blog comments
New blog buttons
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New badges!
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It's not magic, it's you!
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September (6)
The Doctor K Cup - 19th October
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I'm back :-)
It was 20 years ago today…
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DESIGNS REVEALED: Fetch 20th anniversary shirts and vests
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Look what I've got!
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Filling up nicely :-)
20th anniversary commemorative tea towel :-) GET IN QUICK :-)
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Would you do it for a Scooby snack?
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Site down for a short while this afternoon
Attention Chrome users
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F'laps 2024 is done!
F'laps - three laps in
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Add A Race - Usability followup
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June (11)
Today’s Task
Here's something cool
F'Laps - get togethers
Forum tagging
F'Laps - broken delete link :-/
F'Laps - your opportunity to withdraw gracefully :-)
Usability - look what's changed
RW Refugees welcomed
Oscar's Everyone Day
New training entry view is live
Snap Poll :-)
May (7)
Easy Street
Track me on Sunday
V2 Training Beta
New Training Log Beta
Five Noahs
Diamanté Celebration Spatula Kit
Marmite Excalibur
April (13)
In case you haven't cancelled it yet...
Weasels and spiders
Blog Listings Change (nowt major)
Six New Badges! Adding pics to Conquercise zones.
Night Races - Can you help?
Sifting Chunks: Gradient versus Pace
Audible Free Trial - You get free audiobooks, I get five quid!
A donation from JH
Andy Townsend :-)
GCU50: Citizen on Patrol
Fetchpoint: The Game - Where I'm Headed
Fetchpoint: The Game - a consultation
Heavy Roller please
March (11)
I can eat fifty eggs
Oscar the Grouch :-(
If a Fetch fails in a forest...
Trialling a new weekly update email
Lasting Power of Suspicion
Fetch Virtual Challenge 2024 *bunting*
Swittle's Funeral
Cadence
Tea & Trails Podcast
Down to my last pen
A bench for swittle
February (8)
The Lightning Struck Tower
Swittle
Cholesterol
This year so far in pictures
Three Noahs
Fetch is as strong as you make it.
100k - what do I need?
Paywalls are BS: I'm on a podcast!
January (11)
Chasing Round Numbers - A Cautionary Tale!
MOTM - Decision Made (and a competition for EVERYONE!)
MOTM - a chance to rethink
Training Home Page updates
How much walking will I do?
Training Plans - Further Updates
Training Plan List
Butter Police
Why no app?
Useful Chat!
Festive Fetch Calendar - Winners
2023 (136)
December (6)
Nearly forgot...
Jam today
Removing another bit of Google's invasiveness
Fancy an extra challenge over the next 12 days?
Chewie, we're home!
Two tips for today's advent challenge
November (13)
Spammy McSpamface
40 days and 40 nights
EfM confirmed!
New Training Log Beta! 😲 (aka Change Is Not Good)
Escape from Meriden
Waiting for your training?
Route of the Century?
I didn't know I owned a nutcracker
Design our anniversary shirts/vests!
Holiday Reading - plenty of fiction :-)
Swimming in a metaphor
Hello
Off World
October (11)
Fl'update
To think I tried to mop it up!
Vote Please: How many F'Laps will you try to do?
F'Laps 2024
Long Run
So it still needs a name...
Front Garden Ultra?
The Boy is a man!
Festive Fetch Calendar
Creative K's
Signs
September (7)
Training Edit Screen - time to ditch it...
Stock check
The Doctor K Cup - October 7th!!!!
Removing the training edit screen
A Happy Applecart
Happy 19th Birthday!
Forgotten pictures
August (14)
Just in case
Weekly Total Hours
Dim Brys Dim Chwys
All hail our robot overlords!
Your local parkrun
Fool on the hill
Survey Follow Up
A survey?
Did you know?
I made a thing
VC Day
FBI Agent
What keeps you going?
Be careful what's in your paste buffer (and July training update)
July (13)
Delight
Respecting your eyeballs since 2004
Hot Stuff, coming through
Ocean Colour Scheme
18 years, 10 months, 13 days and counting...
Ooof #fail
Our listings need you!
Pics from the end of the swim
A whispered, half-remembered dream
Try the Heatmap!!!
Teaser
100 Running Words (and my June summary)
July Virtual Mile
June (8)
Last Big Swim
I can't be the only one...
Which is the real me?
#EveryoneDay
The legendary sixth samosa!
WSW Main Page Layout Changes
May Summary (contains swimming!)
Hoodies pre-order closes at 10am
May (17)
A new WSW challenge
Tagging images
Hoooooooooooooodies!!!!!!!!!!!
Another Sweatshop Competition
Did you get an email?
Fifty Years Ago - Part VIII
Fifty Years Ago - Part VII
Fifty Years Ago - Part VI
Help on a slippery slope
Fifty Years Ago - Part V
Fifty Years Ago - Part IV
Fifty Years Ago - Part III
Chuck-off: Round 2
Not my king?
Fifty Years Ago - Part II
Fifty Years Ago
And that was April
April (10)
Centurion Safari!
Sheep treats (and a routes feature)
And I’ll sail her up the west coast, through villages and towns.
15,746 places to 💩
Track Your Blood Pressure
A couple of quick fmail updates
Rusty Metal and a Cycling Grudge Match
Please help me kick the fmail tyres!
Onset of Summer Watch. Have you got Onset of Summer? +fmail!
Premium?
March (10)
And that was March
Try the new fmail system
Can you help my boy?
Tell A Friend?
Some Sweatshop Competitions
Sign up to our 2023 Virtual Challenge
Review: FORM Smart Goggles
UTMOST vs Treadmills
33,258
Embranglement!
February (13)
And that was February
This year's Virtual Challenge
What does Points make?
Automatic Everything Collector
Peaky Finders
FAO Fitbit users
My favourite training graph
You've got this.
Coffee Survey (for my stepson)
Access all the tips
Tiny Usability Changes
Cod science
Hot Tips
January (14)
Monthly Infographic Bug Fixes
No, but really...
Have a play with the monthly infographic
It's not ready yet, but...
Introducing Fetch Premium
Help me design a new Monthly Infographic...
Still following?
Fettle
Definitely Not Betting
Do you follow? (plus burp chat)
Advance warning for stalkers!
I'm back (and the Fetch LS, SS and NS shirts preorder is open)
Attention Fitbit Users
Review 50 albums in 2023 (badge!)
2022 (144)
December (8)
Treasure Hunt Day 1 - the best gift
Important updates to the Fetch Relay
Introducing the Fetch Relay 2023
Who Am I? (Solved, thanks) And How Am I?
Confessions :-)
12 Days of Christmas Treasure Hunt
Chewie, we’re home!
A few pics from the Foffice :-)
November (24)
Yesvember - Day #30 (and Festive Fetch Calendar Eve!)
The Fetch Festive 160.934 :-) [Yesvember #Day 29]
You'd better watch out... (plus Yesvember Day #28)
Brace Yourself (and there's one spare bobble hat!) and Yesvember - Day #26
Hats in the post! Plus Yesvember Day #25
Look what arrived!
Yesvember - Day #24
Training Graph Manager - usability update (Yesvember Day #23)
Yesvember - Day #22 - Cheating?
Last chance to enter the Advance Performance comp
Yesvember - Days #11 thru #14 (plus Jumpy Boy)
Weather on the training home page watch. Have you got weather on the training home page? (Yesvember - Day #10)
Oh, and... it's Yesvember - Day #9
Another bit of the internet fenced off
Yesvember - Day #8 - taking steps
Yesvember - Day #7
Yesvember - Day #6
Yesvember - Day #5
The curse of swimming GPS
Yesvember - Day #4
The Les Mis effect
Yesvember - Day #3
Yesvember - Day #2
Yesvember - Day #1
October (15)
October gives way to Yesvember!
Anyone fancy a threeway?
More thoughts on races
Racing, post-pandemic
Contracts exchanged!
Competition Time!
Last call for Flobble Hats
A record year for swimming?
Woburn Lido
Order your Bobble Hat! If you like.
I appear to have entered a race! (plus new Garmin import queueing system)
Eric the Eel
Get your hobbit on
The Doctor K Cup: Saturday 8th October!
I felt the touch of the kings and the breath of the wind
September (16)
Take This Bus To Cuba
Fetch Bobble Hats
Trumpeting
Training View tweaks (switch maps, game overlays, mile markers)
Training View tweaks (and a play button bug fix)
A long ride and a cold swim.
Play Button
UTMOST Wava & Bike Division Rebuilds
New UTMOST leagues for cyclists and WAVA fans
The Doctor K Cup
Chance encounters
Do I ditch our Facebook stuff?
A keeper, from my feedback inbox...
Ultra distances - update
Adding ultra distances to Fastest Fetchies league.
Try the new Training Groups pages
August (11)
Training Groups Update - Coming Soon
Garmin Queue Issues
Donations without reference numbers :-)
New Elbow Laws
No longer the 3398th fastest Fetchie over 10k!
Pulling counties into league tables
What was I thinking?
County Champion?
Just bear in mind that you asked for this.
Wahoo and Coros users
How to make half a million quid (batteries not included)
July (6)
Club Listings
Book giveaway :-)
Updated Race Portfolio
Updated Targets Page
Exactly ***1*** Spare Ladies L Cycling Jersey
Search All Blogs :-)
June (10)
Imagine you could search all the public blogs...
Banking Scandal at Fetch Towers!
7pm on Baker Island #everyoneday
#EveryoneDay - Sunday 26th June 2022
Spare Challenge Coasters
The North West Passage
Feature Request Voting - Know Your Limits!
UTMOST Division 8: YIKES!
Shepperton Weight Gain Programme
UTMOST Division 9! Sub-50 10k :-)
May (16)
Four hours left :-)
Division 10: No hope of escape?
Book giveaway :-)
Division 11: No place left to hide
New HR Analysis
They're here! Well, not exactly *here*, but...
A quick Darth Mode update
Darth Mode! And a few biscuits for the hyperdrive.
Division 12: Two hours of pushing broom
Dark Mode: Beta
PB Potential? Fancy a quickie? ;-)
Division 12: Running Out Of Road?
Thank you everyone!
Making UTMOST moves :-)
Do you want a Fetch shirt?
I did my UTMOST :-) (plus new sharing infographic)
April (7)
Today's plan
NEW UTMOST BADGES!!!!!
A plug for some races
Raspberry Pavlov
Win a book :-)
United Colours of Cross Training
A little Streetview adventure
March (11)
The lockers are a pound.
Advice for Gym Noobs!
Feedback made easier
#EveryoneDay June 26th 2022
Fetch Virtual Challenge 2022 🎈
Thanks Chunky: parkrun routes!
Sniffer Dogs
Yikes!
Fetch Cycling Jerseys - Update
Route Plotting tweak
The Crow: A Pipedream!
February (7)
Fetch Kit Spares
Updated Race Listing Pages
Introducing Rundle!
I appear to be training for an OWS event!
Fetch Cycling Jerseys!!!
Does you wantz free shoez?
Post Office tomorrow - kit spares
January (13)
Updated Flanci Design (now with more Fetchness)
Badge Collection Graphic!
Updated elevation trace
Book Lists :-)
Updated sharing infographic - do you like it?
Spare Fetch Kit
Badge page refresh / feature requests
Flanci / Fetch Leggings
New Badge Pages
New hill badges
Join me on my fitness journey!
Are you the farmer?
Blog every day challenge - finishers
2021 (187)
December (14)
Book List
Ten years ago today...
A big slobbery elephant snog.
If you don't like hills, this must be getting tiring :-)
When does a hill end?
Hill finder - prototype v2
Hill Finder - prototype
2022 Targets
Chewie, We’re Home! Happy Fetch Independence Day!
Embed badges, plus a new badge :-)
Updated people page
Seeking map
Streak Watch
The new Fetch buffs are here…
November (23)
Almost there...
The Fetch Library
Update your thread titles
Ascent dissent
Mute a thread
Shortcuts
Training Import Queue
I fell off (but not really!)
Croeso i Fetcheveryone. Ydych chi'n siarad Almaeneg, Swedish neu Eidaleg?
New mobile nav
Last call for shirts
@
Just a trim please
Brought to you by wind power
300 miles later
Golden Ticket Shocker!
Banjobax (aka KOG)
Home and Away kit preorder - with long sleeve option
A little competition - win a copy of Daniels' Running Formula
Garmin testers - thanks
Add your grub stops!
Points Of Interest: Grub Stops
Garmin-owning testers wanted
October (19)
New home and away shirts and vests
Benchmark league - a few more updates
Benchmark league table
Hill areas
Preorder is now open!
'b'uffs then
Necktube design #1 & #2
Buffs (well, neck tubes)
Report dodgy GPS stuff
An apology for people who follow my training
New cycling and swimming badges
New Conquercise Feature: Grids
Sprouting a tiny biking antler :-)
Have a try of the cycling gradient analysis
Struggling with my big ring
Cycling: gradient vs pace
A question for cyclists
For Doctor K
Shan't.
September (14)
New comments (FID 1212)
Forum post previews
Garmin imports with a snippet more info
Gallery upload options
Golden Tickets
"No need to panic donate", says Williams
Forum Quotes
Spoiler Alert!
20th of March and all that.
Have you signed up yet?
This bit of crappy Upminister nearly cost me my f***ing life.
A guide with no pages
To steal a catchphrase from a wise lady...
Multiple choice polls
August (11)
Pre-Race Training - Updated
A connection!
New Member of the Month sponsor
Best Weeks - bug fixes
Your Best Week Ever
Rainbow Kit - preorder is open
Age Bests - filtering out the mistakes :-)
Sign up, sign up, for the Doctor K cup
A message from my lovely wife ❤️
Another batch of rainbow kit?
Spares: Event Clips, Swim Hats and a few rainbow tops
July (10)
A bunch of site goodies :-)
Hello kitty
Holy Simmering Mercury Batman!
Settings
A heart rate question
Sleepy Shuffle?
365 graph
Slipping on ma noob shoes
Meatronomes
World's Sexiest Bridges
June (11)
Benchmarks - a *tiny* little improvement
Race Leaderboards - some small improvements
Race Finder - Update
Up there ^
Routes - more updates
Last call for FE Event Clips
Server update
Minor code problem
Some little updates to your route list
Feature requests - two years on!
More than just a rainbow
May (8)
Rainbow Kit - update on delivery time...
Fetch Ron Hill Cycling Jerseys
Pre-order your rainbow kit now :-)
Jimi Hendrix vs Run DMC
The return of parkrun - a poll
Something in the woodshed...
Default to walk
A tour of the Fetch Office
April (11)
Instabanned :-)
I has Instagram
Fetch Event Clips
FERC
Castle Challenge Coaster!
My chess rating
Jab - symptom watch
This just in...
REVIEW: XMiles selection box
Let FE pay for your coaching qualifications :-)
Castle Challenge - A Quick Blog
March (18)
The Fetcheveryone Castle Challenge
Running vs Cycling Cadence
Fetch vests and shirts (and swim caps)
Elevation vs Follow Roads
£500 of England Athletics courses up for grabs!
TomTom users
Music by year: 1993
10k Analysis: Part 7 - Length of Training Runs
Music by year: 1992 (plus some 1991 additions)
Bot sniffing win :-) plus daily blogger count!
User profiles
10k Analysis: Part 6 - Training Pace Again
Time to update your injuries :-)
User profile - sticker button.. EDIT and race standard
More user profile adjustments
User Profile tweaking
Cute story of the week*
10k Analysis: Part 5 - Training Pace
February (17)
Year on Year mileage comparison
Elevation graphs
It's all kicking off in chess club!
Music By year: 1991
10k Analysis: Part 4 - Weekly Training Habits
Tagging virtual races
Chasing rainbows
Rainbow Shirts
Lance!
Blog writing improvements
10k Analysis: Part 3 - Accuracy of human predictions
Music by year: 1990
Smacking bots
29 slices - my seven days of dinner
10k Analysis: Part 2 - Age and Performance
Pass it on
10k Analysis: Part 1 - Distribution of best 10k times
January (31)
January
Mobile Usability Team Helping All Fetchies...
Salmon Ramen Recipe :-)
Salmon Ramen (for TBR)
Backup dog
The best GPS watches in the world... volume 1
Pick it...
People who liked...
Obscure bugs
Zen & The Art of Heart Rate Training
FIT file import - temporary issue
Keep the change, ya filthy animal
The honeymoon is over
Dirty data
Mobile Usability
Oops
Readership!
Stay sticky
It's Hip To Buy Squares
Related Threads - Exposé :-)
The Batshit Association
Jobs
Tag Team
Feed the monster!
An ad for Fetch Chess Club :-)
Estimating VO2Max
Three little birds
A not uncommon swelling
Church Mouse January
Honey, where's my super suit?
Not here.
2020 (128)
December (6)
Blog A Day 2021?
9 years ago today
Chewie, We're Home! Happy Fetch Independence Day :-)
Be Prepared
Becoming an effluencer
A few Fetch Mugs left
November (10)
The Festive Fetch Calendar is back!
FIT file import
Mugs!
Thank you, mysterious Fetchie!
Chess
UTMOST in the age of COVID-19
This'll cheer you up for sure...
Lost in translation?
Annual Infographic... updating now.
In theory...
October (11)
Training Plan Analysis
Mini plans with the training plan
5k with The Boy :-)
Welcome to tomorrow
Thank you
Become tradeable!
Pre-Race Training Volume
Doctor K Cup Week
Last orders
Advice for a friend
Trader Makeover
September (6)
The shop is open!
Hoodie Colour!
New Fetch Hoodies
A big up/holler!
VO2max
A benchmark derailed by GPS data *nerd*
August (8)
10k analysis
Officially a Sheepy Shuffler!
Pi Watering
Pre-order Avoid Everyone Face Masks
I got sent these...
Other sites? :-O
Benchmarks - an infinitely configurable set of ladders.
Try the monthly infographic :-)
July (10)
Update on Monthly Training Infographic
New Infographic
Monthly Summary (with a little tweak)
A quick Garmin update
Open Water / Wild Swimming Database
Avoid Everyone - spares
OWS Locations
Thread-level search
New Sharing Graphic & New Pastures
My first lamp post
June (16)
Replacing the Who's Training page
Combining some pages
In pursuit of the Gridmaster Ultra
15th Anniversary Kit - Spares
Shoelaces
A new How To video
Training Plan Updated
Black Lives Matter
Avoid Everyone Spares + Second Batch
Wikipedia page
Another YouTube video for sharesies :-)
Getting data to Fetch from **other places**
Feature Voting - some further updates
Feature Voting - speeded up
Another How To video - this time, Conquercise
Fantastisches Tweeten
May (13)
A video for sharing
Bees!
Fetch Introductory Zoom Presentations
A promise to all Fetchies
Fetch Virtual Weekend: Replacement Bus Service
How has Fetch use changed?
Fetch Weekly Virtual Races
Zoom Meeting - Thursday 9 til 10am
WAVA Standards Update
WAVA Standards + Poll
Fun with Age Grading :-)
New Badges Day
The test shirt fabric has arrived :-)
April (14)
Zoom Podcast - watch the video
What is WBC?
If you did the free Amazon trial...
Some small amends (and shirt version)
Pre-orders open
I was only joking, but...
If Fetcheveryone did lockdown merch
Site outage - Thursday 16th April 11pm
On exercising responsibly
My Sports Quiz - how would you have scored?
Your creative thinking required
WBC My Favourite Teacher (a bit later than the deadline)
Updated Training League
Server Downtime, Thursday 9th 00:01BST to 04:00BST (and thank you!)
March (13)
New Fetch Game: Hide and Seek
Free trial of Audible
Do you have a good memory?
New Opt-In for Fetch Miles
New Badges for Fetch Miles
The Fetch Five: Don't Let CV19 Win!
Amending event dates and notifying of cancellations
A green light comes on over your head, and you can get on with life
Most Popular Shoe Brands 2019
A review
Android: Session I
Compare Your Training
Book Now to avoid disappointment :-)
February (10)
Imports from Suunto, Fitbit, Polar and TomTom.
Plot A Route - mobile improvements
Happy tugging!
Something to play with
Adding A New Feature
February Treasure Hunt
Server Downtime
Miles = Smiles
Build Your Mile
Pop Will Eat Himself: Update
January (11)
Clarence the Cadence Kitten
Trim your trails :-)
Seven Day Leaderboard
Let's try that again
Some minor blog amendments
Try the new Forum Search Prototype
Pop Will Eat Himself
A card from HowFar?
Thank you HowFar? (Statement, not a question)
Take the red pill
Climb every mountain
2019 (134)
December (7)
The Christmas Poem
Where your treasure is...
Listen to the dog breathe
Chewie, We're Home
Thursday's Challenge
Which GPS?
Fetch Shop (of sorts)
November (12)
The zeroth challenge
Polar users - auto import
Calling all Polar users
Mobile Optimisation
Calling all Android users
Did your ads disappear?
Pin that sucker down :-)
Easier tagging
Category now editable from VIEW
Kit now editable from VIEW
Working towards tagging
Manual Add Training bug
October (16)
Boring Cricket Blog
Books Part 2
Books :-)
42
Training tags Part 2
Training tags
Let's Jazzercise
My precious
Cricket Week 4: Footage :-)
Forum Training Threads
Benny Neutrino Returns
Cricket Week 3: Wingardium Leviosa!
Benny Neutrino's Filter Tips
Cricket Week 2
Continuing Amazon Affiliate Saga
In case you haven't seen...
September (11)
Updated: Spare Anniversary Kit
Affiliate links
I did a cricket!
Fetch365 - enjoy responsibly
Filth
My dear old things
Buddies vs Follow
Server Invoice Day
Our new MOTM sponsor
Fetch Power!
Race Listings: Please Read
August (5)
Everyone *rainbow*
Almost there...
Quick blog
Country Badges
A new set of badges
July (6)
Pre-orders open
Anniversary Shirts v2
Fetch 15th Anniversary Shirts
Fetch Fest 2020
Shout Outs
Missing imports from Garmin yesterday
June (13)
Who Squares Wins: 64 screenshot
Who Squares Wins: 64 Player Edition
Training summary - older pages
Training sub-menu rejig
Try the infographic
Steady Edina
Annual Summary Infographic
The height of daft things
The training summary - the morning session
The training summary - a wordier blog
Try the annual summary thing
How to listen to the Fetch Podcast
12 month summary mega-graph!
May (15)
£79.99 off the bottom line
Competition
parkrun reviews - now with routes
Fix It Friday; Project Joker Week 2; and some shout outs.
Fetch Kit Cupboard Sale
The bonus ball
Project Joker - Week 1
Fix It Friday
A quick update on the server
Fetch 15th Anniversary Kit
There is a good service operating
Oof.
In case you're wondering...
Trouble auto importing from Garmin?
Fix It Friday: Stuff that came to me in dreams
April (12)
Feature Voting - now with virtual badges :-)
The moment of triumph!
New Feature Voting
Fix It Friday: What would your horse be called?
Marathon Pacing: tyre-kickers required
Fix It Friday: Back to Basics
Podcast Poll
Fix It Friday: The League Of Everyone
Dom, dom, dom, I've got DOMS, I've got DOMS!
Crouch, Touch, Pause.... longer pause... what am I doing again?
Training Log - Update
Site Update: New Font
March (15)
Fix It Friday: An Endless Mission
Naming and faming :-)
2nd in my age category!
Fix It Friday: Brought to you by Surprise Inset Day
New training log
Route Matching - Ready :-)
Fix It Friday
What's your unit of measurement?
Ciderthon competition
Fix It Friday: Stroopwafels of Doom!
Route Matching - Update
This week's cool list
Me in the river
Big Fetch Miles 2019
Fix It Friday: Fingerprints!
February (13)
A Maths Challenge
Fetch Legends: Activate!
Whose coat is this jacket?
Fix It Friday: The Fix Awakens
Joining the awesome list...
Fix It Friday
Naming and faming :-)
Fix It Friday - Monthly Summary
Training Month Summary
Podcast Q&A
If you can't read this, don't panic.
*redsaber* The force is strong with these Fetchies!
Fix It Friday *bluesaber*
January (9)
Some shout outs :-)
Fix It Friday!
Podcast Ep 3, plus some naming and faming :-)
Fix It Friday
Fetch Chaos
Oooh! Second chance Berlin trip! And new subbers, podcast episode, and Trader.
My week of running
Naming and faming - this week :-)
Naming and faming :-)
2018 (138)
December (8)
A Christmas Message (in podcast form)
Rungeon :-)
Hey, Everyone!
France Trip Vote
Happy Fetch Independence Day
Actual free trip to France (incl. flights)
Litter
Sombrero's Lovely Cards
November (14)
Hoodies + other spares
Spare Fetch Kit
Festive Fetch Calendar 2018
Avatars
Book Giveaway - Can We Run With You, Grandfather?
Fix It Friday
Bedford Harriers Half - place offered
Updated Kit Bag
Family Fortunes :-)
Any adidas experts out there?
No Fixes Today - just two challenges
Big Fetch Mile Cardiff
Fix It Friday
Festive Fetch Calendar 2018
October (14)
Hello landlubbers
Embedded polls
Member of the Month
Fix It Friday
Spare Fetch shirts and vests
Abingdon
Fix It Friday
My Fetch Mile
One thing's for sure, we're all gonna be a lot thinner.
Fix It Friday - 'Ave It!
Automatic route matching
Automatic route matching
One last reminder for those cycling jerseys
Fix It Friday - Forensics and User Experience
September (14)
Fix It Friday
Server Downtime 2.30pm 26th September
Never Again
Fix It Friday!
Handling your weirdness
Cards ordered :-)
Just wondering...
Fix It Friday :-)
Try the Fetcheveryone Tutorial
40 days and 40 nights
Fix It Friday
ARION insoles - review part 1
Fetch Shirt - Black Ones, and sizing
Shirts and Vests Pre-Order
August (14)
Fix It Friday
Blog Height squished
Site Outage Last Night
New Mobile Nav
Fix It Friday
New feature - how you doin'? :-)
Sunflower spread
Fix It Friday
A new pre-race mileage graph
Fetch Social: Draycote Water September
Fix It Friday: The Supermarket Analogy
A run with _andy :-)
Suunto 9 Review
Fix it Friday
July (5)
Fix It Friday!
Five Get Wet In Devon
Big Glasgow Weekend - Part 1: Gies A Cwtch
Tom Williams Interview - Final Part
Glasgow Big Fetch Mile Results and Pics
June (17)
Abingdon Week 17 - P&D Booster rockets
Interviewing Tom Williams: Part III
Walking League (and one just for Nellers)
Follow Roads - continued
Week 18 in the bag
Tackling turds
Abingdon Marathon Training: Week 18
Interview with Tom Williams - Part 2
Server
Five Questions (ready for serious answers)
Kick some tyres for me
Interview with Tom Williams - Part 1
Five Questions
Follow Roads saga
Google maps progress, plus Abingdon plans
Training Summary - Infographics
Who Squares Wins - ranking update
May (10)
Training log maps converted
More mapping updates
Who Squares Wins - The Wizard's Hat
De doo doo doo... another one bites the dust...
Invisible changes
Silverstone 10k
Three year throwback
Why your support makes the difference
Some high mileage Fetchies
dryrobe winner
April (14)
Interviewing Tom Williams
Swimming Caps!
#finishformatt
New batch of shirts and vests
You make big mistake my friend
Fetchpoint
Glasgow Big Fetch Mile announced
Two tickets to the Running Awards
Pics from Dudley Big Fetch Mile
Notes for London Marathon Fetchpointers
Results from today's Big Fetch Mile
Who Squares Wins - prototype board
Attention London Marathoners!
New game - coming soon
March (9)
Intervals, Solidarity, Swimming and Fmail
Ready to give the new fmail a try?
More on fmail
New fmail system
Win a dryrobe :-)
For jabberknit...
Updating the Training Home page
Pics from Bedford Big Fetch Mile
Sledgends :-)
February (13)
Buffs On Sale
Big Fetch Mile Bedford
Vlog :-)
Marathon Talk
Important GDPR stuff - PLEASE read
A page of historical importance
Vlog :-)
Road Rash, Marathon Prediction and T-Shirts
This :-)
Capturing the dog
It's BACK!
Enter Wilmslow Half Marathon
An advertisement
January (6)
Local Fetchies - Opt In
Revealed: World's Best Shoes
How I chose the Big Fetch Mile venues
Big Fetch Mile 2018 - Venues & Provisional Dates
Try adding an image to your training entry
Mileage Targets 2018 - Update
2017 (147)
December (12)
Mileage Targets 2018
Thank you
Brownie Recipe :-)
Phew
Fetch Hoodies + Buffs SALE Update
Chewie, We're Home
Fetch Hoodies SALE - what's left
Fetch Hoodies! SALE!!! (and Buffs available too)
Chewie, We're Home
Sharing pics
Fetch Jingle Mile Cambridge photos
Glorious Failure: Bedford Harriers Half Marathon
November (20)
Serpents, hamstrings and inversions
A special anniversary approaches...
Hamstring and prototype updates
Training Log Prototype - Today's Improvements
Red Venom sale
For what it's worth...
Training Log Prototype - Update #2
Training Log Prototype - Update
Big Fetch Mile - venue hunt
RT for a Garmin
Training Log Prototype - To Be Fixed
fetcheveryone.com/amazon
The Weekly vLog (by me)
Thanks :-)
New Training Log Prototype - Available Now
Thanks for following
VLog - footage from the Cardiff Big Fetch Mile
Big Fetch Mile[s] 2018
Win a place in the Surrey Half
I vont to scan your barcode.
October (12)
Big Fetch Weekend :-)
Fetch Mile Results
Festive Fetch Calendar :-O
Calling Parkers everywhere!
In which I decorate a cake.
Regent's Park Fetchie Discount
Elevation in colour
"I didn't come here to walk to Sparta!"
New elevation info
Chicken Ballot-ine, with a side order of beef
New training log headers
Ballot day tomorrow - help needed
September (19)
Weekly vLog - COCONUTS!!!
River Thames Half Marathon
The lollipop update
On failing gracefully
Doctor K Day
Fetch Kit Sale - Updates
Weekly vLog
Fetch Kit Sale
Training Log View Update
Fetcheveryone Weekly? Vlog?
Fetchie Race Discount - Regent's Park 10k
Training Log Tags - Live
Training Log Tags
Weekly vLog - Derby Mile, and a pause to salute the legendary Doctor K
24 hours later
Doctor K donation page
Doctor K
Fetch Weekly vLog
Derby Mile - tomorrow!
August (8)
Race Prices; and an alien earworm
Straight outta Cromford - the Fetch Weekly vLog!
A Fetch vLog! With prizes!
Quick search location for sharing
New WAVA graph
Weird FIT file thing
Back from me 'olidays :-)
Linking race results to training log entries
July (12)
Race Pricing - crowdsourcing
Appdate for Android and iPhone
Inhalers
Fetch Mile - Cardiff?
Bookends
Race listing omelette
Coding and town planning
Please review your races
A2B winners
Motivational Sounds - the final 10
Two more Big Fetch Miles? :-)
Bedford Fetch Mile Results
June (19)
Big Fetch Mile
Motivational Sounds
Fetch fug - updated design
Fetch fug (available at the Fetch mile)
I've done the naughtiest thing ever.
Donating Blood - my Vlog
Fapp In the App Store :-)
Can I kick it?
A***biscuits
This just in...
For Bean
Your app status is Waiting For Review
A2B
Fetch Caps
Garmin Communicator Plugin
Fetch App - strong and stable testing
HTTPS is here
Fetch App progress
https access to the site
May (14)
Fetch App
Apostrophes
[Untitled]
[Untitled]
Site down at 11pm
Round and round the garden
Try the new home page layout
Server down tonight @ 11pm
Browser testers wanted
The Big Fetch Mile!!!
Site *NOT* down tonight. [cough]
Bluffer's Competition - Winner
Bedford parkrun timelapse
Return of the cap
April (8)
Fetchpoint (London and Milton Keynes!)
Base camp, VMLM
Bronze!
Just for D2
Off to the awards
Bloodvlog
Hoodies - it's on!
Updated Training Home Page
March (6)
'Train' page
Project Joker
Hoodies and Londons
Hands up, hands UP! Draycote Water 10
Bluffer's Competition
Project Joker
February (12)
Draggable?
Running Awards shortlisted
Route Plotter now with OpenStreetMap
Plan for Bluffer's comp
Update to Route Plotter
First update to the route mapper
For Angus
Virtuous Circles
Competition coming soon
Race Guide Ads
Club La Santa vLog
Fetch Fixtures
January (5)
Word Clouds
Buckets Ready
New Home Page
Do me a favour...
Limited Companies, filing accounts, that sort of thing
2016 (128)
December (11)
Festive Fetch Calendar - Winners
Festive Fetch Calendar - Winners
Five Years Ago Today
Pantsfest! May the stains be ever in your favour!
#FEXIT
Photoshop SOS
Attention: Fitbit users
Bedford Half 2016
Luton Fetchmob: Breaking Point
Vote Fetch!
Breaking news: Paris Marathon
November (21)
How to end a LiveChat.
Define wrong
TomTom Runner 3 Review - Any Questions?
Deliveryman
Movember: Project Beard: Day 24: Beardraggled
Festive Fetch Calendar 2016
We're gonna be in the Hudson
Hey Chiefy
I've written summat
Going Postal
A special mention
Training Log Beta
Spare Hoodies
Updates to Training Beta
Movember: Project Beard - Day 8 (The Seven Day Itch)
Vote for Fetch
Training Log Detail View - Some Changes
Aberdeen University Study
Consultation V2
[Untitled]
Fetchpoint - October Winners and November Prizes
October (16)
Alien nuggets!
Keeping a tight lid on the biscuit tin
Training Log Beta
100 Running Words
Pssst....
Fetchmob, December 3rd
Where to mob?
Little things
That All-Time Mileage League
The sudoku that keeps on giving.
Sub-25 for 1km :-)
Fetchmob - December 3rd
New Training Log Preview
Fixed the overlap...
Why the new training log isn't ready yet...
vLog
September (12)
Doughnut or Donate
Training Log - Sneak Peek
Fetch Shop Sale! Old stuff clearout!
vLog!!!
The consultation system...
Garmin support for timezone info
The GMT/BST/Timezone problem
Training Log Consultation...
Training Log - Consultation
Fetch Social Runs
Subscriber shirts, vests and hoodies, and determination.
Fetch Voluntary Subscriptions
August (3)
Ze Gryndylows! My first #OWS :-)
Testing Fetchpoint exclusion zones
Fetchpoint scoring system
July (7)
Conquercise Prize Draw?
Fetch Games: Checkpoints (and what's wrong with them)
More owls...
Your Favourite Fetch Game?
Even More Utmost Than Before...
Chiswick!
15 days later...
June (10)
Five days on...
[Untitled]
A quick thank you...
What do you think?
If you'd be so kind...
Poised
Which watch?
Run Bedford 10k
Import from a TomTom
Attention TomTom users
May (10)
Race Distance poll
An ungainly fish
A five year plan
What Club La Santa can learn from parkrun
Cream Me Up, Scotty
Greetings from Club La Santa
And a quick poll...
Club Charter
A poll about intervals
More owls!
April (11)
Robin Hood and his Merry Dad :-)
Warning: Dull - some screen res stats
Responsive Design Update
For all you marathoners
A Poll
Fetchpoint
Ditching the forum categories?
Moving to Responsive Design
Sandy 10: Be Kind To Horses
Owls!
For Adam and Jamie
March (11)
Bacon Smoke!
Benchmarks Update
Bath - Race Report
PB!!!!!!!
An annoying eight-year-old.
Let's Cook and Cut and Paste :-)
Let's Cook :-)
RIP Gramma
Book Winners
Dog farming
Site header update
February (5)
Book Giveaway
Pi Club
Pi Project Update
Because I'd like to check the blogging badges are working...
Crapruary
January (11)
Snooker Freak
Badges - Another Update
Unlockable Badges - Update
Unlockable Badges
TomTom Runner 2 Review
Gallery updates
Snowball coding and Fetch Unlockables!
Achievement Medals - what do you reckon?
Run The Sum
2015 Book List (and a bit of a review / plan)
Festive Fetch Calendar - Winners
2015 (175)
December (7)
Red Red Wine
A Poll
Gis a job!
Bedford Half
REMEMBER!!!
Vote for Fetch
Now you've hopefully got the idea...
November (13)
The Festive Fetch Calendar
Don't get excited or anything...
Slightly Dismal Friday
Pre-order your Fetch Buff now :-)
A message from our sponsor
Dr Fetch will see you now
Only the grumbliest, achiest chocolate... :-)
The Stanford Experiment
Buff Design
Snugs - Review
Love, Commitment, Support
The pre-wedding blog!
Good morning Fetchers, good morning Everyone
October (9)
Monthly Totals
Did you write a blog yesterday?
The First Rule of Web Server Maintenance
The gain line
Fectch
The zipper challenge!
Sugar daddy
Now in colour!
Competition Time!!!
September (14)
Teach your kids (or yourself) to code
Sticky Training Choices
Goodies: GetMore water and the Alcatel OneTouch Watch
Shirt size guidelines
This nearly made it...
Subscriber Shirt Design
I've got wood!
Humbled
New Beginnings
Some more questions answered
Swimming
Some responses to your comments
Standing on the shoulders of Fetchies
Funtleks
August (8)
24 hours in the south
24 hours in the north
Fetchies Assemble!
Thank you
Better knowledge than riches
Fitbit Urge
The villainous Mr Fetch!
Uncomfortable rear
July (8)
Why don't you play Conquercise?
Another week of strange training
Book Giveaway - Winners
GPS Reviews
Criteria for reviewing a GPS
Auto-bike-detector :-)
Win some bookses :-)
Half Way!
June (13)
Time Lapse Clouds
TomTom Bandit - very QUICK first impressions
My wings are like a shield of steel!
Running plus Cycling update
Embarrassingly...
Stalkers Paradise!
Recommend me a bike :-)
Holy Steamrollers Batman!
Rest day (no such thing)
Sqveeeeze!
We will now imitate the flight of a goose :-)
You made me ink! Snorkel safari :-)
Good morning from CLS :-)
May (10)
Club La Santa :-)
The AWESOME Power of Fetchies!
Home Insurance Shaftage :-/
Editing Forum Posts
The Future!
Some London Marathon stats
Walking On The Moon
Hardest parkrun?
New found wisdom
Week 1
April (11)
Marathon vLog
I owe some hugs!
And that concludes the voting from the Danish judges
Adventures in geocaching
Your video clips wanted!
Jelly with no spoons
Random Ultra
Suncream in my eyes - a review of 'Running and Stuff'
Books what I've read this year
Measuring the effect of wind
Wind Roses
March (18)
Watching the tide roll away
A great week of running!
Happy Jigs Wisdom!
Mobile Fetch
I don't do this very often...
Breathless Optimism
20 miles yesterday
This Week's vLog
Decision Trees and the sub-4!
Democracy Street
Mayan Maths
Bath Half (at last)
Still a chicken
Costume Drama in Bath
TomTom importing
Updated 'Train' page
Zonked
Nearly
February (29)
Pheasant
An Unexpected Journey
Wind picking up...
An unplanned kit alarm
Race Pace Test
2nd place
Week ends
Bounceback
Barking carrots
Bedroom pizza
Top of the mountain
Blogs get the mobile treatment
Supersonic Katie, and a marathon pace question
Back home
Racing parkrun ;-)
Unblocking the sink
Start in Darkness
Some times I'd like
Mobile Site - Forum Section
All-Time Leaderboards
Batteries
Sword fighting
PB Attempts
Duct tape and WD40
Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants
Lessons
Shoe horning
Training vLog Week 13
Big February Project
January (35)
Cake, invalidated
Small sips
LiRF, award shortlist, beginners, books, boy.
Dog Available :-)
Cutback
New Recipe Section
Lazy
Another threshold run
New Beginnings
Blah
But far more importantly...
Fetch Beginners Programme
Give it a go :-)
Training vLog - Week 11
Threshold Run (a running blog)
Long day, short blog
(Lack of) Pump Action
A thread to follow
This Boy Can
Local Leaderboards for Checkpoints
Choking.
February 18th
Godzilla!
The Travelling Checkpoint Salesman
Acorn Antiques
Bearing Up
Deleted Bridges and Dodgy Lasers
I'm Batman!
Healthy and Appy
Punch O'Clock!
The plan, then.
Ten mile toes
On Parliament
[Untitled]
Bold Claims, and a Challenge for 2015
2014 (262)
December (9)
A trip to Wales (vLog)
Christmas Messages from Fetchies
Various
FERC London Marathon Places - Draw
It's gone in my sock...
Festive Fetch Five
This Week's Training
To the Post Office!
Training vLog - Week 4
November (12)
I Am Groot!
Slightly Dismal Friday
Week 3 - in which I nearly drown my wife!
I said yes :-)
Free Daps! aka Test GORE-TEX® footwear this winter!
Training vLog - Week 2
More chances for VMLM entries
Marathon Talk
My first training vLog :-)
Second place?
In :-)
Questionnaire about personality traits amongst runners
October (16)
Adidas API
Horseplay minimiser
Running with the big dog
Flat and Windy
Who'd like to test the Garmin API then?
Advantage Borg
Deal?
Jumble
Milk Tray Reps in the Rain
Geneva
Quote
Hatfield 5k, and some other running thoughts
Site layout changes
Vote for Training Plans
Maths help
3-2-1
September (8)
A quick device poll
Garmin Connect API
Cake at the lake :-)
Empowering Women
This Week's Training
Tick :-)
Article help
First outing with the Harriets
August (7)
Book club and Harriers
A treasure trove for bookish types
What I did on my Summer Holidays
Local decoration
The Fisher King
Mojitos and no mosquitos!
Cake-athlon
July (26)
James Mason
Missing Week
Camping View
Wild Camping
Quick
Transalpine Race
In brief
Urgent! Pair of runners wanted!
Fetch Kit Available to Pre-order :-)
Fetch Anniversary Kit - Preview
API and FAK!
That dog has a puffy tail
More books
Reverse Moses
Zombies vs Plants
Shovel required
Nightfever
Dayfever
Catcher in the Rye
My sister the psychologist
Drink your strong limey drink
Keep me in the loop
Bread knives, hedgehogs and the dog in the night time
Whoops
Pinteresting
Q&A?
June (34)
Checkpoints video
Walden
Happy boys and giggly imps
Spring loaded
Elbow grease
Fetch 10th Anniversary Kit
Fetch YouTube Tutorial - Race Guide
Finding the Library folder on a Mac
Stoat!
Sonic screwdriver
Live wires
Wiring help needed
Garmin Express Experiment
Scalded sloth
Garminge
Potching
New Forum Layout
Further updates to the blog layout
New blog layout
First woodpecker
Beastin' parkrun
Pantoball
All was well
USA! USA! USA!
Marking Territory
The People's Poet Is Dead :-(
Holy Water
Throwing shapes
Life moves pretty fast
Recursion is beautiful
Win an OS Explorer / Landranger map of your choice
Intervals with a Suunto Ambit 2S
Tick
Economy done two ways
May (31)
[Untitled]
Vorsprung Durch Lego Technic
How do I liberate my boy from his XBox?
Questions?
Life in the Woods
Lazy
MovesMissed
Intervals with a TomTom
Electioneering
[Untitled]
Tree fluff
More camping
Zen and Camping
Not eaten by bears
Bear food
Camping List
Camping Venn Diagrams
Floppy dog
Routes but not Rathbone
Illustrator wanted
Masking
Highlights
The Cosmic Ballet Goes On
Silverstone 10k :-)
Quick one
[Untitled]
Superhuman snooker
Dogturdflagman
Numbers!
Whittlin'
Chapter 1
April (29)
King Bin
Quiet day on Feedback Mountain
Listing
42
Go directly to parkrun. Do not pass Godzuki.
A day in Wales
[Untitled]
Spanner
The Lost Diadem of Fetchbook
Falling asleep in my dinner
Egg
Sofathon
God gave rock and roll to you.
Sugar Mule
Not bad, consid'rin.
Tinkering
Can U Dig It?
A weekend in Wales
Looking forward to Oliver!
Thank you, and more App talk
RIP Nan
Blah
Appy
Pyjamas at both ends.
Thump. Saturday has started.
Sore tum :-/
Zombies aside... first impressions of the new TomTom
TomTom Runner Cardio Press Event
Am I pregnant?
March (31)
Cornflakes Cornflakes Cornflakes Cornflakes Cornflakes Cornflakes Cornflakes
Sandy 10
#bedfordhappy
Me on YouTube
New graphs live
Follow the dot
Only the best for the Captain's table
Mrs Diahann Wagner is GOING HORNY
Sport Relief Win
Hot dogs, quick blogs
Toton Sidings
A sign!
Owen Farrell visualisation technique
Kebabs!
Booster fails to ignite
Myton Rugby Run (5 Miler)
Rugby before rugby
Sweetcorn antidote
Custard factory
Pooped
I did some intervals :-)
Speed work?
Many things
A bit cabbagey here.
Angry Wasp
Minty
Rainbow's End
Core Dump
Bath Half (in detail)
A quick overview
Down to business in Bath
February (28)
Made it to Bath
Unexpected hugs
Slider
I like to go a-wandering
Spring cleaning
Tongue-lolling
Because We're Worth It
I don't know what!
Thanks Jim
Enough now
Clearing the pipes
Crouch, Touch, Pause...
Medication, that's what you need.
Symptom Tour
Hello FBI
Dazed day
Why I'm an optimist
Mobius birds
Snotty knuckles
In this house...
Retch Everyone
Carrots
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also
Ultrahalfmarathoner
Angry Birds
Belching
Clarkson averse
Good day :-)
January (31)
*bunting* *cake*
Bigger Boys
Zombies!
Pretending to be Saga Norén
Waiting for the AA
Ship shape
Readthrough
Technology takes you further
Love Garden
Cushions
High Heel Striker
Bit of a rubbish one
Ta
Hot Re-fills
Coding Grinch
An august prediction
Some Running Goals for Q1
Wipe-clean dog
Breaking it down
Snakes and Ladders
Bigger Ponds
Drink Your Weak Lemon Drink
All in All
Panning the pancake
Does JK Rowling own a dog?
Back to the kitchen table
Steve Davis shoes
Pigs on a water slide
Sloshing
Protocol
19 books :-)
2013 (29)
December (3)
Oh...
Engine Management Light
Hannibal Vector
November (3)
Speed skating
Stew-pendous
Cool Hand Grandpa
October (3)
Bookish
Minecraft Cake
Random dump
September (2)
Blog by Email!
Catchup blah
August (3)
Big Green Caterpillar
Questions answered - final CLS blog
Last Days at Club La Santa
July (10)
A nice morning of swimming and tennis
Please Read: Questions for a sports coach
Snorkeltastic
Hitting the straps
First Impressions at Club La Santa
Mile High Blog
Clocking off
For the second week running...
Another Club La Santa catchup
The Floor In The Plan
June (3)
Club La Santa
Bulk Uploading, and win a book
FERC Charities 2011-2012
March (1)
Bath Weekend
January (1)
Meet Steve
2012 (39)
December (2)
Tired Now Boss
Bath - Week 14 + Foodbank
November (3)
White Level Reading
Bath - Week 15
Bath - Week 16
October (2)
Onwards!
C'mon Dave
July (1)
RIP Arnie
June (2)
Rub some bacon on it
18 weeks
May (9)
Techy not tetchy
Time for a techy blog
Time to walk the dog
Stevington 12k
Properly coldy
Still a bit coldy
New blog design live
A bit coldy
Blogs Redesign
April (2)
Easter
SERIOUSLY LORD FETCH, SORT IT OUT
March (8)
A long run up
Running Tick
Weekend
Sport Relief Mile
Back once again
Swimming sweetcorn and other vegetables
Joy Rides, Sticks and Medals
Training Tip
February (9)
And...
Katie, ICT, and some more MySQL
May The Ground Force Be With You
Functions
Well done Batman.
Optimisation Crossword
Snow Days
Gallery, and parkrun
Pleased
January (1)
There Are Some Really Sexy Girls On Fetch
Comments
Intensity? Intestine-y? I actually like yours better.
Good running