Wednesday 27 February 2008

Wheeze Police

Posted by speedygeoff on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 with
Animated gifs re-visited
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

In a previous post I explained how to get animated gifs into posts, since the way blogger does it causes animation to be lost. But recently the method stopped working; without knowing why, I guess that gif files have been removed from google documents, as they were never meant to be there in the first place. So we cannot use that loophole any more. Edit - yes we can. See revised "previous post" and tomorrow's post too. At least I have found an alternative, though, read on.

My new solution is to use "tinypic". This method is even easier, and isn't cheating! AND should keep working. If there is an armidillo (above), it is still working!

Thursday track program.
6.00 1500m walk (PH)
6.15 3000m (GM)
6.25 200m (D), 200m Scratch
7.00 1500m (P)
7.20 100m
7.40 400m
8.00 Spiral 8

Weston Creek Half Marathon.
On-line entries for the Weston Creek Half Marathon close 5 March here (or by snail mail, 3 March). There is a brand new course, in particular the start/finish has been changed to Black Mountain Peninsula. Edit - I called this a "Fun Run" before, sorry, no way! And I plan to run it as a tempo run; but if Jeni/Rachelle are running as a team I will be very tempted to try and beat them, so it won't be no tempo run!

Groan!
The wheeze police are active this month. I came across "etiquette for runners" dated 2000! One entry: * Groaning, grunting, wheezing and otherwise broadcasting your discomfort are not considered to be in good taste. Slow down if you must, but don't make the rest of us miserable listening to you. O.M.G. what a nerve! Shuffle along in your comfort zone if you must, but keep your grumbles to yourself! I thought to search on "running etiquette" when a couple of oldies called me "Sharapova" and laughed at me for making a (low pitched!) groan as I tried to mobilise the body into a run yesterday. And they were walking! Then I saw on the news the young tennis player banned for her noises as she hit the ball. Look, if you're quiet, you're NOT TRYING. As a coach, I want to HEAR your effort. WAKE up, RELAX the vocal chords, and GO! LOUDER!

There are over 20 rules in the etiquette document, but they are missing some obvious ones. Like

* Do not stagger to the finish line at the end of races, particularly marathons. This is seen as being critical of the race organiser and course designer. Instead, run smoothly to the finish, graciously accept the finisher's medal, and trot acros s to the race director and cheerfully thank him for his efforts.

* Likewise, do not show off at the end of a race. Cartwheels and hand-stands across the finish line are specially inconsiderate, as other runners may not have the same skills as you at performing these exercises, and you don't want to give the appearance that you think too highly of yourself .

Or how about

* Never blog. This is the height of poor taste. Displaying for the world to see your inadequate and humilating attempts to write demonstrates your very poor understanding of how you relate to the world around you. Worse yet is when you list your race results and personal bests, as this shows an underdeveloped sense of security as you seek for greater recognition, and an over-developed ego as you think you deserve such recognition.

* If you must blog, never, never, criticise and satirise highly respected running organisations, even when they publish crap**.

**I am sure the website "etiquette" came from is otherwise of the highest quality.

The thought to take with you today, then: express yourself! If you are a runner who has been a bit shy, this advice might be just what you need to get you some good results. I am told that if you are a new mother, it could be useful pre-race advice too.

Spelling it out for those slow on the up-take
Returning to "etiquette for runners", it did cross my mind that it was meant to be funny, but this is unlikely, as it's from the US. I think I might pull more quotes out later. So dear reader, keep your sense of humour! Some days are going to be "tongue-in-cheek" days.

The joke's on me?