Training Log Archive: iansmith

I recently noticed that my trusty 20 oz Contigo coffee cup, which I mentioned previously had acquired a conspicuous film from my daily coffees with milk. I rinse it out, but hadn't previously cleaned it with soap.

Motivated by health concerns, I washed my cup aggressively with soap and water, scrubbing with a brush, and soaking overnight. This barely had an effect, with removal only effected by aggressive scrubbing with metal. The inside of a contigo cup is hard to access with any force.

So, instead, I let it soak in a 10 ml bleach + 600 ml water mix for about two hours. And now the coffee cup is immaculate. Bleach is amazing!

Easy morning run. I felt a bit meh.

Afterward, I biked in via the direct route - Annette to Dundas to Elizabeth St. Despite a few navigational errors, especially missing the Dundas rail trail, I made my commute 7-8 minutes faster than the Lake route. I may have been a bit fortuitous in my timing - missing traffic, and Dundas definitely has a higher probability of death than the bike trail by the lake. I realized I was deviating from my intended route and tucked in behind a cyclist who seemed competent. I was wearing my bright yellow long sleeved shirt. I think with refinement, a 25 minute commute is realistic. My office has a shower, and I dress and ride with the expectation of sweating.

I can imagine riding to work (before 7:30 or after 8:45) via the direct route, then returning home via Simcoe and the lake.

I speculate that were the streets empty - i.e. I didn't have to brake at all, I could ride the lake route (~14 km) in about 25-26 minutes at an average speed of 32 kph. Unfortunately, the lake route has 2.5 km of city centre traffic lights/death buses/oblivious pedestrians over which I might hit 20 kph average speed if I'm lucky. I'll need to take multiple measurements and try to account for confounders.

C • Dundas rail trail 3

7 AM run around High Park with Klepperton. This was a good distance and pace for me. Klepperton is faster than I, so running together gives me a little extra push. I'm curious how our interval and tempo paces would compare when I'm in shape. We talked about life and ruminated about future races. I would like to run as many of the three remaining MEC trail races as my schedule allows. They are inexpensive, nearby, and located in parks I may visit later.

C • 117 metres 2

Yikes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_consumption_...

"In June 2009, the Public Chamber of Russia reported over 500,000 alcohol-related deaths annually, noting that Russians consume about 18 litres (4.0 imp gal; 4.8 US gal) of spirits a year, more than double the 8 litres (1.8 imp gal; 2.1 US gal) that World Health Organization experts consider dangerous."



It's interesting that alcohol consumption seems correlated with latitude, though it's hard to determine how much of that is due to correlated confounders, like religion. I estimate I consume about 200 mL of pure alcohol equivalent, or about 15 drinks, in a year.

C • drinks 12

Relive the drama of Tiomila 2017! This is carnage.

C • Relevant XKCD 3

Still exploring good routes to get from the lake to the University. Biking along the lake is amazing, but to/from are filled with stops. I think a direct route via Annette St might be faster. Also, riding along streets that have tracks for streetcars is terrible; the gap between the track and the road is big enough for the tire to get stuck, so it has to be taken at an angle. Spadina has lots of intersecting tracks that are perilous.

Biking has left a few bits aching. The bike commute appears to be excellent - it's an easy way to build an hour of easy to moderate intensity activity into my day. I still need to work out some kinks in the routes, but it appears that I can get in 10 km of almost uninterrupted cycling at 2:00/km from Windermere to Simcoe including biking past the CN tower. I'm curious whether the more direct, 10 km route via Annette and College St is faster, though it looks to be less directly beneficial for workout purposes because of the traffic constraints.

I plan to alternate commute methods this week to get used to it.