— Filed under Aside
Archive for February, 2005:
10 February 2005
10 February 2005
Crush chaos at new Ikea store opening. (Crowds charge doors – five taken to hospital, 20 suffering from heat exhaustion.) The sooner I get to Antarctica, the better.
— Filed under Aside
9 February 2005
Whoah!
I've just read that Sony are sponsoring the recently launched Lifehacker blog to the tune of $25,000 a month. Whoah! Sony, if you're listening, you could get yourselves a whole lotta frozen-bearded sledge-hauling action for that much. (Is this a good time to mention that I was the first person in history to send live video from the North Pole, using one of your DSC-P31 digital cameras, no less?)
On a different note, I'm currently watching ITV's 30-minute Ellen MacArthur special. There's been a minor Ellen backlash (BBC Radio 1's Chris Moyles called her journey 'pointless') but I'm glad she's all over the news – this is the kind of role model British kids need.
— Filed under Miscellany
9 February 2005
9 February 2005
8 February 2005
Selma Hayek and Jennifer Lopez
Excerpt from an excellent interview with Norwegian polar legend Eirik S??nneland :
What books did you bring with you on your expedition? Did you carry
photographs of anyone? Who?A Norwegian book "L" by Erlend Loe, "Pale Blue Dot" by Carl Sagan, and
the Bible. We brought no pictures except satellite photos of the Axel
Heiberg Glacier. What we did have was names on our sleeping bags: Rolf
had written Selma Hayek on his, and I had written Jennifer Lopez on
mine, in big white letters. In some way or another we went to bed with
these girls every single night of the trip: 105 total.
— Filed under Inspiration
8 February 2005
8 February 2005
Testing
Tony and I spent the best part of the day undergoing a barrage of fitness tests at the University of Hertfordshire – VO2 Max (running on a treadmill at ever increasing speeds, breathing through a dribble-filled Darth Vader mask and having blood samples taken from a finger no less than seven times) and strength (maximal bench press and leg press (grrr!), max reps of the same at 75% one-rep-max, max press-ups in one minute, max sit-ups in a minute, etc etc). More of the same in eight weeks.
There's nothing noble in being superior to some other man. The true nobility is being superior to your previous self.
- James Raia
— Filed under Training
6 February 2005
6 February 2005
Guillaume Dargaud is blogging about his winter stay at Dome C in Antarctica (I'm sure I must have linked to his amazing wallpapers before, but I could be wrong). Link via Dmitri von Klein, who's also pretty handy with a camera…
— Filed under Aside
5 February 2005
Practical tips on combining training with a busy schedule. (Link via Simian Design.)
— Filed under Aside
4 February 2005
Rosie Around the World
As remarkable as Ellen MacArthur's current round-the-world record bid is, I'd like to bring your attention, dear reader, to a 57 year-old grandmother called Rosie Swalepope and her round-the-world journey.
Unlike Ellen, Rosie doesn't have a boat. She has a pair of running shoes, and a home-made trailer to drag her kit around in. Rosie set off on this expedition last October and she's currently trundling across Siberia, quietly getting on with the job. It's inspirational stuff – a low-key expedition done for all the right reasons and so far away from the media spotlight that it's gone almost unnoticed. Go Rosie!
Running can take you to places that do not exist if you travel in any other way. Maybe even more than walking, because you can get so exhausted, almost fail so every often, and are vulnerable and shaky. Sometimes when you are weakest, you can feel things the most strongly. This is when those you meet in the midst of their own difficult lives and situations, are not fearful of you. You treading gently through someone. else's land; part of the life going on all around you. Part of the people, places, sunrises, storms, terrors and joys; seeing, feeling, laughing, crying, in happiness or despair.
The death of my husband Clive from prostate cancer last year, taught me more than anything about how precious life is; How short it can be, that you HAVE to grab life, do what you can while you can, and try to give something back.
— Filed under Other expeditions
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