Round Table Discussion with Dr Suzuki

Last week I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to participate in a discussion with David Suzuki (world-renowned scientist and climate change activist) and 11 other young citizens representing Australia, the UK, India, Singapore and Canada. One of the topics discussed was ' how can we drive the necessary changes to fight climate change'?
After much debate, I believe the key to the solution is a simple, bottom-up approach. Everyone making small changes CAN make a difference.
I don't deny that it is a complicated global problem requiring international cooperation, my point is simply this: While the politicians battle out the global, multi-national policy logistics (a process which will undoubtedly take many years) we can each do our part by making small changes NOW.
No change is too small to make a difference.

Four weeks to go!

Another 40 mile week scheduled, but as expected I didn't get a chance to do much training.
Monday - scheduled day off, which I went with!Tuesday - 5 miles scheduled and ran 7.
Wednesday - 6 miles scheduled, but went to London for the round table discussion with David Suzuki so no time to train.
Thursday - 6 miles scheduled, ran along the river to watch a fancy dress rowing regatta for a total of 9.25 miles
Friday - scheduled day off. Wasn't feeling well and was trying to save my legs for Saturday's orienteering competition so followed the schedule. Attended Girton Ball Friday night - black tie, dodgem cars, mini cars and chocolate fountains - possibly not the best for training!
Saturday - 20 miles scheduled. I headed up to Sheffield for the British University Orienteering championships. It was a disaster - 113 minutes of running up and down hills, searching for flags, and unfortunately getting lost. No idea how far I ran, but it was just under 2 hours of constant exercise. Totally exhausted by the end, I have never been so relieved to see the finish!
Sunday - I woke up this morning to discover muscles that I never knew existed. 3 miles was scheduled, and I combined a jog to collect my bike with a treadmill session for a total of 6 miles.

An action packed week, but unfortunately only 3 runs for a total of 22.25 miles (35.6km) plus a 2 hr orienteering event.

Measuring your carbon footprint

Water shortages are one of many consequence of climate change. However, it is an increase in the emissions of greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide) that is causing the problem.
How much carbon dioxide do you generate in your daily life?
The Victorian Environment Protection Agency has a brilliant online greenhouse calculator that allows you to generate estimates of your greenhouse gase emissions and help you identify areas for potential savings.
Have a look at it now:
http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/GreenhouseCalculator/calculator/default.asp
What changes can you make to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions?

5 weeks to go...

An impending conference deadline saw me spending more time infront of my computer this week, yet at the same time my mileage also increased.
Monday was a scheduled day off, but did 3.2 miles of interval training on the treadmill.
Tuesday - 6 miles scheduled. In extremely windy conditions we tried a new route and ended up going 7.5 miles.
Wednesday - Another 6 miler scheduled. Inspired by a beautiful mild afternoon, we went on an extended Granchester run of 7 miles.
Thursday - 6 miles scheduled, but day off due to poor weather.
Friday - 4 miles scheduled. Ended up running twice today for a total of 8.5 miles (amazing the effect that work has on me!)
Saturday - scheduled day off, but a day of extreme PhD writing found me needing to escape. We braved the rain for a good 6.7 mile run.
Sunday - 13 mile race scheduled. No time to race, and the weather forecast was grim. However the sun appeared briefly and Fi and I decided to go for a short jog along the river. It was going well so we just kept running - just over 13 miles covered (and we ended up very cold and wet!).

All in all a brilliant week of training -45.9 miles which translates to 73.4 km. It is amazing what effect a deadline has on me :) It is such a relief to finally get some miles under my belt. The next few weeks will see a decrease in distance due to several orienteering competitions which will limit my running training. But for today, as storms lash England I am content to sit and rest my weary legs.

Don't forget to keep the pledges coming!

Save water, money and your garden!

If your shower is over a bath, leave the plug in while you shower. On completion, pump the water into a wheelie bucket and then use to keep your garden green! Small, rechargable pumps can be bought from Bunnings (approx price $60) as can the wheelie buckets.
My parents bought a pump and bucket combo last September. Since then, shower times have been drastically reduced (amazing at how quickly the bucket can be filled and very embarassing if you cause the bucket to overflow!) and the water has helped keep the front lawn green despite water restrictions. An added bonus is a reduced water bill!
If your shower isn't over a bath, there are now 'shower buckets' that you can buy to capture the water that is wasted while you are waiting for the shower to warm up.

Cheap and simple water saving tips

• If you don't have a dual flush toilet you can buy a relatively cheap 'cistern converter' that will reduce the average water usage from 12 L/flush to 3.5 L/flush.
• No water saving taps fitted in the home? A cheap alternative to buying new taps is to buy a flow regulator than can be easily attached to your existing taps.

Pledge your support!!

Water is a precious resource, particuarly in South Australia - the driest state on the driest inhabited continent.
It is now time to sponsor me for my marathon efforts. Instead of money - I want you to sponsor me in water! Pledge to cut back your daily water usage, by agreeing to undertake one or more of the actions listed in the adjacent poll. Let's see how much water we can save... If there are any other water saving actions that you would like on the poll, let me know and I will add them.
Pledge now!!

6 weeks to go...

This week was bumps - four days of crazy Cambridge rowing races where they line 18 boats up 1.5 boat lengths apart and then fire a cannon. You then race flat out until you hit the boat infront, are hit by the boat behind or row over. Each race can last from 30 seconds up to 10 minutes. My participation in this events limited my training chances, but the week started well.
Monday was scheduled to be a day off, but it was sunny and I decided a short, slow jog would be a good cure for the aching muscles. It turned into a 6 mile, relatively fast run. It was brilliant fun, but the muscles weren't happy at the end :) Oh - I almost forgot to mention our early morning rowing outing as well - wasn't as much fun!
Tuesday the schedule called for 6 miles, which was achieved with a run along the river to watch the rowing racing.
Wednesday and Thursday - 2 x 5 miles scheduled. Our crew started racing today, and hence all hopes of running were abandoned. Both races were quite short due to a) carnage on the river ahead and b) being bumped early, but it is still a 10km return row each day.
Friday - a scheduled day off. Our prospects for bumps weren't looking great so I decided a quick jog beforehand wouldn't hurt. I combined a 6.5 mile jog with another 10km row in cold and windy conditions.
Saturday - the final day of bumps (another 10km row) and 20 miles scheduled, but no time to run! We went straight from the river to post bumps celebrations.
Sunday - 3 miles scheduled. With no rowing and the sun shining, Fi and I ran 6.5 miles through the fields to Granchester.

In total 25 miles (40 km) of running and 50 km of rowing.. Mmm - it is signifantly less than the scheduled 40 miles (64 km) which isn't good. If I have any hope of beating the 'wall' in the marathon I need to increase my mileage significantly!