Martin W Smith

It’s coming to the end of the sixth week of lockdown and we’re still doing ok. I’m still in work which is great, we are spending much less money than usual, which means if anything does happen with my contract we should be ok for a few months. If I do manage to keep my contract through this crisis, we will end up in a much better state financially than when it began. Not that things were bad before, but we should have more savings behind us than we did.

The diet and exercise has been going well. I’ve been doing on alternate days, 20 minutes of jogging and 40 minutes of exercise in the house. I finished the 100 pushups app I was doing. Wednesday was the last day and I did 250 pushups over about 8 sets. I’m not sure why the app is called 100 pushups when you do a lot more than that. I can now knock out 30 or so pushups in one go pretty easily and I’ve noticed an increase in the size of my upper chest and triceps. I’ve lost roughly 1.5 pounds, I’m now down 2 stone 10 pounds since January. I want to lose another 1.5 stone or so. If nothing else, by the time we get out of lockdown I should be thinner, fitter and stronger.

I’ve been learning a lot too, cracking though the online courses on data science. I have found though that I’m starting to forget some of the stuff I’ve learnt already. I’ve enrolled on another online course this one is called Learning to Learn. It teaches effective learning strategies so that I can retain more of what I learn. In an effort to do this I’ve been using the skills I’ve been learning in my day to day work and in Kaggle competitions. I’ve also started taking more notes, something I’ve never been very good at in the past.

Other than all that I’ve been helping the kids with their school work a bit, my wife has been handling that for the most part though. I only really get involved when there’s maths questions. We’ve also been having movie night on a Friday for the past couple of weeks. We bought a big box of snacks from Scott Cinemas which included a massive bag of popcorn.

That’s it for another week, what’s everyone else been up to?

We’ve been social distancing for 5 weeks now, I haven’t been to the office, I’ve not left our village. My wife has only been as far as a supermarket in the nearest town to us. My eldest has been out for runs with my wife and my youngest hasn’t been out of a front door. It’s been fine though, working from home isn’t an issue and my wife is doing a great job of keeping the kids going with their school work.

The week before last my weight stayed the same, this week though I’ve lost another 2 pounds, for a total of 2 stone 9 pounds. I’ve been exercising every day alternating between jogging and workouts in doors. I’m up to about 230 pushups per session now, with only 3 days left of the program I started 8 weeks ago.

Today I ran 5k for the first time in 37 minutes, completing day 3, week 8 of Couch to 10k. I’ve actually decided to end it there, I really don’t want to run 10k, 5 is enough for me. It’s already pretty boring and I’m not built for long distance running. I only started Couch to 10k because my wife was doing it, I think If I’d given it a bit more thought I would just have done the Couch to 5k instead. I’m going to keep up the running though and try and get a bit faster and increase my fitness over distances of 5k or less.

I started a new book this week, The Art of Logic by Eugenia Cheng. It’s not as gripping as my last book, but it’s pretty good so far, I’m about half way through. With my online courses I’ve gone down a bit of a rabit hole and started all sorts of new courses and books. I’ve taken on a bit too much, so from Monday I’m going to check myself and make a better plan for learning the skills that I want to build.

Today I finished the book I mentioned in my last post Everybody Lies by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz. I thought as a change from my normal posts I’d do things a little differently and dedicate this entire post to this wonderful book.

I’m no good at reviewing things and rarely do I feel the need to, but today I felt like I wanted to. This isn’t a review, just a few of my thoughts after finishing the book. I probably won’t be able to do the book justice. It really was a fascinating read, as I’ve said before I’m quite a slow reader, but I finished the nearly 30 pages in under 5 days, which must be some kind of record for me. Every spare minute I could find I spent reading.

The subtitle of the book is What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are. It’s about “Big Data” and how although many people will lie on a survey, most people will tell their search engines the honest truth. Since the invention of the internet and search engines there is now a vast amount of data out there that can be used to infer a great deal about the human condition. Even though the book is mostly about findings in the United States, most of the content is still applicable not only to the UK, but all over the world. It’s written with good humour and the studies presented by the author are compelling, from sexual and political prefrences to how the sports team you support as an adult is detemined by the team that won a big event when they were 14. I think anyone will find this interesting even if you aren’t interested in Data Science.

I already have an interest in Data Science and I am currently doing various courses to learn the subject better. This book has made me want to learn it even more. On the other hand it also makes me feel as dumb as a brick. I’ve always thought I was fairly intelligent, but after reading this and about the various people involved in the studies mentioned in the book. I’m not sure I have the mental facilities to make the kind of connections these guys do. They are superhuman to me. I may be too old now to make the career change into Data Science, but I’m going to try.

I told you I’m not much of a reviewer, but honestly get hold of the book and give it a read, I’m sure you will enjoy it.

I haven’t written anything for well over a week now, to be honest not much has happened. That’s not at all surprising considering the circumstances.

The bank holiday weekend was very much needed. Even though we couldn’t go anywhere it was just nice not to have to sit in the home office (spare bedroom) and work for 4 whole days. I don’t think I’ve taken a bank holiday off for over a year. The nice weather was a happy bonus, so we could at least sit in the garden.

I’ve been keeping up with the exercise, the diet, the learning and the reading. I’m up to 25 minutes of jogging now, that’s Day 2 of week 7 of couch to 10k. The first time I tried on Monday I couldn’t complete the 25 minutes, it would seem I’ve been running too fast and my calves ended up cramping so bad I had to stop. I’ve been twice more since, but slowed the pace and I was able to complete it although my calves still hurt.

I think I’ve said it before, I don’t think I’m built for long distance running. I prefer to run faster over shorter distances. I’m not sure if I’ll make it the end of Couch to 10k, I’m already reaching my limits and I haven’t even got to 5k yet. I’m going to keep trying, but if I’m honest I’ve got no real interest in running a 10k anyway. I’m just trying to lose weight and get a bit fitter. What I really want is to be able to go for a 30 minute run 3 times a week and for it not to nearly kill me.

The exercise that I do on the days I don’t jog is going better. Yesterday I did 170 pushups over 9 sets. The last set of 50 is really tough and I can’t do it all in one go, I have to rest for a few seconds now and then. I can now do over 30 pushups consecutively, before I started I could only do about 13. I’ve also been doing the speed rope, which I’m pretty good at now. I taught myself to skip a couple of years ago now. When I started I couldn’t do it at all, now I’m pretty fast and can skip better than my girls. I’ve been using the resistance bands as an alternative to weights and I feel like along with the pushups I’ve built back up a little of the muscle I’ve lost since I stopped going to the gym a few years back. Muscle memory is a great thing.

I’m currently down by 2.5 stone since the beginning of January although I didn’t lose anything this week. I think the slight gain in musle has cancelled out the weight lost in fat. That’s what I’m telling myself anyway.

I finished the book I was reading What I Talk About When I talk About Running in just under a week. It was actually pretty good, unlike anything else I’ve read before. I don’t really know how to describe it, but I’m glad I read it. I’ve now started reading Everybody Lies by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz about big data and what you can learn about people from what they search for on the internet. It’s fascinating and I’ve been getting through it pretty fast. I started it on Wedesday and I’m over a third of the way through the 300 pages.

The online training is going well, I’m rattling through the courses on Datacamp and learning some really useful techniques.

That’s pretty much it for now, stay home, stay safe and stay productive (if you want to).

I’m starting to group days together now, writing a post every day was becoming seriously tedious. I’ve also deliberately left out of my posts details of what’s going on outside of my house. Everyone knows what’s going on, there are thousands of news websites and tv channels covering all of that. I’m not interested in doing political commentary or any of that nonsense.

Work

Work has been keeping me busy the last few days which is a good sign for me at least. Unfotunately some of the other members of the team have been given notice, but are hoping to be brought back in July. I’ve just got to keep working hard and hope my contract doesn’t get terminated too.

Exercise

Monday was my non jogging day, so I did skipping and 100 push ups. Also some resistance bands that I ordered a couple of weeks ago were delivered, so I did some exercise with those too. I did about 30 minutes in total. While I exercised I listend to the new album It Is What It Is by Thundercat on spotify. I chose the album from the recently released section because I liked Thundercats when I was young. I’ve never heard of this artist before. I’m not sure what category it’s in, but it was very mellow. Probably a bit too mellow to work out to, but it had a nice sound.

Today I started week 6 of Couch to 10k, it wasn’t too bad really 5 minutes jogging, walk for 3, jog for 8, walk for 3 and jog for 5. I listened to Friday Forever by Everything is Recorded. Again never heard of him/her/them and again not sure of the genre, but it was pretty funky. I’ve not heard an album over the last few days that I haven’t liked.

Learning and Reading

Not much to say about this, I’m making good progress through the Data Science courses on Datacamp. I have 7 courses left out of 22.

I’m still reading the same book, but I’m probably about half way through it now.

What else?

The kids are enjoying not having to do school work. The youngest is on the trampoline most of the day. The eldest spends most of the day in her room being a teenager. We did sit down as a family on Monday night to watch 4 Children and It on Sky, which we all enjoyed.

Ta ta for now.

We thought we’d just stop in this weekend and chill out, just for a change. As the weather was nice I jet washed the garden furniture and we sat outside while the girls used the trampoline. I could probably just stop there as that was about it for the weekend. But I’ll give a couple of updates on how the learning and exercise etc is going.

Exercise

On Saturday it was push ups and skipping, I do about 25 minutes of this. I was on Day 1, Week 5 of the push ups challenge app. I did 86 in total in sets of 17, 20, 15, 15 and 19. That final set was a killer I could barely complete it. I had to stop for a second to rest about 3 times.

On Sunday I did Day 3, Week 5 of Couch to 10k, which was 20 minutes of jogging with no walking in between. I managed to complete it, but my calves were killing me. Today I decided I would listen to a new album on Spotify on each run that I do. On today’s run I listened to Gang by Headie One with Fred again. I have never heard of them to be honest, I just selected the first album in the new releases category. It was pretty good actually, I’m going to try and listen to more of their stuff.

Learning

I continued with the Datacamp courses on Data Science, statistics has been coming up more and more. Having read the book on statistics has really helped.

I’m probably biting off more than I can chew really, but I’ve also enrolled on the online course Essential Math for Machine Learning: Python Edition on a site called edX. I do need to brush up on my maths for the Data Science courses so I think it’s going to be useful. I’ve probably taken on too much, but we’ll see.

Reading

I’ve read about 70 pages so far of my new book. It’s much easier to read than the last book, so I don’t think it will take me too long to finish. I’m enjoying it so far.

Even with all this stuff I’m doing I still spend time with my wife and children too. We play games, watch films and talk, I just figured that went without saying. My kids like to do their own thing too which gives me time to do the things I feel like I need to do. The exercise if for me to stay healthy so I’m around for my kids for as long as possible. The learning, is to help futher my career and give me more opportunities. And the reading is to keep my mind active. Now that I don’t have to travel to work I have that time back to do these things.

I weighed myself this morning an I’ve lost another 1.5 lb, I’ve now lost 2 stone 5lb in total. I still have over 2 stone to go though. I went for a jog first thing this morning at 7.45 to try and avoid as many people as possible on the Worth Way. Today was Day 3 of Week 5 of Couch to 10k, which was jog for 8 minutes, walk for 5 and jog for 8. On Sunday it’s 20 minutes jogging with no walking in between.

I finished another Datacamp course today and started another one. I have now finished 13 and have 8 to go.

I started reading the latest book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. I’ve only read about 10 pages so far, but I’m already enjoying it. It’s got a writing style that I like.

I had a couple of calls from work today and for the moment my contract seems to be relatively safe, for the time being at least anyway. A few others haven’t been so lucky and have been given notice. The project is looking to continue but at a reduced cost, the services my company provide are considered key. Every day I remain in work is a bonus.

Toodleoo.

After nearly two weeks, I’ve finally done it. I finished the book I’ve been reading, Statistics without Tears by Derek Rowntree. It’s a relatively short book at only 193 pages, but despite how long it’s taken me to read it was actually really interesting. I don’t remember doing much on statistics at school so it’s been a good primer for me and will come in useful as I progress through the Datacamp Data Science courses. Statistics is a big part of Data Science which is why I wanted to read the book.

I think one of the reasons it takes me so long to read a book is that I only read a few pages at a time when I have a spare few minutes. I read before bed for a bit longer, but I usually read fiction on my Kindle (currently reading Unseen by Karin Slaughter). When I’m sleepy I can’t take in anything too cerebral. I’m also quite a slow reader anyway, my wife can zip through a couple of books a week, while I can take months to read a 400 page book. I think it’s because Hailey skim reads while I tend to read every word, especially with non-fiction as I want to retain the information as best I can.

The next book I’m going to read is a complete change of pace, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami. It’s only 180 pages and with no maths involved, hopefully it won’t take me too long to get through.

It’s my day off from jogging today so I did skipping and pushups. Today I did 80 pushups in sets of 16, 20, 13, 13, 18. That final 18 was really tough, I had to pause a couple of times in order to get through it. My chest and shoulders were really sore after that.

Other than that things were business as usual. Tomorrow is weigh in day, so I’ll be back with the results.

For what I did today you can pretty much just read a post from a previous day. I did Day 1, Week 5 of Couch to 10k, which is 3 5 minute jogs with 3 minutes of walking in between. I managed to complete it, but it was quite hard on my legs. I’m really not built for this jogging lark.

Nine days in and I’m not sure how much longer I can keep up a daily blog. My life isn’t very interesting even when I’m not confined to the house, so this has been exceedingly dull. I might switch to a weekly post unless something really exciting happens inbetween (unlikely).

Today is Tuesday (I think) and was pretty much the same as Monday. I didn’t jog today I did exercise in the house including 72 push ups over 5 sets. I completed more Datacamp training and watched some more Friday Night Dinner. I also failed to finish the book on Statistics I’ve been reading for over a week. It’s less than 200 pages long.

Five years ago today, I bought my Leica M6. It’s not had much use lately, but it’s still my favourite camera and I can’t imagine ever parting with it.

That’s it for today, I might be back tomorrow, I may not.