I want to write an update about electric vehicles (EVs) and one possible future vision, the driverless or autonomous car. Want is a strong supposition without much substance if I’m being honest. A more accurate description would be I have a back-burner topic, something to hang onto. It interests me enough if nothing else pops up in the meantime. Tesla announced a 10% cut in the workforce this week. Its value has dropped by a third since the start of the year. Good reason to explore this story further.
But life balancing won the day thanks to Bryony Gordon’s - Is balance a load of BS? She writes a weekly newsletter on Substack which I now follow. We’re also enjoying Loudermilk on Netflix, a character I can relate to, apart from the episode when his father’s in town adding nothing to the party or Loudermilk’s take on life.
Bryony Gordon’s friends commenting on her fractured shin while marathon training reminded me of how annoying such feedback can sometimes be. Delivered in a calm patronising manner in my experience, she was informed that the unfortunate injury occurred because of a lack of life balance. Her spectating friend must have been quietly tutting on the sidelines for months. Or perhaps, said another (there’s always a perhaps to soften the opine that follows) it’s an addiction swap - drinking for running. The implication is you’re self-harming but in a different way. Neither is healthy, err except for the outcome, a leg heals, no other cause for alarm.
I find balancing acts thin, superficial and not very satisfying. They’re for conservative folk who enjoy a small sherry never a schooner before Sunday lunch and make a bottle of wine last all week. I’ve never understood the point.
If you’ve ever committed to a marathon training plan, it’s significant. The distances may be short to start with but the frequency is high and there’s always one long run or walk every week. I remember being told by a very fit British Airways pilot on a training run, I was a member of a running club near Cobham at the time, fully immersed in my challenge, a successful marathon should include at least five, twenty-mile runs. I expect plans have changed but one truth which hasn’t is, more time spent running as fitness improves equals a faster marathon.
This historic distance is a challenge on more than a few bucket lists. It suits the compulsive, the ones who lack balance and enjoy the diversion and distraction needed to succeed. We’re the ones who didn’t run at school unless we had to or were encouraged by a ball, cross country was a wet, winter punishment. Agreeing to give up your spare time to run a lot was only because a friend said you couldn’t do it.
I ran for a few years encouraged by Pogo, our dog until he crocked himself chasing a ball and Park Runs on Saturdays, a great opportunity for anyone who wants to run.
Running was always more than a dog walk. I joined a running club, then we moved, so I joined another. I read about the Tarahumara Indians in Christopher McDougall’s book, Born to Run. It encouraged me to try minimalist running shoes which create the sensation of barefoot running. Before them, I was a big fan of Asics and specialist shops where they expected you to run up and down on the pavement as part of the fitting. I had a running watch and ran sprints on a cricket pitch, sucking in the cold frosty air as I recovered before doing it again and again.
I resist half-measures. When I went all out Keto (a diet that does work) I researched it a lot, able to defend my new love for meat and green veg. I also love carbs and eventually went back to bread. I have a bike in the garage with 24-inch wheels, a foldaway that behaves more like a racer than a Brompton for my trips to the west country and the Bath - Bristol cycle path. In 2018, my children were still at school, so the train from London gave me a good weekly workout.
Golf and the gym (including stationary bikes) are now preferred. I love golf but won’t be really happy until my handicap drops to a respectable single figure. There’s nothing more satisfying than flushing a golf ball so what’s the point unless it happens more often than not? I want friendship and exercise too but dovetailed with performance. I want it all.
I stopped drinking because one was never enough. I started when I went to university, now I’m back to my healthier younger years and don’t think about it. The thinking finally turned me off, that and too many pissed nights, no more or less, as far as I could tell, than the people I socialised with. I spent far too much energy counting how many drinks, the days I could drink on and who was going to drive. If that’s not a problem, I don’t know what is? I had at least one friend who used to record the number of units consumed in their Filofax. I tried it myself for a while. It’s all bullshit and it certainly stopped deserving any more of my attention. I see the slick, pervasive lifestyle marketing now focuses on zero alcohol replacements, worried about market share and diminishing revenues from their younger audiences who are far too smart for hangovers. I expect they’re attracted by easily accessible pain free alternatives not sold in supermarkets. Or maybe they’re happy with a cup of tea.
I’m with Bryony Gordon who has at least one decent friend who calls it for what it is - she’s an all-or-nothing person. Balance makes no sense and has never served me well, one reason why I never liked working for others. I would never have started my own business on a small sherry. In the beginning, when there’s nothing, it only happens because of compulsion, obsession and a contrarian nature. We thought we knew better. It’s visceral, dumb and it’s everything. Everyone else doesn’t think it will amount to a row of beans.
Human-driven vehicles in the US kill a person every 97 million miles driven. The tech leaders in autonomous driving will need to beat this statistic by a significant margin, a standard which they’re nowhere close to yet.