Hello to Willand

Willand is my mother-in-law's new home. Having driven her there we helped clean, unpack and did various other odd jobs, and I managed two early morning runs, thus the last two of the four mentioned in my last post. Once again you have to interpolate the beginning of my route because my GPS device takes such an age to get first lock. My first run took the road from Willand to Halberton turning left towards Sampford Perverell, total distance about 12km.

Grand Western Canal, Sampford Peverell

Tiverton Parkway station

My second run started hesitantly to the church and then towards Cullompton then, as the main road was too busy, I retraced my steps to the church where my GPS device got first lock, then across the river meadows to Bradfield and Coldharbour.  Total distance about 11km.

Weir on River Culm at Coldharbour

Goodbye to Norfolk

Here is a rather belated report on four runs during recent UK trip. I attempted to GPS track all four but my smartphone took ages to get first lock and I wasn't going to hang around waiting for it, getting frozen. So you will have to interpolate a bit from the end of the track which was obviously the beginning of my run to the beginning of the track

The first two are perhaps my last runs in Norfolk (sob, sob). My first track was perhaps 15km.

First sun from Broad Lane

Coxford church

Almost home again

The second track was just over 10km - shorter because I was worn out from the previous run and all the house packing we were doing. I returned via West Rudham church. Running barefoot through a cabbage field was an interesting experience but one feels obliged to keep the English public footpaths in use!

Granpa's grave

West Rudham church

Footpath through cabbages

Showing the church, and the cabbage path below it

If I get around to repeating all this hard work my next post will be two runs in "Hello to Willand".

The most beautiful girl in the world

Did I mention this before?  Well, if I did, this is a better photograph of the original than my last attempt.  The original is a black and white photograph hand tinted with, I suppose, water colour.

The most beautiful girl in the world

I am reliably told that this is the same person
(on another occasion)

Beeston tram works

The Beeston line

On the way to Ali's mum - another shopping stop giving me time to suss out work on an extension to Nottingham's tram system. The works introduced a considerable detour in our route to the shop Ali wanted.

Norfolk

Tuesday Market place, Kings Lynn, after the deluge

The occasion: stopping for the inevitable shopping at Kings Lynn on the way to helping Ali's mum move from Norfolk to Devon.

The Great Ouse, from the ferry steps, just before the deluge

So Ali is off shopping for Goodness knows what and I have some free time. It is very liberating taking to the streets of an unknown city running barefoot in the rain. Actually I manage to shelter during the worst of it at the steps where the ferry to West Lynn stops.  The "Great Ouse" - what a wonderful name for such a sluggish river!

The West Lynn ferry arriving

Looking upstream to the steps down to the ferry
Ouse-mud feels so soft between the toes...

Zooming in - some people waiting for the ferry

Barefoot Tullamore

Grand Canal east of Tullamore

Grand Canal west of Tullamore

The Grand Canal connects Dublin with the River Shannon. We were staying two nights in Tullamore on the occasion of our wedding anniversary giving me a chance to explore the canal. The pictures suffer from morning poor light but at least you can see the grass barefoot-friendly tow-path.  The canal is in excellent condition which renewed my idea to navigate it by canoe from Naas to the Shannon. 

Last lake swim this year?

Saturday, work on the new boiler is drawing to a close, so after lunch I ran along the lake shore and had a quick dip - the water is noticeably cooler so my swim was a few strokes out and back. Meg's attempt was even feebler: as soon as she sees me turn back she's out like a shot. Then biked to Joanne's to see her smoke damage, Larry came too but rather slowly and it rained so together I got rather cold. Painted a door for Joanne then cycled back and Larry's bike broke so he had to be rescued. Got back just in time for dinner (thank you Caroline) so my much longed for hot bath had to wait.

Did I tame my feet?

They call it "tempting fate". Having told the world how to care for one's bare feet, a week later and I have several bad cracks under my big and smallest toe, left foot, and what is probably a thorn in one of the toes of my right foot. Not to mention the off cracks appearing on my heels. I do not think my diet has changed, so why? Not to be deterred I am treating them the usual way and they have improved enough to do short runs barefoot this weekend.

Bike ride and seals

Today I cycled to via Annamoe to Wicklow town, then to Brittas Bay, then back via Rathdrum. Total distance 71.5 miles, maximum speed 41.9 mph. Reason? A free Sunday and reasonable weather possibly the last chance of a long bike ride this year. Destination? I hadn't been to my favourite sea location this year so I thought it was about time I did. And where is that? Possibly Wicklow's closest guarded secret! But I will show some pictures...

Wicklow's closest guarded secret

How many seals can you see?

There was a whole bunch of them just here
 but they took to the water before I could snap them

All except this old codger...

Old codger closeup, growled when I got close

And on the other side of the bay this young chap...

who, it seems, I woke up

and then he humped himself into the sea

Showing the deliciously clear water (and a seal)

More seals

So then I had a short swim. In spite of its proximity to Wicklow town one can usually get away with swimming naked here and so I did, not wanting to get my shorts full of sea water which would cause blisters when cycling. The swim was very short because I was a bit cautious of the very nosey seals.

On the way back to my parked bike

First view of Brittas Bay

Brittas Bay beach

There were too many people at Brittas Bay so I could not swim, not wanting to get my shorts wet, and anyway it had become overcast and a bit chilly. So after a short promenade I ate my lunch and started the long return journey. The climb to Wicklow Gap is long...

How to tame your bare feet

I think I mentioned before that I go running barefoot. Initially I carried trainers with me for use on on difficult surfaces. I never take trainers now and I survive. I generally run three of four times a week, usually around 5 miles though sometimes longer at the weekend. Today I ran about 10 miles. So how do my feet survive this onslaught?

Apart from the occasional thorn, or stubbing one's toe, my main enemy is splits. The thickened skin tends to crack particularly in the creases under the toes, especially the large and smallest toe. I also get cracks on the soles and around the heels of my feet. It appears that other barefoot runners suffer similarly so here I offer my own experience.

The best approach is preventative by periodically removing dead skin and frequently applying moisturising cream. The best way I have found to remove dead skin is to use abrasive paper. I use P80 grit, the high quality type used for sanding belts in which the abrasive does not come off easily. Glue a strip around a piece of wooden dowel and sand the dead skin off, especially in the places where one tends to get cracks.  If the cracks are bad (deep, even bleeding) then apply pink Germolene (it comes in a blue and yellow box, whereas the white germolene comes in a blue and pink box) and fabric elastoplast. If necessary you can use a spot of superglue at the edges to keep the elastoplast in place. I have found nothing better for healing bad cracks. Once the cracks have somewhat healed then you should cut way the upper (dead) layers of skin either side of the crack to relieve the stress (precision side-cutters are excellent), and then use the abrasive tool to reduce the dead skin more generally.

Cracks on areas not subject to stress (e.g. the heels) can be glued together with superglue. I cannot vouch for the medical safety of this method so you use it at your own risk, but see here.  Superglue will actually make a crack under the toe worse as it sets hard and does not allow the skin to stretch as it must here.

The purpose of the above methods is to give the skin a chance to heal. Only sometimes have I been forced to skip a run on account of cracks. Normally I take the attitude that the body was made for running barefoot so it should be able to cope: obviously this is true only up to a point and common sense must prevail.

Moisturising cream should be applied every night whilst there are any signs of cracks, and especially after a run as some surfaces (e.g. dusty clay) have a drying effect. The best cream, as I have observed before in this blog, is Silcocks Base and it is not expensive. Apply liberally.

Over the several years that I have been running barefoot the soles of my feet have, of course, hardened. But I have found that this hardening process has plateaued. I was hoping to get to the stage that others claim of being able to walk easily on any surface. So I decided to extend my barefoot experience to most of the time and have found that this has definitely had a positive effect on my feet.

For example this morning I was climbing our young apple trees barefoot to pick apples. It worked well - much less damage to the tree and the ability to "feel" how strong a branch was (apples trees are not strong).

Whilst I have considerable freedom to go barefoot, working as I do from home, there are the opinions of family and friends to consider. For example, is it acceptable to go barefoot to church barefoot, or for a meal with one's wife? Whilst there is good scriptural basis for worshipping barefoot this should possibly not be taken literally and it appears that most people are offended by the practice! Or is it OK to go shopping barefoot - I have tried it but it embarrases my wife. I prefer to drive barefoot and is not illegal provided one can operate the controls effectively - for me I find I have greater control barefoot.

So, in summary, if you would enjoy the barefoot experience you should be prepared to go barefoot as much as possible, to endure some discomfort (nothing ventured, nothing gained), and to look after your feet as explained above.

An electrician's lot is not a happy one

Armed with a miscellany of test equipment I have been doing a periodic inspection of the wiring in a large house for insurance purposes. There are eight lighting circuits and umpteen power circuits. It is a woeful task removing light fittings consecutively only to find yet-another with no earth, or moving furniture to gain access to socket outlet to perform earth-fault-loop and polarity tests, whilst knowing that there must be many hidden junction boxes that cannot be accessed without taking the house totally apart. At least, although they are fairly old, the cables themselves seem to be in good shape. I can understand the insurance company wanting assurance that the electrics are safe and won't cause a fire, but those inaccessible junction boxes (if they exist at all) are probably the most insidious.

King James

We have prophecy in our church. Prophecy is when someone speaks out in public what they believe God has given them to say. It is usually for exhortation. Typically a thought is implanted and the way the thought is expressed is up to the person giving the prophecy.

Many folk in our church use the King James version of the Bible for its accuracy.

So what if the prophet speaks in King James English with thee's and thou's? Do I conclude that God speaks in archaic English? I trow not! I regret that when this happens I find it hard to take the person seriously. At least we are encouraged to test the prophets. Perhaps I should be less judgmental. 

Donadea

Bike ride 44 miles, max 30.5 mph, avg 12.4 mph, destination Donadea forest park via Naas, Clane and Prosperous.  In Naas I followed the Grand Canal and found the Leinster aqueduct.

Grand canal showing Naas branch and Leinster aqueduct

Water reeds in Naas branch

Near the old Odlums Mill

Crossing the Leinster Aqueduct

By the aqueduct, this water is pumped up from the Liffey to feed the canal

The Liffey, looking southwards from the aqueduct

I had my cleated bike shoes on so could not easily explore - I thought of shedding all and fording the canal to check out the pump works, but thought better of it (lots of people about, and people think this sort of activity suspicious or at least foolish). So my next picture is not my own.

The aqueduct itself pasted from here

When I finally got to Donadea I duly ate my crisps and raisin turn-over, and drank my Club orange and then turned back not finding the 'forest park' too interesting... Possibly there might be some interesting parts but I did not have time to explore.

Donadea forest park, a less interesting part

On the way back I took the bog road to Prosperous and stopped by a peat-works with an interesting railway and a pile of waggons in the distance.

Peat-works railway near Prosperous

Programmable load

Recently I was involved in the design of a range of PCM's for lithium batteries of capacity up to 200Ah. Testing such a PCM involves dumping currents of over 200A. I work on a tight budget so purchasing a programmable dummy load for this sort of current was out of the question. So I improvised. I ended up using a combination of high wattage fixed resistors for loads up to 30A or so, a home-made water cooled load for high current, and a programmable load when I needed to tweak the current.

My programmable load was one of those projects where I did not do sufficient planning and research. I imagined it would be a doddle to make. I should have heeded warning bells at this point as I have "been there, done that" rather too many times in my short life.

Here are a few pictures of the construction of my programmable load.  The basic idea was that a cheap MOSFET can dump 10A easily, so 25 of them should dump 250A.  Each MOSFET has a 0.5R resistor in the source to help equalise current sharing. All 25 bases were connected in parallel (with 100R series resistors to prevent parasitic oscillation) and driven by an op-amp which compared the voltage on a multi-turn pot with the output of a 200A current sensor IC.

Four of the five panels, each has five MOSFET's with their source resistors

The 6th panel with op-amp circuit being assembled

Here are the five MOSFET panels about to be assembled

Almost complete

Details of a MOSFET panel

A 12V 100mm fan cools the five MOSFET panels. No calculations here: just vain hope that forced air cooling is very effective. But I hadn't bargained for the gate voltage negative temperature coefficient.

If any MOSFET took more than its share of current it would dissipate more power than the others and get hotter: this temperature coefficient would then make the MOSFET conduct even more leading to thermal runaway. My solution was to add a NTC thermistor in the base circuit of each MOSFET and cemented to its body. A bit of a cludge but it sort of works.

In the event I actually rarely used the programmable load. I found that various combinations of fixed resistors generally was adequate. But it was fun building it.