Saturday 22 June 2019

Fibonacci number sequence Miles to km

8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765, 10946, 17711, 28657, 46368, 75025
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The Fibonacci number sequence and Phi (the Golden Ratio) are math thingy things that don't get mentioned enough. They pop up everywhere without being noticed, in science, nature, politics, religion, art and behind the sofa.

What is the Fibonacci number sequence? I hear you ask.

The Fibonacci Sequence is the series of numbers: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, ... The next number is found by adding up the two numbers before it.

The Golden Ratio is when we divide a line into two parts so that:

the whole length divided by the long part
is also equal to
the long part divided by the short part

It is 1.6180339887... It relates to the Fibonacci sequence in that if you divide any number in the sequence by the one before it comes to this ratio and the further down the line is ne you go the closer it gets.

As a runner do you recognise that number? The 1.618... It's near the conversion rate for miles to Kilometers. So if you want to convert miles to km quickly take any number in the Fibonacci sequence, take that as miles, and then the next number (the sum of the last two numbers) will be the equivalent in km.

The higher you go the more accurate it is...

8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, 6765, 10946, 17711, 28657, 46368, 75025,

Saturday 1 June 2019

40 miles on my 40th birthday

Well I wasn't sure if I'd do it but once I got to 26 miles it had to be done!

I ran from my house in Wrexham to Chester, then along the Coast until I got to Flint Train Station. I caught the train back to Wrexham then ran home (with a bit added on).

When I was in Flint someone recognised me but I'm sorry, I didn't recognise him/you.

Whilst I was running I kept thinking, I'll stop soon, this is silly 😋. Why am I doing this. But then I would think of reasons to keep going; such as:
- this won't help me run my upcoming 5k any faster but I know other ultra runners who do well off long miles for shorter stuff;
- a friend from work who knew I was planning on doing 40 miles sent me a text at 20 miles in, how could I face them Monday morning!
- In ten years time I'll remember this just as I can remember doing 30 at 30.

Etc

Glad I've done it.