Gerrycan

I mentioned I had a GPS watch for about 3 years and I had similar impressive results. When looking close at the mapping of the run it even accurately showed which side of the road I ran on, even the footpath. However there is a domestic use algorithm and a commercial/military version and the difference is the former is accurate to within metres and the latter is centimetres. It is particularly obvious when looking at reported height. When I ran along the beach tideline the vertical variation could be more than 10 metres and particularly amusing when it showed up when canoeing as it was never that rough out there. Over longer distances it all averages out to very good accuracy. Same in a car, gps where speeds are inconsistent at crawl pace but far more accurate at speed Kudos to you for doing marathons, it is not something I think I could do. When I run I really perspire and over 7 km I can lose about 1kg in weight or 1litre of sweat and I'm not sure I could drink 4 litres of water during a 42 km run. When I did Olympic distance triathlons I found hydrating on a bike a lot easier. Also I've known a few former keen marathon and ultra marathon runners and I am a little perturbed at the high instances of knee and hip operations many have incurred.

And this one is really interesting regarding screen time after concussion. bit late info for you though. Concussion and screen use - Health Report - ABC Radio National

There do seem to be a few issues with Fitbits reported and it turns out they are owned by Google and I think they already have enough information about me. I did have a TomTom gps watch a few years back and that was good up to the point the buttons failed after about three years. and there were lots of similar online complaints about that unit, usually in a shorter timeframe. Three years seems to be about the operational life for these watches. My Polar heartrate monitor is about 25 years old and still going strong with button cell replacement every 2 years or so, but I'm not keen on the chest transmitter as I find them a bit restricting. Probably going for a Garmin, probably the $200 unit and hope it lasts well beyond the 1 year guarantee. Bonus is that it is made in Taiwan and not China, I try to avoid products from the latter as much as possible for a number of ethical and distrust issues. May wait until after Christmas though as I'm working everyday up to Christmas so no running and based on previous experience the price will drop. Thanks everyone for comments

Worf (haha) sized bumps or not, it can take surprisingly little impact for some concussion effects. Based on years of watching my son in his chosen physically interactive sport, self-assessment is not recommended. My go to site for new peer reviewed health advice has just published timely comments on concussion recovery: Concussion and exercise - Health Report - ABC Radio National

My Garmin Vivofit 2 that I found on the beach about 6 years ago has slipped off my own wrist (seems a certain poetic karma in this) and I am now in the market for a cheap and effective replacement. There is a Vivofit 4 that looked ideal at a mere au$79 until I found that this later version could not be linked to a heartrate monitor. I mean what the ....? Shortlist so far is: Fitbit Charge 4 at AU$179 with heat rate monitor, GPS and various other bits, including that it can monitor my menstrual cycle (apparently) Fitbit Charge 5 at $269, similar features but with colour touch screen and enhanced heart monitor to ECG status (I am getting old) Garmin Venu SQ at AU199 looks a good option too. Anybody with personal experience of any of these or other suggestions? I'm not too interested in the full smart watch thing and I don't listen to music on a run.

Absolutely no excuse these days for riding an unlit bike in the dark these days with the cheap, efficient and effective lights now available, and you were on a pedestrian crossing!! I was really fussy about using the best lights available when I used to commute into London. Of course 'best' in those days were Eveready Night Riders with 3 volt incandescent bulbs and rechargeable NiCad batteries. Now I use some Aldi LED lights that can blind oncoming drivers at a 100 metres but I use the low light setting on road and the high beam on the unlit pathways through the parklands. It continuously amazes me how good they are for something so small and cheap. These unexpected setbacks always seem to occur when the performance stars are aligning. You seem to have come out of it quite well, I hope there are no further repercussions from the incident.

Local (Australian) apiarists have long suspected that cheap imported Chinese honey was manufactured but it took some sophisticated scientific analysis to officially confirm it about 8 months ago. Honey is naturally produced when the forager bees return collected nectar to house bees who process it in their crop from sucrose to simpler glucose and fructose sugars. The Chines must have copied the process artificially and to be fair it fooled a lot people. Luckily Australian labelling laws mean that if the honey is labelled as produced here and from 100% Australian content then it is unlikely to be contaminated. Manuka is the New Zealand name for the Ti-tree plant common here and in New Zealand. Oils from the Ti-tree plant are used in a lot of being anti-bacterial and soothing medications, I swear by a particular Ti-tree based lotion for sunburn. The claim is that some of those medicinal qualities are transferred to the honey produced from the flowering plant. There is a lot of marketing faff and some fairly exaggerated claims for it which do not stand up real well to properly conducted independent scientific studies. A very interesting honey is produced by a particular stingless Australian honey bee ( I cannot remember the name but there are 11 variesties here). A very small bee it does not produce much honey but it is high in fructose and phenols that is being investigated because it is effective against antibiotic resistant bacteria. It was long valued for it medicinal qualities, taste and, I presume, ease of collection by aboriginals, hey a 40,000+ year old culture must count for something. Personally I agree with @Wino and I'd take the claims of Hoy and associates with a pinch of salt, or teaspoon of honey, whatever your preference. I'll remain sceptical until independently proven. I get to meet a lot of elite athletes and I'll just say that some of the (legal) supplements they consume in the search for better performance depend more on marketing and hearsay than real proven fact. Simply eating a calorie balanced diet of unprocessed and unrefined foods can give a person all the nutrition they need. We have got a beehive in the garden and enjoy eating our own honey. It seems to have slightly more subtle taste complexities than commercially produced varieties but I'm prepared to admit that most of the satisfaction is that it is home produced. I do not expect any health giving qualities from its consumption, bonus if there is.

We have the base level 1.4tsi estate mk3 released in Australia in 2014 with a low priced option addition for some necessary bits. It has a great engine, flexible, quiet, smooth, economical and more power than I am prepared to use to the full on public roads. The interior capacity is very efficient which gives it great flexibility for carrying people and/or lots other things. The car is currently quite noisy to drive because the tyres are worn with saw-toothing and nearly due for replacement, or it could be a bearing, but we will see which when the tyres are eventually replaced. It was interesting driving a hire Toyota Corolla sedan hybrid in our Northern Territories this September as it was incredibly noisy at speed (130 kph speed limit) on the very course tarmac their highways are coated with, we actually gave up trying to listen to music. It was far worse than our Octavia is on similar roads even with its worn tyres (or bearing). The Corolla experienced smooth tarmac it was quiet so it was purely road surface noise. The hybrid was surprisingly efficient, even at speed on the NT's relatively flat open roads where the EV could not contribute much, we averaged 4.25 L/100 (calculated from fuel used) over 2500km (66mpg). I would have expected to get about 50 mpg with the Octavia at similar speeds. I have looked at replacing the car but the base mk4 is sold here with the 1.4tsi and an 8 speed Aisin torque converter which does not appeal. Was very tempted with the local base Scala offering with the 1.5tsi and manual box at a competitive price, but it is smaller so I think we will just stick with our current low mileage vehicle until EV pricing becomes more attractive. There is a significant price increase moving up to the vRS (just RS here) and you do get better suspension, performance and brakes etc for the money so I guess the interior noise will be compared to far more expensive cars than what I compared with which may account for some of the dissatisfaction expressed on that aspect.

I do not understand your logic about the wheels. Bigger wheels mean lower profile tyres and less depth in the sidewalls and less comfort.

Open one set of diagonally opposite windows an equal amount and the drumming is not noticeable and it improves through ventilation (Covid tip). Don't you have cup holders in the rear dropdown central armrest?

The internal capacity and practicality of the Octavia wagon is exceptional compared to its current contemporaries although if you look back at British Leyland models, and rivals of that era, they could be even better (but ONLY in that internal efficiency aspect). The five speed manual gearbox is a holdover from the NEDC consumption tests where a five speed could achieve better results than a six speed. It was a negative quirk of that particular test but I'm not sure if that is still true for the WLTP test. The 5 speed manual was not a problem on the 1.9pd mk2 I previously owned but others on Briskoda who have driven both the 1.9pd and the 1.6tdi (similar power/torque specs) suggest the latter has noticeably less low rev torque so the 5 speed could well be more of an issue for the 1.6tdi. Apparently a few more revs help rather than trying to slog it. I've not driven a VW 1.6tdi (not common in Australia) but I did drive a Kia 1.6d in Britain and I had to make full use of the 6 speed manual box to get the best economy/performance due to a low torque hole that one had. VW diesels are quite distinctively noisy, our old dog knew the sound of ours and for a while still got quite excited by any VW diesel that drove by after we replaced ours. A few people have fitted more soundproofing to their privately owned Octavia but you would not do it to a company provided car. Some owners have reported exceptionally good economy figures for the 1.6tdi, especially on a run. Again I guess as it is a company car and the business probably pay for the fuel you are not really bothered with that aspect.

My son has inherited a lot of his granddad's genes (on the wife's side) and his family line have a history of allergies and asthma. I developed asthma symptoms out the blue about 20 years ago and while it was initially bad it reduced to being just being exercise induced or when I have a bad chest cold when an occasional puffer controls it. No family history on my side so read what you will into that. I can do a whole run after forgetting to take a pre-puffer and have no effects but I can't depend on that always happening. 10 years back my wife wanted to do a scuba course which I was also attracted to, so we both had medicals and I failed on the asthma test (dry air of the tank), she passed but did not like doing it without me. Hasn't stopped either of us snorkelling though on various reefs, Great Barrier (marvellous), Lord Howe Island (incredible) and the mass mating of giant cuttlefish off the shore at Whyalla just this year (bucket list item).

Coincidentally my thirty year old son is on a dairy free diet. He suddenly developed asthma and sinus congestion issues from around three years old. It is not unusual for asthma and allergies to be linked. Asthma medication enabled him to continue a very active and sporting lifestyle but the congestion was always present. About two years ago he went dairy free and there has been a substantial improvement in both conditions. It is not the only factor of course, for instance a big night out will always result in days of issues, and it is not milk he drinks . On the other hand my wife and I consume litres of low fat milk daily, with no ill effects.

@gm1, unless I missed it one of the posts you have not posted what type of mk3 Octavia you have. The 1.0tsi, 1.4tsi, 1.5tsi, 1.6tdi and 2.0tdi have a beam rear axle Any petrol or diesel AWD version or vRS will have independent rear suspension. Not sure how that impacts on what springs you select to achieve what you want, but if you have beam rear axle then you will not need the 4 wheel geometry check as the beam rear has little to no adjustability, so a standard front wheels geometry check only.

If your signature location of Aberdeen is accurate how on earth can you have a 'warm sunny day' in November? Well anywhere in the UK really at this time of year Is your car garaged? Is the garage heated? If left outside then the batteries are more likely to still be at the overnight temperature than the daytime temperature when you drive. If you have climate control which is just left on permanently set at say 22 deg C then the amount of battery drain not only depends on outside temperature but also humidity as the system may be trying to heat the air and also run the aircon to 'dry' the air. That is a double whammy regarding battery drain which would have huge effect. Judging by the fact that other hybrid owners are reporting similar range issues with cooler weather I am pretty sure you do not have a problem. It is just a logical characteristic of an EV in different environmental conditions, driver comfort requirements and current battery technology. Of course if the range does not improve in the Summer then you may well indeed have a problem.

If the map has seriously improved the driveability of your car as you say, and I am not just talking about any performance improvement, then it is money well spent. I think it just reflects the difficulties manufacturers have meeting all the emission and consumption requirements while providing a car that drives well. Tuners do not have those constraints. Look at all the issues raised in this and other forums with the 1.5tsi manual kangarooing, and to be fair it would not be just an issuing of a fix, the group would have to go through the whole WTLP validation process before any rectification could be issued.

I went through a phase for about a year where intermittently one nasal passage would get an inordinate amount of congestion while the other side remained clear. While it was very annoying I found that a simple saline nasal spray really helped me a lot until it eventually sorted itself out, but I think diligent application of the saline solution assisted the resolution. Over the counter nasal spray medications that 'dry' up the nose left it feeling odd, uncomfortable and sensitive, compared to the normal side. I have read that they can cause issues if overused. Sounds like you really need to persevere contacting your doc and maybe a referral to a specialist with your history. I had my tonsils and adenoids out when I was eleven and it literarily changed my life for the better overnight.

Have to work over the next few days and it is quite physical so I kept my 'strength' session short but was still shaking with the effort at the end. Started with BEEP test which is shuttle running between two points 20 metres apart to a recording with increasingly short time between 'beeps'). Starts with a slow 10 laps of around 8kph, then the next 10 laps at 9kph and then each 10 laps it increases by .5kph (I think that's right). Very popular with sporting organisations and the armed forces for a fitness measurement . I did one about 3 weeks ago and was happy to achieve 7.1 (1 lap of the 7th speed increment) in windy conditions but today was pretty ideal and I got to 8.1. This time I remembered my heart rate monitor and apart from how I felt I know there was nothing left in the tank as my heart rate peaked at 191. I can run 7km and not feel as shattered after only 7 minutes of the beep test. Did a few pull ups, push and sit ups after. The general formula for maximum heart rate is 220 minus your age (which would make me 29 years old, which I most definitely am not) but it is only a guideline and it will depend on your general level of fitness whether it is appropriate. Scandinavian research has confirmed that the fitter you are the higher your max heart rate can be over the formula but it also works the other way if your fitness is initially poor. Anybody engaging in exercise as a beginner should get a medical check up first (never a bad thing anyway as you get older) and get qualified fitness instructor advice for an appropriate exercise regime. Start off light and build condition gradually, don't be afraid to listen to your body when it tells you it has had enough.

I mentioned in @mac11irl's running and bike diary that I had tried to adopt a more natural running style to overcome the bad postural habits I had developed over time. Seems to be working reasonably well for me although it is still something I have to concentrate on maintaining, it is not natural yet and I can easily lapse. I had an initial 30 second improvement on my 5km circuit which I was able to largely maintain, and rather excitingly there was a further 30 second improvement which may be a bit of an outlier for a while but there is a definite trend for the better. I really would like to get back to 5 minute kilometres, and the 6 seconds a km I need is going to be the difficult one. It only represents about a hundred metres improvement but according to the online reading I have been doing the best thing I can do at my age is some additional strength work. Not my favourite activity but I will see if I can fit some in, you know to test the science.

I'm surprised there has been no vandalism of vehicles occupying EV charging points for excessively long periods, especially the free ones. I'd drop the free points and simply charge for the electricity used and then charge double rate for the time parked connected and not charging. I'm pretty sure that people who abuse the facilities would be less inclined to do so.

I've Just tried to establish and maintain good life habits. I'll let you know how it works out in thirty years time Should be easy and taught at schools but the corporate behemoths whose marketing you are subjected to incessantly through life are determined to profit from killing you sloooowly and painfully.

OMG that Bradex charger is not far removed from my old 4 amp Bradex version that I brought out from the UK, which must be close to 40 years old now. I'd only use it on basic batteries for which it was designed. Every full discharge (accidental or otherwise) of a lead acid has a measurable effect on its life and performance, EFM and AGM versions do handle that situation better but still best avoided. I remember my late brother-in-law got 12 years out of the original battery in his Rover 3500 P6 before it failed one day. Ideally a battery should be fully charged (with appropriate charger for type) and put back in the car and the battery voltage measured while under load cranking the engine. If it falls under a certain voltage during cranking then it is probably wise to replace the battery. I think it's 7.2volts at 0 degrees but 9volts at normal ambient temperatures. Batteries can still go on starting the car for quite a while even at at lower cranking voltages but there is going to come that icy cold day where it fails very quickly or there is a sudden failure and the car cannot be unlocked. Remember that the bonnet opening lever on a RHD Octavia mk3 is (stupidly) on the passenger side which cannot be easily accessed if the passenger door cannot be unlocked. I'm as tightarse as the next man but I don't begrudge replacing the battery after 5 years if I suspect that it is not performing as well as normal.

Good questions. BMI does need context for relevance. While I'm basically skinny, if I put on weight it can go to my midriff and that certainly happened in the summer of 1976 where I drank far too much beer during the then record breaking high temperatures. A beer belly (abdominal visceral) fat on a skinny person is not pretty and certainly not healthy even when young. I caught sight of myself in a mirror and vowed never again. Pure vanity for sure, but hey whatever works and so I currently run about 10% body fat and minimal amounts around the waistline. You have got to remember that Unwin is mainly dealing with either potentially or actually really sick people, they are overweight and still malnourished, with consequent issues with cholesterol, blood pressure and incipient or actual diabetes with their potentially fatal knock on effects for all vital organs. Unwin's dietary advice is spot on for them as it prioritises weight loss and nutrition but when a person achieves their weight and health goals then there has a to be subtle diet alteration to maintain a healthy weight otherwise they end up like victims of bulimia nervosa. The reason you were confused by my last paragraph was due to my missing out the word "complex" before carbohydrate. Sorry it was getting late. I need about 2200 calories a day or I lose weight and then my stamina suffers so I include complex carbohydrates to meet my nutritional and energy requirements. I try to minimise my consumption of white flour, white rice, sugar or plain pasta as they are highly processed foods containing largely empty calories with little nutrition or fibre. After all I am not just eating for me but also the one kilogram (plus) of my gut microbiome. I've been experimenting on my body for years and been up a few blind alleys, got lost a couple of times, but I'm pretty happy with where I am now. I try to keep it simple, find an appropriate personal balance, ignore hype and marketing but recognise good science (with supporting peer reviewed research) for any beneficial lifestyle adjustments

Not bad wear at all. If your car is like mine and not equipped with auto stop/start then it will not need a more expensive AGM or EFM battery and is only a 10 minute job to replace. IF you do have stop/start then their quote sounds suspiciously cheap for an appropriate battery and advisable to check what type they would fit. They would also need to do a little coding so add another 5 minutes to the task.

The type 2 diabetes/obesity correlation seems to have become very fashionable lately which is all a bit odd as I remember reading about it more than 40 years ago so I thought it was common knowledge like smoking and lung cancer (and the million other ailments). Coincidentally I recently watched a newly released Michael Mosely 3 part program called "Australian's Health Revolution" (or something like that) where he picked up on the terrible pandemic of diabetes and related issues in our Australian aboriginal community resulting from their adoption of the worst of western food culture and habits Basically he and an aboriginal health advocate picked 8 people suffering from pre and actual diabetic conditions and introduced them to a low carb ketosis (fat burning) inducing diet and exercise. The results for those who persevered over the two month ( I think?) program were remarkable with some subjects coming off many prescribed medications including insulin and delighting their family doctors who were part of the monitoring process. My personal favourite source for good health information with up-to-date accurate appraisals of medical advances, studies, treatments etc both domestic Australian and international is an Australian Broadcasting Corporation program called "The Health Report" which is hosted by an ex-pat Scotsman called Dr. Norman Swann. Quite simply the best of its type I have come across and extremely well regarded by many health practitioners. It is produced weekly in podcast format: Health Report - ABC Radio National My BMI is about 21 so my diet is necessarily fairly high carbohydrate, mainly (not wholly) vegetarian wholefoods, with high fibre, low sugar and low salt. Olive oil, herbs and quite a few spices keep it interesting. Make our own wholemeal bread (commercial bread has far too much salt), even our biscuits are homemade (wholemeal flour, rolled oats, chopped dates and apricots and our own hive's honey). I'm not saying we will never get sick but it has got to improve the odds.