It's funny because in the US they changed everything in academia, but nothing in industry. So anyone with a sciency-type education learned everything in metric units, but most ended up getting jobs where they had to (re-)learn English units.
They completely bungled its implementation.
The push to go international in my industry has been relentless over the years. But they might as well be talking to a brick wall when it comes to me using that system of measurement, unless the topic is weed.
I only feel screwed by the metric system if we need to gas up in Canada. I know enough to fill up just before the border but will be buying some gas when I head to Halifax next month. I just thought of another reason to take the ferry to Maine when we leave.
lol at O.
hahaha! I love it. That's my girl Oski.
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
unless the topic is weed.
Oh yeah, 7 grams to a quarter ounce, and so on. I forgot about that one.
I never considered myself an athlete either, as to me an athlete has to be well rounded, and I'm very unidimensional (I run. Period). But since lily brought it up, I looked it up on Wikipedia, and by definition, we have the title of athletes when we participate in a race.
The word "athlete" is a romanization of the Greek: άθλητὴς, athlētēs, one who participates in a contest; from ἄθλος, áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, a contest or feat. It is the general term for all participants in any physical sport; its application to those who participate in other activities, such as horse riding or driving, is somewhat controversial.
By reading the Wikipedia entry for athlete, I learned about Jim Thorpe:
The title of "World's Greatest Athlete" traditionally belongs to the world's top competitor in the decathlon (males) and heptathlon (females) in track and field. Thedecathlon consists of 10 events: 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400 meters, 110 m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1500 m. The heptathlonconsists of seven events: the 100 m hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200 meters, long jump, javelin, and 800 meters. These competitions require an athlete to possess the whole spectrum of athletic ability in order to be successful including speed, strength, coordination, jumping ability, and endurance.
Although the title "World's Greatest Athlete" seems a natural fit for these two events, its traditional association with the decathlon/heptathlon officially began with Jim Thorpe. During the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, Thorpe won the gold medal in the Decathlon (among others). Thorpe notably also competed professionally insoccer, baseball, American Football, and basketball; and competed collegiately in track and field, soccer, baseball, lacrosse, and did ballroom dancing. King Gustav V of Sweden, while awarding Thorpe the decathlon gold said: "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world." That title has become associated with the decathlon event ever since.
Took me a while to get it
Hip Redux
My daughter switched to Celsius last year when we were in Costa Rica and has refused to switch back.
I did really like the mats every 5K at the HM I ran down there. That makes more sense, race-wise, than the coglomeration of "first 5 miles, second 5 miles, last 5K" that we often get here. The distance is 4 5ks, then go hard with whatever you've got.
My daughter switched to Celsius last year when we were in Costa Rica and has refused to switch back. I did really like the mats every 5K at the HM I ran down there. That makes more sense, race-wise, than the coglomeration of "first 5 miles, second 5 miles, last 5K" that we often get here. The distance is 4 5ks, then go hard with whatever you've got.
I was really surprised to see mile markers when a ran a 5 kilometre race in the US. I would have thought there would have been markers every km since that's how the distance was advertised Either that or just start and finish.
queen of headlamps
My husband is from western Canada, in a rural area that was meticulously laid out with 2 mile x 1 mile grids. Consequently, although everything is in the metric system, my in-laws all estimate distances in miles. The end result is that I know that the Timmy's is 3 miles away and the road that goes there has a speed limit of 40kph, and I wind up completely confused.
Baking temperatures are in Fahrenheit and air temperatures are in Celsius.
Anyhow, I am not good at thinking in kilometers at all. A half is five miles, five miles, and a 5K, which is three and a bit miles,
Hey, another running blog.
Boston marks every 1k on the road up to 10 (along with every mile). Mats and clocks are at every 5k. The 5ks I get but why stop marking the other ks over 10 if they were going to bother in the beginning?
I ran a 10k in Canada previously. Counting ks (pre-GPS) made the race go by a lot faster than miles.
Yes, and water temperature in a pool or a lake must be in Fahrenheit if I want to know if it's warm enough to jump in, but for anything else than the feeling on my body, water temp must be in Celcius.
hahaha... yes! Oven in Fahrenheit and pool temperature also, but body temperature in Celsius and house temperature as well. Room sizes in feet, but distance from your house to the convenience store in km. We're nuts.
race obsessed
Ah hah!
Was it advertised as a "5 kilometer" or "5K".
That goes back to my comment of "K" seems like a title in the U.S.
Again we (I) train and know what 1 mile feels like in effort and distance in a race. Though I train in 1000m repeats/ intervals I don't know what that distance feels like in a 5k.
+1
I can see and feel it on the track, but on the road during a race fuhgeddaboutit.