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Week 6 training and improved charts with Google Charts

Week 6 of the Chicago marathon training and I was again not able to keep up with my mid week runs. Although I did manage to improve the charts displaying the training program :).. I added a new column to compare my actual milege to the recommended milege.

Here are the parameters I used

cht=bvg
chs=400×250
chtt=week+6+Training
chdl=Recommended+Miles|Actual+Miles
chco=ff0000,00ff00
chxt=x,y
chxr=1,0,15
chxl=0:|Mon|Tue|Wed|Thu|Fri|Sat|Sun|
chd=t:0,3,4,3,0,7,0|0,2,0,3,0,0,7
chbh=10

Tracking my runs using Google charts

I wrote a brief blurb, when Google came out with their Google Charts API. The API essentially allows you to represent your data visually by just generating a URL.. I have been wanting to use this in real life for quite some time now and think I finally found a need :). I am going to be tracking my weekly runs with using this API  moving forward.

Here’s a graphical representation of my runs for Week 5 of my traning for the Chicago marathon

Week 5

As you can see, I have been slacking off on my mid-week runs.

I used the following parameters to generate the graph

Type = cht (vertical bars)

Legend = chtt (Week 5 training)

Axis Values = chxl (Mon, Tue, Wed, Thur, Fri, Sat, Sun)

The URL I used to generate the image is http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?chtt=Week+5+Training&chts=FF0000,20&chdl=Miles&cht=bvs&chxt=x,y&chxl=0:|Mon|Tue|Wed|Thu|Fri|Sat|Sun|&chs=300×150&chd=t:0,0,3,0,0,0,10&chco=4d89f9,c6d9fd&chbh=20

I still need to figure out, how to show the values in the image and play with the ratio of the axis.

You can get all the information you need about this API by visiting this link http://code.google.com/apis/chart/

HOW TO : Select column in Notepad++

Notepad++, is a great open source editor similar to EditPlus and UltraEdit. One of the features that I really appreciated in EditPlus, was the capability to select a column of data. I checked if NotePad++ has a similar feature and found the following hotkey that can be used to do this..

“Alt + Left Mouse Click” puts you in Column Mode Select

For a complete list of hotkeys that can be used with Notepad++, check out this link

http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/shortcuts.php

George Carlin : Philosopher, Comedian and a Genius

George Carlin, probably one of the most intelligent comedians around, passed away on Sunday due to a heart attack. If you don’t know who he is, check out his page on WikiPedia and his website.

In addition to being a great comedian, George had a “thing” for languages.. Here is a snippet from his website

Some favorite oxymorons:

  • assistant supervisor
  • new tradition
  • original copy
  • plastic glass
  • uninvited guest

Some favorite redundancies:

  • added bonus
  • total abstinance
  • young children
  • exactly right
  • subject matter
  • revert back
  • true fact
  • honest truth
  • sum total
  • join together
  • ferryboat
  • free gift
  • general public
  • bare naked
  • unique individual
  • new initiative
  • end result

RIP George..You will be missed.