Weeknotes 17
This week, I’ve been out running in Hayward’s Heath on a hot May day. And I’m assessing a couple of new (for me) website content management systems (CMS).
Running
Yesterday, I ran the Hayward’s Heath 10 mile race which is part of the Mid Sussex Marathon weekend. Three races over three days and 26.2 miles in total. The HH race is the second of the three.
It was a hot May day. And I certainly felt the heat during the race. It didn’t seem too bad at first and, of course, I ran the first two miles faster than was sensible but I felt good and it seemed to be a steady pace. Yet, at 5 - 6 miles, with the temperature building, I had to slow down and even with water stops every 2 - 3 miles, it was tough to keep going.
The route is a mixture of trails and roads and is up and down over two laps. Nothing too steep as climbs go but certainly tough on the day. It’s actually a lovely route and passes through a pretty modern village (Bolnore) as well.
After about 6 miles, I was taking several walking breaks every mile. Running the downhills and flat sections and walking part of the climbs. A few other folks were doing the same so I didn’t feel too bad. Normally, I would have been castigating myself for “giving up” but this time, it just seemed sensible to make it round the course at whatever pace I could manage.
In the end, I finished in 1:33 which was 7 minutes slower than last year. However, I was very glad to finish! And, I could see that several other runners I know in Horsham Joggers were also feeling the heat and finding it tough. So, all in all, I was pleased to complete the course.
Web Design and Development
I’m assessing a couple of alternative website systems to broaden my knowledge. Although I want to focus on one particular system, Perch CMS, I’m not getting enough work through that and I need to be able to have some, even if limited, understanding of others (apart from WordPress that is). I’m not 100% sure that this will give me more work but, well, let’s see what might be involved and check the pros and cons of other systems.
I’m assessing a flat file CMS called Statamic and another system that uses a MySQL database (like Perch) called Craft. Initially, they both seem good in their own ways and they have different technical and pricing advantages and disadvantages. However, it’s early days in my assessment of both so I haven’t reached a conclusion yet.
See you next week.
Comments
Responses
12 May 2018 11:13:00
I want to write about my design practice and journey and share some of my own experiences on this blog. I’m going to set a goal to write each week and found a format that might help develop a writing habit. The web design and developer community is really good at sharing and now its my turn. But I need practice.
I found inspiration from Clive Walker who is writing weekly notes to record what is happening in his life. He was inspired by Rachel Andrew who came up with the idea at the beginning of the year. I think she’s one of the great leaders of our web community and I’ve learned so much from her talks, books, online workshops and newsletter. If you are interested at all in CSS Layout subscribe to her newsletter. Its one of the best curated list on the topic available today. I hope to make this a regular blog entry type. I have a poor track record of blogging which I’d like to rectify, but think this format may help....