Julien's fuzzy blog

This is the 166^th and last post of this blog. After a year of blogging, I've decided to give up the fuzzy blog. I hope you liked it even though is was a bit messy sometimes. It will remain online anyway.

The good news is that I'm starting a new blog dedicated to ultramarathon on life-is-an-ultramarathon.org. Update your bookmarks if you're interested

Thanks for your support !

I've disabled the comments. I'm not sure what happened exactly, but there seems to be a bug in the engine that may have been used by a spammer. Spam was added to old comments and the comments were re-linked to new articles or something like that. I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

A remake of the famous picture by Courbet L'origine du monde (the origin of the world) has inspired some Austrian artists. I let you discover the advertising campain for the origin of the European Union...

... that running ultramarathons is not healthy at all. Human body is not designed for that. This was one of his conclusions after the examination of my _ips.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas !

By the way my paper has been accepted to the Body Sensor Network Workshop that will be held at the MIT in April

A campain by Act-Up Paris and the "9eme Collectif de Sans-Papiers".

Update 19/12: registrations for the UTMB are now closed ! 2000 runners in 20 days... You can still register for the CCC !

This morning, the number of runners registered for the Ultra-Trail Tour du Mont-Blanc reached 1820 out of a maximum limit of 2000. The event takes place in 8 months ! So if you intend to enter this amazing race, you have to do it very quickly. The Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix (86km +4500m) recorded "only" 286 registrations so far (out of 1000). The UTMB is worth trying for many reasons: explore your ultimate physical and psychological limits of course, but also enjoy a human, friendly adventure around Europe's highest peak. Think about it !

By the way, I've been rejected at the London marathon ballot, but I don't really mind. I'm gonna do a 50km OFF (free ultra run) in the Lake District instead .

Last week-end, Tbo and I went to Manchester to meet Bertrand and Venetia. We cooked a bit, ate a lot. The Christmas market there is pretty nice, a bit like the Strasbourg one, thanks to Dutch and German shops. Much better than in Paris for example.

In a context of intense blog creation (Playm, Bounce, maybe my flatemates, ... ), and after nearly a year of blogging, I don't feel like following the trend any more. I'm not sure I'll keep on going very long with this blog.
Actually I'm a bit disappointed by the blog concept. It sounds a pretty good idea, but not suitable for me. Most of the interesting, funny things I planned to post at the beginning just can't be told on a public place. I can't talk much about my research anymore for strategical reasons. I can't talk about the PhD-to-supervisor relationships that would deserve a complete book. I can't talk much about politics. I can't talk much about people around me. Eventually I can't talk too much about myself. What's the point then ?

The only neutral topic is running/hiking. I may consider to start a brand new blog about that only. Please let me know what is your favourite topic by e-mail. Cheers ! I'll keep the same up to the 24th Januray (date of the first post). Then I'll make a decision.

Thanks for your support.

I've just registered for the UTMB 2006 a couple of hours after the registration started... No waiting list and hope fading away this time ...
In the same time, my hip's still "hurting" 3 weeks after the London to Brighton even though I'm virtually doing no excercice any more. The ache seems to migrate to the thigh. Am I wrong or it starts to look like a kind of sciatica ?