I also need to clear out my contact list as there are lots of “old” and incomplete entries in my Google contacts list.

Ever the productivity geek I wanted to automate this. I ended up writing the following Google Apps Script:

Select a random contact and then send myself an email prompting me to contact the person, edit their details and look them up on LinkedIn. This is then scheduled to run once a day:

function reviewContacts() {
var contacts=ContactsApp.getContacts()
var contactCount=contacts.length
var randID=Math.ceil(Math.random()*contactCount)
var aContact=contacts[randID]
var contactArray = aContact.getId().split(‘/’)
var contactID = contactArray[contactArray.length - 1]
Logger.log(contactID)
var contactName = aContact.getFullName()
Logger.log(contactName)
if (aContact.getCompanies().length > 0) {
var companyName = aContact.getCompanies()[0].getCompanyName()
}
else {
var companyName = “”
}
Logger.log(companyName)
if (aContact.getEmails().length > 0){
var emailAddress = aContact.getEmails()[0].getAddress()
}
else {
var emailAddress = “”
}
Logger.log(emailAddress)
var strMessage = ‘Please review the contact information for ‘ + contactName + ‘ from ‘ +companyName +’.\n’
strMessage += ‘Send an email to: ‘ + emailAddress + ‘.\n’
strMessage += ‘Edit the contact https://www.google.com/contacts/#contact/’ + contactID + ‘ ‘ + contactName + ‘.\n’
strMessage += ‘Search LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/search/fpsearch?type=people&keywords=’ + encodeURI(contactName) + ‘.’

Logger.log(strMessage);
GmailApp.sendEmail(‘Me@MyDomain.com’, ‘Review Contact – ‘ + contactName + ‘ from ‘ + companyName , strMessage)
};

Please NOTE:

• Any Quotes in the script should be delete and re-typed as the editor replaces them with “smart” quotes.
• This is not very performant – I’m just learning the Google APIs.
• This is not very “good” – I have never claimed to be a JavaScript programmer !

If you have any suggestions for improvements to this code, let me know in the comments.

photo credit: Andrew Coulter Enright

If like me your Outlook calendar can get a bit hectic and others can add meetings to your calendar sometimes you end up simply “reacting” to your schedule and jumping from one appointment to the next on “autopilot”. It’s at times like these that Outlook’s ability to create a reminder can save your dignity.

However, sometimes the meeting organiser does not set a reminder. I have created an Outlook macro that will look for incoming meeting requests, without a reminder set and give you the option to set a reminder.

Add the following macro code to your “ThisOutlookSession” project

Private WithEvents Items As  Outlook.Items

Private Sub  Application_Startup()
 Dim Ns As  Outlook.NameSpace
 Set Ns =  Application.GetNamespace("MAPI")
 Set Items =  Ns.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderCalendar).Items
End Sub

Private Sub Items_ItemAdd(ByVal Item As  Object)
 On Error Resume Next
 Dim  Appt As Outlook.AppointmentItem
 If TypeOf Item Is  Outlook.AppointmentItem Then
  Set  Appt = Item
  If Appt.ReminderSet =  False Then
   If MsgBox("NO REMINDER IS SET! Do you want to add one?", vbYesNo) = vbYes  Then
    Appt.ReminderSet =  True
    Appt.ReminderMinutesBeforeStart =  15
    Appt.Save
   End If
  End  If
 End If
End Sub

You can review my marathon stats here.
The stats make interesting reading (if your into stats or are a runner).
It shows how my pace per mile has changed since my first marathon and also how Chester compared with Dublin (4 weeks apart). It also finally drummed it into me that starting slow DOES enable you to hold a more consistent pace for longer.

Next year I think will just be Edinburgh and Loch Ness but hopefully I’ll be doing more 10ks and halfs, I think I only did a single 10k this year!

I’m becoming more interested in the “Quantified Self” concept i.e. you can only fix things that you can measure.

The obvious answer is to monitor what my GMail inbox looks like on a daily basis.

At first I thought this would be a horrendous script but today; whilst eating my lunch I got it to work – not only that, it’s blindingly easy. It’s using my favourite tool of the moment Google Spreadsheets and the script editor:

function myFunction() {
var doc = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSheet()
var firstEmptyRow = doc.getLastRow() + 1;
var gmailUnread = GmailApp.getInboxUnreadCount();
var gmailInbox = GmailApp.search(‘in:inbox’).length
var gmailStarred = GmailApp.search(‘in:starred’).length
var gmailSpam = GmailApp.search(‘in:spam’).length
doc.getRange(firstEmptyRow, 1, 1, 1).setValue(new Date().getYear() +”-” + (“0″ + (new Date().getMonth() +1)).slice(-2)  + “-” + (“0″ + new Date().getDate()).slice(-2));
doc.getRange(firstEmptyRow, 2, 1, 1).setValue(gmailUnread);
doc.getRange(firstEmptyRow, 3, 1, 1).setValue(gmailInbox);
doc.getRange(firstEmptyRow, 4, 1, 1).setValue(gmailStarred);
doc.getRange(firstEmptyRow, 5, 1, 1).setValue(gmailSpam);
}

I have scheduled this to run once a day at midnight and record a new row in the spreadsheet capturing the date, unread items, inbox count, starred count and spam items.

In an ideal world, each of these should be 0 (maybe not so at midnight) !

Next, to incorporate the stats on my personal dashboard; which is a blog post for another day!

As you should know by know my plan for the year was to run four marathons, one in each of Wales, Scotland, England and Ireland for MND Scotland.

The start of October saw the English leg with the Chester marathon.

The start and finish were hosted in the Chester racecourse, easy to find, loads of parking, lots of facilities and close enough to the town centre for Elaine and Connor to simply wander over there without having to worry about public transport or moving the car.

The race started with a lap of the racecourse and then proceeded to run around the Chester town centre, passing through the historic town walls. The day prior to the event the area was very scenic. The day of the race, the cobbles were a killer, however it’s an effective way to force you to slow down!

For the first 10 miles or so I tucked in with some ladies from Ware Joggers who kept me entertained with their chat – I’m still not used to talking when running! It was at this point I got my first niggle, my toes started to throb – not something I had experienced before so I stopped, whipped my shoes off to re-arrange my socks. The problem was; wet socks! At the start, in the racecourse it is of course grass – wet grass. My feet had got wet – I knew this but there was nothing I could do – I had not brought a spare pair of socks, lesson learned for the next time!

With a blister on a toe on each foot I slipped my shoes on and restarted. I had lost my pacers by this point and I slowed down a little. I got to the half way mark in 2:30, spot on where I wanted to be but the heat was starting to build. By this point we were in the very scenic countryside and the hedgerows were keeping off the gentle breeze. I stopped and ditched by T-Shirt, running the rest of the race in my MND Scotland vest. At this point I inadvertently lost my padded fabric plasters which resulted in my other race day injury (see the coming photo for clarification).

My lack of real distance training was starting to be felt now and I resorted to a run/walk strategy for a bit. I had also crossed the border into Wales (does this count as an English AND a Welsh marathon?) I got a nice phone call from my better half around mile 19 and although welcome, the change from run walk to walk on the phone did my legs in! Everything cramped up. When I stretched, somewhere else cramped! I resorted to a couple of minutes of jogging backwards – what do you know it actually DOES work. I was glad though that by this point I was pretty much running own my own rather than having to explain what I was doing. The run/walk continued for another few miles until mile 23. At this point I hit my wall, I ended up walking for pretty much the whole mile before my brain kicked in – It’s “only” a parkrun to go – get a move on.

By this point we were coming back into Chester and there were road cones to separate the runners from the traffic. Run for 5 cones, walk for 2; then 6 and 2; then 7 and 2; it was not too long before I was running slowly again with no walking.

Just another very scenic but cobbled section along the river, under the bridge before heading back into the racecourse for a nice soft gallop to the finish line. I grabbed a quick chat with Bryan Burnett who was commentating before meeting up with Elaine and Connor for photos.

The Good:
The location, the venue, the people, the support on the route, the organisation, they print your name on your race number (why does no one else do this?), live twitter/facebook updates as you cross a timing mat.

The Bad:
My lack of training, getting my feet wet at the start, the cold showers at the end. (Although getting a shower is unusual, the lack of hot water was probably due to my finishing time).

As I am doing Dublin marathon at the end of October I was “taking it easy” with this one but I was gutted when my time came in, 5:44; 27 seconds off my personal best ARGHHH!

If you would like to sponsor me for my final marathon then you can do so at http://www.justgiving.com/mndscotland

If you are interested in the stats:

1) – 1.61km – 10:33(6:34/km) – 196cal
2) – 1.61km – 10:27(6:30/km) – 201cal
3) – 1.61km – 10:24(6:28/km) – 199cal
4) – 1.61km – 10:35(6:35/km) – 200cal
5) – 1.61km – 10:39(6:37/km) – 201cal
6) – 1.61km – 10:30(6:31/km) – 200cal
7) – 1.61km – 10:57(6:48/km) – 200cal
– 1.61km – 10:57(6:48/km) – 205cal
9) – 1.61km – 10:54(6:47/km) – 203cal
10) – 1.61km – 12:18(7:39/km) – 196cal
11) – 1.61km – 12:21(7:41/km) – 182cal
12) – 1.61km – 12:10(7:34/km) – 189cal
13) – 1.61km – 15:05(9:22/km) – 163cal
14) – 1.61km – 13:51(8:36/km) – 176cal
15) – 1.61km – 12:54(8:01/km) – 180cal
16) – 1.61km – 15:10(9:26/km) – 154cal
17) – 1.61km – 15:22(9:33/km) – 162cal
18) – 1.61km – 15:58(9:55/km) – 148cal
19) – 1.61km – 15:29(9:37/km) – 158cal
20) – 1.61km – 14:01(8:43/km) – 165cal
21) – 1.61km – 14:55(9:16/km) – 158cal
22) – 1.61km – 14:28(8:59/km) – 160cal
23) – 1.61km – 19:19(12:00/km) – 136cal
24) – 1.61km – 14:12(8:50/km) – 159cal
25) – 1.61km – 13:48(8:34/km) – 170cal
26) – 1.61km – 13:50(8:36/km) – 162cal
27) – 0.51km – 5:58(11:41/km) – 58cal

I have a rule set up that notifies me if an “important” email lands but for this to run, outlook needs to be running (minimised of course). I can’t resist the temptation to just “have a peek” outside my first thing in the morning, last thing at night email window.

To get around this I want to be “discouraged” from opening Outlook.

To implement this I have used Antonio Franca’s fantastic WinTrigger AutoHotkey script.

My amendment is to make it watch for the main Outlook window and when this becomes active, to get it to ask me to confirm if I really want to be using Outlook. If I hit No or leave it for 5 seconds then Outlook gets minimised again.

Here is my implementation of Antonio’s code:

;========================================================================
;
; Template:     WinTrigger (former OnOpen/OnClose)
; Description:  Act upon (de)activation/(un)existance of programs/windows
; Online Ref.:  http://www.autohotkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=63673
;
; Last Update:  15/Mar/2010 17:30
;
; Created by:   MasterFocus
;               http://www.autohotkey.net/~MasterFocus/AHK/
;
; Thanks to:    Lexikos, for improving it significantly
;               http://www.autohotkey.com/forum/topic43826.html#267338
;
;========================================================================
;
; This template contains two examples by default. You may remove them.
;
; * HOW TO ADD A PROGRAM to be checked upon (de)activation/(un)existance:
;
; 1. Add a variable named ProgWinTitle# (Configuration Section)
; containing the desired title/ahk_class/ahk_id/ahk_group
;
; 2. Add a variable named WinTrigger# (Configuration Section)
; containing the desired trigger (“Exist” or “Active”)
;
; 3. Add labels named LabelTriggerOn# and/or LabelTriggerOff#
; (Custom Labels Section) containing the desired actions
;
; 4. You may also change CheckPeriod value if desired
;
;========================================================================

#Persistent

; —— —— CONFIGURATION SECTION —— ——
SetTitleMatchMode 2
; Program Titles
;ProgWinTitle1 = ahk_class rctrl_renwnd32
ProgWinTitle1 = Microsoft Outlook
WinTrigger1 = Active

; SetTimer Period
CheckPeriod = 200

; —— END OF CONFIGURATION SECTION —— ——

SetTimer, LabelCheckTrigger, %CheckPeriod%
Return

; —— —— ——

LabelCheckTrigger:
While ( ProgWinTitle%A_Index% != “” && WinTrigger := WinTrigger%A_Index% )
if ( !ProgRunning%A_Index% != !Win%WinTrigger%( ProgWinTitle := ProgWinTitle%A_Index% ) )
GoSubSafe( “LabelTriggerO” ( (ProgRunning%A_Index% := !ProgRunning%A_Index%) ? “n” : “ff” ) A_Index )
Return

; —— —— ——

GoSubSafe(mySub)
{
if IsLabel(mySub)
GoSub %mySub%
}

; —— —— CUSTOM LABEL SECTION —— ——

LabelTriggerOn1:
;    winget    isMax, MinMax, %ProgWinTitle1%
;    msgbox    %isMax%
msgbox 4, Stay Focussed, Are you sure you want to read your mails?, 5
ifmsgbox    Yes
winmaximize    %ProgWinTitle1%
else
winminimize    %ProgWinTitle1%
return
LabelTriggerOff1:
;  MsgBox % “A_ThisLabel:`t” A_ThisLabel “`nProgWinTitle:`t” ProgWinTitle “`nWinTrigger:`t” WinTrigger
Return

; —— END OF CUSTOM LABEL SECTION —— ——

If you are in e-mail processing mode simply pause or stop the script!

You can of course follow the instructions in the script to watch for multiple windows and take action on each of them.

I hope you find it as useful as I do.

The Plan

My plan was to run 12:00 miles in the hope of beating my PB of 05:42.
I knew I’d have to revert to a run walk strategy from about mile 19ish but I should have enough in the tank for about a 05:30 finish.

What Happened

I knew I would start way faster than my planned pace so for the first three miles it was a case of forcing myself to slow from 10:00 to 11:00 until I settled at a comfortable 11:30 pace.
I started feeling a bit “wobbly” at about 9 1/2 miles so I had a walking break, a gel and some water.
This was fine until mile 10 when I “lost” my breakfast – not exactly lost – I knew EXACTLY where it was !
More water and gel and I soldiered on with a walk/jog until mile 12 (15:00+ mins per mile) when I knew if at this point I was having to play mental games to force a jog – there was no way I could continue.
After 20 minutes sitting by the roadside – thanks to everyone who took the time to check I was OK – I started the long slow walk back to the start.

The Future

I have two more marathons in the plan – Chester 7th October and Dublin 29th October so hopefully the heat will not be as big a debilitating factor.
I still “owe” a Scottish marathon from my 4 marathon plan – I have an inkling as to how to address this – stay tuned for more info!

Last weekend saw the first of these.

My training had not been going to plan -  illness and work getting in the way but this was the first marathon, and there was no hint of not doing it! My plan – finish, injury free so that I can still complete Edinburgh next month.

It was kind of weird running so far from home for the first time (8 hour drive) and having to make sure that I had all the kit I needed for all eventualities. I think I’m going to prepare a checklist for the next time. We spent too much time on a cold and rainy Saturday trailing round the shops looking for porridge!

Come Saturday morning it was a nice bright clear morning and as we had booked a house just 5 minutes drive from the start I even got to stay in bed until sensible oclock! The weather was the first problem, it was still cold, with a fairly stiff breeze (and a coastal course) but the sky was clear! I ended up going with the shorts and the long sleeved top.

The marathon course is “interesting”. It’s almost perfectly flat apart from some short sharp inclines as you navigate the bridges over the railway line. It follows the Millennium coastal path so is paved for the majority of the way apart from a short section on gravel. It consists of a 7 1/2 mile out and back to the west then a 5 and a bit out and back to the east and you do this twice. As it’s both an out and back and a 2 lapper you have lots of opportunity to see your fellow runners which is good. However, as you have to run “past” the finish line three times it is VERY mentally tough.

It was a very small field – I heard the announcer say there were 500 entrants but I doubt very much if they all turned up. I doubt that 200 runners didn’t finish! I finished 300 (my highest placing) out of 303 finishers. I was only just lapped by the winner Mark Roberts who smashed the course record in a time of 2:31 just as I was getting to half distance!

I had been running fairly comfortably up until this point but my training runs had only been to the half marathon and 2 /12 hour mark. At around mile 17 was where i hit my “wall”, this is the only boring bit of the course as you head around an industrial estate. I took a fairly long walking break at this point and phoned Elaine who confirmed  that she and Connor were at the finish line to cheer me “through”. I also sent a quick update to Twitter and Facebook – it’s amazing the mental boost you can get just from hearing your phone beep in your bum bag!

From this point onwards it was most definitely a run walk strategy. I was also starting to get twinges of cramp in my left calf as as soon as this started I stopped for a really good stretch. As I passed the finish line again at 21 miles – if Elaine and Connor had not been there I’m sure I would have given up – but then the brain kicked in – it’s less than 2 parkruns to go! and each of those miles were the longest I have EVER run! There is also one of those cheeky railway bridges just before mile 26 just to make sure my calf cramped again but there was no stopping me at that point!

I eventually finished in 5hours 53 in position 300 out of 303 finishers. This also included a 5 minute stop to get 2 plasters from the paramedics on the course.

I’d like to say a huge thank you to all the organisers and fellow runners.

All it would have taken is £10 / day for me to keep the ‘tache.

It was fun whilst it lasted, I tried various styles

but I could never get the Salvador Dali no matter how much wax I used!

I’m sad to say that the cash has dried up so unfortunately the ‘tache has to go!

Watch this space, I have my next fund-raiser planned (it’s another running one).