Programming The Machine: Triathlon Style

It probably started with Lego, but quickly it was Logo, and then it was Basic, and before you know it I was programming in Lisp, C, etc... There's comfort in the predictability of programming: if I write the program correctly, the computer executes the instructions and I end up with a predictable result.

In high school I got into running. Training the body is sort of like programming a computer: if you train effectively, you will have predictable results. Well, all summer long, I have been programming my body for yesterday's Los Angeles Triathlon, and I'm happy to say, the program executed as planned.

The body is an awesome machine.

And while not triathlon related, another machine I really dig is this cool Curta mechanical calculator (designed in the 30-40s, no electricity required to operate!). You basically have to 'program' it to get it to do simple math for you, but it would flawlessly execute arithmetic and beyond.



Photo by Rick Spaulding, Found on the Curta Home Page