Derrick Speirs

Data Scientist . Previously S & C.

[𝐃𝐈𝐆𝐁 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @_DIGB]

Steve Clarke in an interview when he’s asked why we are pish

[Matthew McConaughey @McConaughey]

have any two teams and their fans belted out their national anthem with more fever than Scotland vs. Brasilia?

[Shutts 🇲🇽 🇨🇼 🇺🇾 🇳🇴 @Shuttsapalooza]

By far my favourite Scotland vs Brazil story is the referee saying “Good luck, may the best team win” to both captains before the game in 1982 and Graeme Souness replying “I fucking hope not”

[Andrew Lawrence @andrewlawrence]

Parasites latching onto their next host.

[Mahir 🇹🇷🇬🇧 @ScrewderiaF1]

Portuguese players trying to get Ronaldo a hat-trick tomorrow

[Andy Bryson @ifellonithonest]

Nicola Sturgeon waking up and seeing all the spanking new gear in her gaff

[Paisley Pandamonium @PaisleyPan98]

Scotland doesn’t need posh indie Glasgow Uni boy bands making World Cup ‘anthems’.

Scotland needs a ‘bits n pieces’ type dance track with like 6 words in it to get the people going.

The Scottish yearn for a bouncy anthem that they can sing after 14 overpriced pints.

Get yer broccoli headed private school nonsense in the bin and give the people what they want !

[Derrick Speirs @derrickspeirs]

This is ridiculous #usyk #rico #dazn

[S.🎧 @1ssve]

Every “urgent” task in corporate has the same ending: 3 days of silence once you submit it

[Steve Magness @stevemagness]

What in the world did we just see!

The 2 hour marathon barrier has been broken. Three guys went under the old world record...

Sabastian Sawe just ran 1:59:30 with crazy negative splits, closing the last half in 59:01....faster than the American Record in the half.

One of the most mind blowing performances we've seen. How did we get here?

Every breakthrough is a mixture of belief and progress.

It takes folks daring to see what's possible, surrounding themselves with a quality team and doing the work to give themselves a shot.

You've got to bet on yourself in a big way.

When asked whether he believed he could run a sub-2-hour marathon before the race, Sawe answered with one word:

"Yes."

Let's get the obvious out of the way. Performance enhancing drugs are the legitimate question mark to every breakthrough.

So Sawe did as much as he could about taking that off the table.

He and his team asked to be tested all the time. His sponsor put up 50K to the Athlete Integrity Unit. The tests are run independently, no advance notice. Over a 2 month stretch, he went through 25 drug tests.

There's always a doubt. There has to be given what we know. Hopefully there's transparency in the results. But hats off to Sawe for addressing it:

"I want to prove that I am clean when I set foot at the start line."

But how'd we actually get here where two guys went sub 2 in the same race?

1. Shoe tech

We've had a revolution in shoe technology that boosts running economy.

For years shoe companies said their shoe would make you faster and was mostly marketing. Until 2016, when it actually did.

Initial research showed a 3-4% saving in economy, while subsequent work has shown it's highly variable.

Now, it's a matching game. Find the perfect shoe for your form and you can get a big boost.

Normally, it takes years of lots of miles and strength training to boost economy.

But now we get that instant boost that not only helps boost performance but often leaves us feeling less beat up in the later stages of the marathon.

So we get a little bit less hitting of the wall...

2. The fuel

For a long time, fueling was limited by biology. You can only take in and process so much.

Then in the 2000s, researchers found if we mixed sugars, we can boost intake because they're processed differently.

Then recently, Maurten found if you use a hydrxogel, you boost utilization without GI distress anymore.

We've gone from pushing 60g/hr to 120g/hr in a few decades.

Again...less bonking.

3. Depth

A few decades ago, you spent your career racing on the track and then once your speed started to fade a bit you went to the marathon.

Now, many skip right to the marathon. That's where the money is.

And with the economy boost from the shoes, you can make that jump quickly.

More depth of talent means more competitors in their prime pushing barriers.

4. Belief

Even with the shoes and tech, a few years ago sub 2 hours seemed a long way off, until Kipchoge pushed that barrier in a series of time trials.

Yes, they weren't official races and had contrived pacing. But it absolutely shifted everyone's thinking on what is possible.

A generation of runners saw Kipchoge go for it.

Our prediction of what is possible changed.

It's mind blowing how far we've come in such a short time.

What once seemed decades away, just got smashed twice in the same race.

Hats off to Sawe, especially for addressing the scourge of doping and showing folks what is possible with a lot of hard work, some crazy belief, and some fortuitous advances.

[Steve Magness @stevemagness]

What's the best predictor of world-class performance in runners?

Volume of Training.

You've got to spend a lot of time doing the thing if you want to get good at just about anything.

[maMvelase ❤️ @Nocylove123]

I swear the air gets heavier around 7 pm on Sundays. You can feel the Microsoft Teams energy approaching.

[CBS News @CBSNews]

NASA astronaut and Artemis II pilot Victor Glover was spotted using the flywheel to exercise onboard the Orion capsule, as the crew continues its journey toward the moon.

[Neet @neet_sol]

Thanks for ending the meeting 4 minutes early and “giving me some time back.” Now I can finally pursue my passions

[The 44 ⚽️ @The_Forty_Four]

Best thing that’s ever happened in rugby and on TNT 😭😭�

[𝒵𝒾𝓀✯ @_Gottalovezik]

POV: How it feels returning to ur seat after giving the worst presentation known to man (the pressure is gone)

[Andy Cantwell @AndyCantwell]

Taking my mate ChatGPT to lunch

[1/4 Black Garrett @QTRBlackGarrett]

the Ayatollah hearing "Fortunate Son" while balls deep in a goat

[Neil Renic @NC_Renic]

Set up pointless meetings months in advance then cancel on the day to give your colleagues a dopamine hit