No passado dia 10 deparei-me com o seguinte cabeçalho de notícia "UE. Mulheres ganham menos 16.2% que os homens". Sendo a igualdade entre géneros um eterno e actual assunto pensei que me poderia ver confrontado com uma análise interessante do ponto da situação. Enganei-me.
A notícia prosseguia com "Segundo a Comissão Europeia, o número significa que trabalham gratuitamente 59 dias por ano. Espero sinceramente que esta frase se deva a alguma liberdade artística, interpretação criativa ou dificuldade linguística do jornalista do Metro, e que tamanho disparate populista e sensacionalista não tenha realmente provido da Comissão Europeia. Faz-me lembrar alguns dirigentes sindicais que, confrontados com eventuais cortes no rendimento ou aumento do horário de trabalho, os repudiaram por considerarem que tal era equivalente a exigir trabalho gratuito e, portanto, escravatura. Gostaria de salientar que não é aqui relevante quem tem razão; estarmos repletos dela não justifica que empreguemos argumentos errados. O contrário infelizmente também se aplica: usar argumentos errados não significa que não tenhamos razão. Em ambos os casos, contudo, o resultado é uma confusão onde a própria razão se perde por entre discussões fúteis e mal direccionadas.
Voltando à notícia em questão, ao deparmo-nos com um número como este antes de começarmos a tirar confusões sobre isto e aquilo, é importante ponderarmos duas questões: o porquê desse número e qual seria o número que esperaríamos/desejaríamos. As questões estão obviamente relacionados, e a resposta à segunda aparenta ser uns claros 0%. Mas não me parece nada óbvio que assim seja, e até consigo pensar rapidamente em várias razões para que, sem existência de discriminação, esse número seja > 0% (eg: o facto de algumas áreas bem remuneradas nos dias de hoje, como o seja a engenharia, atraírem predominantemente fauna masculina). Claro que, se realizasse o exercício oposto, muito provavelmente também conseguiria lembrar-me de diversas razões que levassem a que fosse expectável que as mulheres auferissem mais do que os homens. O que só indica que o assunto merece alguma atenção e uma análise cuidade, ao invés de uns rápidos bitates.
Seria ainda, penso eu, importante esclarecer alguns pontos em relação ao modo como as contas foram feitas (não é preciso ser-se um mago da estatística para ser quão facilmente se podem manipular os números). Em média pode não ser tão esclarecedor quanto possa parecer à primeira vista. Incluíram desempregados nos cálculos? E casos esporádicos e desestabilizadores, como multi-milionários? Estamos a falar de números brutos ou de remuneração por hora de trabalho?
É claro que é perfeitamente possível que o estudo original tenha abordado todas estas (e ainda outras) questões, tendo apenas sido omitidas na notícia de modo a caber em 1/8 de página (não, não me dei ao trabalho de medir). Isto é uma infeliz consequência da correria em que todos vivemos, assim como da enorme abundância de informação disponível. Estaremos então condenados à superficialidade e às simplificações? Talvez. Mas ainda assim podemos criticá-las.
Filipe Baptista de Morais
terça-feira, 17 de dezembro de 2013
domingo, 8 de dezembro de 2013
Meia-Maratona dos Descobrimentos
Name: Meia-Maratona dos Descobrimentos
Length: 21Km
Date: 8th of December 2013
Minimum Goal: - 1h42m
Personal Challenge: - 1h30m
Personal Record for this Distance: 1h31m33s
Today the first edition of the "Meia-Maratona dos Descobrimentos" (Half-Marathon) took place. The need for this new racing event in Lisbon arised from the fact that, this year and for the very first time, the Lisbon Marathon and Half-Marathon took place at the same day, back in October if I recall correctly.
I set my expectations for this race with great care. On the one hand, my surprisingly good results in the 10Km race last Sunday and my brand new racing headphones certainly gave me some confidence. The track was also (almost) totally planar, which is obviously invaluable when trying to set a new personal record. On the other hand, after a tiring week and faced with an unusually misty and cold day I must confess I started to lose heart.
Due to some lazyness, I decided to use the same playlist from the last half-marathon I had run a long time ago. Unfortunately, I forgot that the musics were not sorted since I used the Ipod in random play mode back then. For that reason I was first accompanied by Rise Against, then lots of other bands and finally wrapped it up with Dragonforce. It wasn't all that bad.
We started the race way back amongst the crowd. In fact, we arrived at the starting line some thirty seconds before launch and, were it not for the minute of silence in honour of the recently diseased Nelson Mandela, we probably would have arrived late.
Despite that troubling fact, I managed to worm my way around the slower runners and keep a fairly steady pace. In the middle of the track I found myself with a quite steady pace of 4m20s/Km and well on time to achieve my goals. I must admit I was kinda surprised.
In the final Kms I even managed to speed up the pace a little; somewhere in-between the 18th and 19th Km there was split second were my Ipod stood silent (in the end of Soldiers of the Wastelands) and felt myself losing heart (and legs). But in the moment after "Fury of the Storm" exploded in my ears and I bursted forward seemingly effortlessly.
In the last kilometer I tried to keep up with a fellow runner; my Nike+ system measured 3m55s/Km (but it constantly slightly underestimated my speed throughout the race) which is quite a lot, specially after running 20 kilometers. In the end I was unable to keep with him for the last few hundred meters, but still crossed the finishing line with 1h 29m 20s on my timer. New personal record! More details below.
1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Kms: 17m 14s ( average 4m19s/Km )
5th Km: 4m 19s
6th Km: 4m 21s
7th Km: 4m 43s
8th Km: 4m 25s
9th Km: 4m 16s
10th Km: 4m 18s
11th Km: 4m 16s
12th Km: 4m 13s
13th and 14th Kms: 8m 24s ( average 4m12s/Km )
15th Km: 4m 11s
16Km: 3m 57s
17Km: 4m 11s
18Km: 4m 06s
19th Km: 4m 03s
20th Km: 4m 03s
21th Km: 3m 49s
Last Few Meters: 25s
Total: 1h 29m 20s ( average speed: 4min15s/Km or 14.10 Km/h )
As for the organisation: impecable. Useful locker-rooms, accessible bathrooms, well placed and equipped support areas, a beautiful T-shirt and a nice medal. As a last souvenir, I brought home some pins for my collections and some delicious "pastéis de Belém".
Filipe Baptista de Morais
PS: in the end the guy who ran next to me for nearly half of the last kilometer came to greet me, which really cheered me up. That's the sports and fair play spirit we should all try to maintain.
Length: 21Km
Date: 8th of December 2013
Minimum Goal: - 1h42m
Personal Challenge: - 1h30m
Personal Record for this Distance: 1h31m33s
Today the first edition of the "Meia-Maratona dos Descobrimentos" (Half-Marathon) took place. The need for this new racing event in Lisbon arised from the fact that, this year and for the very first time, the Lisbon Marathon and Half-Marathon took place at the same day, back in October if I recall correctly.
I set my expectations for this race with great care. On the one hand, my surprisingly good results in the 10Km race last Sunday and my brand new racing headphones certainly gave me some confidence. The track was also (almost) totally planar, which is obviously invaluable when trying to set a new personal record. On the other hand, after a tiring week and faced with an unusually misty and cold day I must confess I started to lose heart.
Due to some lazyness, I decided to use the same playlist from the last half-marathon I had run a long time ago. Unfortunately, I forgot that the musics were not sorted since I used the Ipod in random play mode back then. For that reason I was first accompanied by Rise Against, then lots of other bands and finally wrapped it up with Dragonforce. It wasn't all that bad.
We started the race way back amongst the crowd. In fact, we arrived at the starting line some thirty seconds before launch and, were it not for the minute of silence in honour of the recently diseased Nelson Mandela, we probably would have arrived late.
Despite that troubling fact, I managed to worm my way around the slower runners and keep a fairly steady pace. In the middle of the track I found myself with a quite steady pace of 4m20s/Km and well on time to achieve my goals. I must admit I was kinda surprised.
In the final Kms I even managed to speed up the pace a little; somewhere in-between the 18th and 19th Km there was split second were my Ipod stood silent (in the end of Soldiers of the Wastelands) and felt myself losing heart (and legs). But in the moment after "Fury of the Storm" exploded in my ears and I bursted forward seemingly effortlessly.
In the last kilometer I tried to keep up with a fellow runner; my Nike+ system measured 3m55s/Km (but it constantly slightly underestimated my speed throughout the race) which is quite a lot, specially after running 20 kilometers. In the end I was unable to keep with him for the last few hundred meters, but still crossed the finishing line with 1h 29m 20s on my timer. New personal record! More details below.
1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Kms: 17m 14s ( average 4m19s/Km )
5th Km: 4m 19s
6th Km: 4m 21s
7th Km: 4m 43s
8th Km: 4m 25s
9th Km: 4m 16s
10th Km: 4m 18s
11th Km: 4m 16s
12th Km: 4m 13s
13th and 14th Kms: 8m 24s ( average 4m12s/Km )
15th Km: 4m 11s
16Km: 3m 57s
17Km: 4m 11s
18Km: 4m 06s
19th Km: 4m 03s
20th Km: 4m 03s
21th Km: 3m 49s
Last Few Meters: 25s
Total: 1h 29m 20s ( average speed: 4min15s/Km or 14.10 Km/h )
As for the organisation: impecable. Useful locker-rooms, accessible bathrooms, well placed and equipped support areas, a beautiful T-shirt and a nice medal. As a last souvenir, I brought home some pins for my collections and some delicious "pastéis de Belém".
Filipe Baptista de Morais
PS: in the end the guy who ran next to me for nearly half of the last kilometer came to greet me, which really cheered me up. That's the sports and fair play spirit we should all try to maintain.
domingo, 1 de dezembro de 2013
Corrida do Sporting or Ready to Grow Young Again
Name: Corrida do Sporting
Length: 10Km
Date: 1st of December 2013
Objectivos Mínimos: - 42m
Desafio Pessoal: - 39m41s
Melhor Tempo em Provas Semelhantes: 39m41s
Despite the fairly rough course, I had some high expectations for this race, and was keen on trying to beat my 10Km best time set back in 2010. For that reason I carefully prepared a playlist, and decided not to hit the gym in the last 4 days before the race. Unfortunately on Saturday I still felt my legs complaining a bit from the football match on Wednesday, and I kinda lost heart and, going against the plan, I went to the gym as usual.
This morning I had therefore little hopes of achieving anything, specially after forgetting my Ipod bracelet at home which meant I would have to run without music and Nike+. Still, I decided to go for it in the beginning and then go with the flow. After all, man's reach exceeds his imagination.
There were different startling lines depending on your previous best times, which would typically be good since it would allow me to start closer to the front line. Unfortunately I was not responsible for my own registration, and so was put way behind the best runners. Thankfully I managed to crawl and sneak my way into the appropriate starting zone.
The race began inside Sporting's stadium's precinct, which was a terrible idea since it meant everyone was funneled up in no time. Despite that small detail, the organisation was pretty great. There was a single support spot at the 5th kilometer: exactly the way I like it.
The course was not ideal, with some ups and downs, with empashis on three horrible tunnels. But this time I decided not to try and keep a steady pace; my experience tells me it is far better to slow down when climbing and then quickening the pace in negative slope stretches. And so I did.
Be it for the tactic, my physical conditions or any other reason fact is the race went extremely well and I finished with 39m31s, improving my personal record by ten full seconds. It does not seem like a lot, but it is when it takes three years to achieve.
Best of all, due to some mess-up after the finishing line, I ended up going to the VIP area. That means that, besides the water and apple everyone else got, I was also entitled to powerade, ice-tea, some other juice, beer, cookies and a quick chat with Bruno de Carvalho, the president of Sporting Clube de Portugal.
This medal will be cherished. So will the T-Shirt, which is quite nice. I will also see this was a good omen for next week's half-marathon.
Filipe Baptista de Morais
Length: 10Km
Date: 1st of December 2013
Objectivos Mínimos: - 42m
Desafio Pessoal: - 39m41s
Melhor Tempo em Provas Semelhantes: 39m41s
Despite the fairly rough course, I had some high expectations for this race, and was keen on trying to beat my 10Km best time set back in 2010. For that reason I carefully prepared a playlist, and decided not to hit the gym in the last 4 days before the race. Unfortunately on Saturday I still felt my legs complaining a bit from the football match on Wednesday, and I kinda lost heart and, going against the plan, I went to the gym as usual.
This morning I had therefore little hopes of achieving anything, specially after forgetting my Ipod bracelet at home which meant I would have to run without music and Nike+. Still, I decided to go for it in the beginning and then go with the flow. After all, man's reach exceeds his imagination.
There were different startling lines depending on your previous best times, which would typically be good since it would allow me to start closer to the front line. Unfortunately I was not responsible for my own registration, and so was put way behind the best runners. Thankfully I managed to crawl and sneak my way into the appropriate starting zone.
The race began inside Sporting's stadium's precinct, which was a terrible idea since it meant everyone was funneled up in no time. Despite that small detail, the organisation was pretty great. There was a single support spot at the 5th kilometer: exactly the way I like it.
The course was not ideal, with some ups and downs, with empashis on three horrible tunnels. But this time I decided not to try and keep a steady pace; my experience tells me it is far better to slow down when climbing and then quickening the pace in negative slope stretches. And so I did.
Be it for the tactic, my physical conditions or any other reason fact is the race went extremely well and I finished with 39m31s, improving my personal record by ten full seconds. It does not seem like a lot, but it is when it takes three years to achieve.
Best of all, due to some mess-up after the finishing line, I ended up going to the VIP area. That means that, besides the water and apple everyone else got, I was also entitled to powerade, ice-tea, some other juice, beer, cookies and a quick chat with Bruno de Carvalho, the president of Sporting Clube de Portugal.
This medal will be cherished. So will the T-Shirt, which is quite nice. I will also see this was a good omen for next week's half-marathon.
Filipe Baptista de Morais
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