Edie Lush

The harsh return to training in 2010

With the Barcelona Marathon looming less than two months away and my training schedule thrown into chaos by children off school, snow and icy weather and motivation running at near all time lows, I decide to stop procrastinating and get back to work.

So I head for Richmond Park – supposedly 3 miles there, 7 miles around and 3 miles back. Shorter than my schedule says I should be doing but hey, you gotta start somewhere. So I try the sneaky back route to get there but – never having done it before – get lost. Manage to find it after an extra 2 miles.

As green as it gets

I’m in Copenhagen, Denmark, where it has started to snow. You’d think with all of the hot air around here spouting from the various politicians the snow would have melted and we’d be sporting bikinis on the canals, but, in fact, it’s freezing.

Weather aside, I’m reporting for Hub Culture and hanging out with terrific friends Meg Thomson and Stan Stalnaker and terrific camera woman/editor Suvi Andrea Helminen . The Hub Culture is as hopping as it gets – and with delegates leaving the Bella Center in droves because they’re a) bored, b) can’t get in Hub’s Pavilion is rapidly becoming the center of action.

In which I test drive the world's first electric sportscar

Coat by Vivienne Westwood. Car by Tesla.

I first met the Tesla Roadster at the Intelligence Squared Green Festival on Climate Change which I organised in January. However, the test drive proved elusive. Not so in Copenhagen! I’m here covering the event for Hub Culture and finally got my chance to step behind the wheel. The best part is the braking – you rarely actually step on the brake to slow down the car. Instead when you lift your foot off the accelerator something called ‘regenerative braking’ happens. The car turns the kinetic energy of the car’s movement into chemical energy which it stores in the battery so you can drive the car on it later. This transfer of energy also serves to slow the vehicle. So you don’t waste energy, or create extra heat, or burn brake pads which release ‘particulates’ (small dirty particles) into the air. Plus it is super fast – zero to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds.

Watch the test drive here!