@proactivepaul's blog – the Proactive accountant
I will add more to this when I have time. For now . . .
turn off enhancements in Microsoft Office or you will be sharing everything you write with them
it’s a default opt in – you have to opt out
does the Govt know about this?
the Police?
the armed forces?
your employer?
your students?
your friends and family?
go to
File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings
Privacy Options > Privacy Settings > uncheck “enable” > OK > OK
restart MS Office
I have recently written a book about my third marathon. I started it many years ago in 2017, and it took me a while to complete it. The book, not the marathon! I finished it in 2024.
That means that the Microsoft Word files that I drafted in the old days have been updated regularly, and they have been used over successive years on many different laptops and desktops. Currently I have Word 2019 across all my PCs. Originally my book might have been a Doc file from Office 2003 or possibly even from Office 1997. I have written several books over many years, and I have a habit of cloning older files when I start a newer book. My latest book might have been derived from a document I first made in 1998.
And that’s a problem!
Microsoft Word files are simply a package of data. What we humans see on the screen is not the same thing that a computer sees. My desktop version of Word interprets the data in the file and puts in on screen in a way that I can understand it. However, when Word exports the data to a PDF, and then a book printing computer reads the PDF, it sees something different.
I thought it was all looking good, but when the first proof came back from the printer it looked weird. A mix of fonts, in random places and in random order, sometimes even interupting single words, like “timing” as you can see in the image below. There is nothing in my Word doc to suggest that the fonts were ever changed in these places. Nor is it anything to do with when the dialogue was written or editted.
Here’s an extract from page 45, the Word version is on the left, and the paper version is on the right.
I know that you have to embed the fonts in the PDF so that your book printer knows what to do. I thought I had done it all correctly. But it’s not quite as simple as is seems, hence this blogpost.
If you have a text editor (software developers use text editors) you can open the PDF and see what the data actually looks like. The original PDF is on the left, the later PDF with embedded fonts, is on the right.
The later one shows that the font information is embedded in the file. The peculiar characters you can see are called “raw” and that’s a machine version of the actual text I wrote in the body of my document. It’s the raw data which computers can understand, but humans cannot.
You don’t need a text to editor embed the fonts. You need MS Word (or some word processor which has an export tool) and Adobe Acrobat Reader (or better). My usual PDF viewer is not up to scratch, so I had to use Adobe Acrobat Reader for my final checks.
Your word processor must have an export tool. It’s not enough to print to PDF. That rules out things like CutePDF which I’ve been using for years.
Using various tools, I have noticed that MS Word didn’t always have True Type Fonts. As the next image shows, my legacy Doc file contained fonts such as Times New RomanTimes New Roman and Arial Unicode MS.
To ensure that your material is print ready follow this lengthy process.
The Process
When exporting from a Word Doc to a PDF there are many, many steps to follow. Don’t ask me why!
In case you have any legacy fonts, firstly (with the document open in Word) set the file options to substitute fonts and convert them permanently. If you have no legacy fonts, then an alternative alert appears to tell you.
File > Options > Advanced > Font Substitution > Convert Permanently > OK > OK
Secondly, set the file options to embed all fonts. You will want to embed everything and not risk systems that misunderstand “only the characters” and misunderstand “common”. So untick “only” and untick “common” and tick “embed”.
File > Options > Save > tick “Embed” > (untick others as required) > OK
Thirdly, export from Word to PDF precisely as shown in the image below.
File > Export > Create > (set filename) > Options > tick PDF/A > OK > Publish
And your new PDF will be opened in your default PDF viewer.
Fourthly (assuming, that if you’re anything like me, your default PDF viewer is not Adobe) open the new PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader. Check that you have all of the fonts embedded.
Right click the grey space > Document properties > Fonts > (check, scroll down, check) > OK
Assuming that your check shows what you wanted, then you can be confident that your PDF file is print ready.
The Third Marathon is scheduled for publication at the end of 2024.
It’s a long story which I won’t trouble you with. Save to say that after years of running without a backpack, I was persuaded, and I’m so grateful for that advice.
Mine is not the expensive one recommended by friends at the running club, but a cheap Aonijie one with many pockets. Instead of the old bum bag, carrying two small water pouches, I now have 1.5 litres of fresh water in a system designed for runners.
Over time I learnt that the bladders leak, even the leak proof ones leak! The original slider mechanism was also a pain. When choosing a replacement I prefer the type with a large screw-on cap, and a small screw fitting to hold the union, like the one on the right in the picture below. The one on the left has a larger push fit union with a release button. The push fit union allows air to slowly seep in over time. It’s also more unwieldy when you’re trying to expel all the air from the bladder by holding the union uppermost and sucking the air out through the pipe. The smaller the union, the more you can see what you’re doing. That helps!
In the photo, the old one has gaffer tape covering a (bicycle) puncture repair patch, and that was a temporary repair pending the arrival of a new order. The gaffer tape stops the friction of the fabric backpack from renewing the same hole, allowing the repair to last for quite a while.
On 10k races and half marathons I’m now self sufficient and no longer need to stop at the water stations. The Geneva Marathon saw me follow a twofold strategy, which worked out well, using my own supply and calling at the water stations. What changed before I did the Chelmsford Marathon was the need for energy gel. Having shunned it in the past, I was reformed, and I now needed more pockets and larger pockets to carry gel sachets.
The full story is give in my book The Third Marathon. It explains how I didn’t leave myself enough time to buy, and try out, new backpacks, so I modified my own. By sewing some fabric pencil cases onto it! I needed to carry 16 gel sachets at 60g each. The big pencil cases were partially folded and sewn down, leaving just enough space for eight sachets in each. Then they were attached to the straps in five places (not the obvious six) because I still needed access to the pockets beneath.
Rural France, near CERN in Geneva – 2 May 2018
Buy “The Third Marathon” on Amazon
I tried it out a few times before my third marathon. I does the job. It may look a bit weird, but it cost me nothing, because I had spare pencil cases at home. A bit of trial and error was involved. Unpicking bits and sewing them again. One connection was too tight to allow a zip to move freely. Another connection was too tight to get my iPhone into and out of the correct pocket. I added some velcro loops (cable ties for computer stuff) which now guide the water pipe, and hey voila! Heath Robinson would be proud!
The Chelmsford Marathon is on 13 Oct 2024, and I took the opportunity on Bank Holiday Monday 26 Aug 2024 to cycle the route and check out the road surfaces and the elevation. The Chelmsford Marathon definitely wins the prize for the most amusing street name.
When I ran the Milton Keynes Marathon in 2013 I was shocked by the state of the cycle paths (known locally as the Redways). I’ve been there many times, I’ve cycled some of the Redways, but I was still shocked by the poorly maintained ones on the edge of town. Redways that I had never seen until I was actually running the Marathon.
Given that unexpected distress, I was determined that it wouldn’t happen again. In 2018, before running the Geneva Marathon I went out and cycled the entire route. Hence, I knew exactly what the surfaces were like, and I knew where the hills were.
The same for the Chelmsford Marathon this year (2024). I’m a slow and cautious runner. I do not like uneven surfaces, ruptured tarmac, loose gravel, and grass. So I was keen to gain first hand knowledge of what I was letting myself in for. The event starts on footpaths and cycle tracks in Central Park, a short 500m walk from the railway station. As far as I can make out from the online map, this park bench in this photo marks the start and finish line, and just 75m further down that path you can see that all of the runners have to negotiate a weird cycle roundabout.
Then the fun starts! This surface looks awful! Pitted tarmac, sunken drains, acorns and debris. That’s right at the start! The first 200m are dire. Seriously, a different start line and first 200m would be welcomed by all the runners. And the malaise continues through Central Park and Admirals Park, for a mile and a half, on rough, unloved cycle paths.
There’s an extraordinarily tight 90° left turn, just after the bridge over the River Can in Admirals Park, and as soon as you round that corner, the undergrowth has commandeered about one third of the pathway. I was not impressed by what I’d seen so far.
More pitted tarmac. More tight corners. Vegetation growing through the surface. Ruptures where tree roots are just below the tarmac. And a generous supply of horse manure dotted here and there along the first 3 miles.
The route through Anglia Ruskin University has some vicious speed humps. I was on a Brompton Bike, with the original hard seat, and no suspension. The speed humps are massive and harsh, and would upset me equally had I been running and not cycling. The gate at the far side of the campus will presumably be open on race day, but I don’t like the look of that gravelly surface.
By the time I reached the 3 mile waypoint I was questioning whether I actually wanted to do this race! The first 3 miles will see me watching every single footstep and taking great care where I tread. Not fun!
At least the first 3 miles are flat.
When you join the small local road by Sturgeon’s Farm the mild undulations start. The surface also becomes much more in character with marathon running. A proper road, with some degree of maintenance. Except for some of the junctions.
These are junctions on minor country roads. Gravel abounds everywhere. Picking the best (and safest) running line through the junctions will require thought and judgement. If I’m boxed in by a group of runners, then it’s going to trouble me. From the outset, I need to have my own personal space, and be able to see the surface ahead. This race will be mentally taxing from the start.
In the interests of fairness, I should also say that some of the small local roads (taking the runners towards Willingale and back) are of a reasonable standard. About half of the 26 mile route, on and off, looks OK to me.
The ascents and descents don’t look bad at all. My Brompton has 6 gears. I normally start off in 3rd gear when travelling around London. When doing the gentle hills around Chelmsford I counted the number of times I had to shift down to 2nd or 1st gear. I selected 2nd gear 12 times to handle ascents, only needing to select 1st gear 3 times (12+3= 15 notable ascents). That tells me that there are only 3 times when I might have to slow to a walk. I expect to run the whole course this time. That wasn’t true of my first two marathons. I am going to do my utmost to maintain a dignified jog up those 1st gear hills, because there are only 3 of them, and because I have trained to run for longer, even on inclines. We’ll need to wait until the actual day to find out if that plan works.
There are a number of places where the tarmac surface has given up, and Mother Nature is reclaiming the centre of the road. Some of it is fairly extensive like this photo near Millers Green. In other places, like Wood Lane past Sawyer’s Farm there are sporadic oases of greenery flourishing on the centre line of the road. Random plant life erupting in vibrant shades of green. It all means that I will be picking out the racing line with care for much of the 26 mile route.
Serendipitously, there is one stretch of recently laid, quality tarmac at about mile 21. It’s nice, especially as it’s on an uphill stretch. The whole route should be like this.
However, the good news doesn’t last long. After about 800m of beautiful, new tarmac, the route turns left onto a regular country road towards a hamlet called Newney Green (on a road also called Newney Green). Having missed the chance to get some perfectly ripe blackberries at about mile 16, I stopped at about mile 22 to collect an ample supply.
Soon after that, the route returns us to the uniform “out and back” stretch passing the weirdly named “University College Cow Watering Campus”. And promptly brings us back onto the aforementioned cycle paths and foot paths for the final three miles. It’s also known as a “permissive bridleway” though I’ve never seen a sign like that before. It contains ample supplies of horse manure, ruptured and pitted tarmac, and is clearly an uncared for and unloved pedestrian and cycle route.
The final stretch is perfectly fine for gentle recreation, casual walkers and casual cyclists. It’s not my idea of what a marathon course should be like. Overall, it’s better than Milton Keynes. But it’s not as good as Geneva.
Perhaps I’m being unfair? Is my brain conditioned by the marathons I’ve seen on TV? Are normal marathons supposed to contain miniature obstacle courses?
I’m so glad that I did the recce before doing the race! I know exactly what I’m letting myself in for. Yes, I will do the Chelmsford Marathon. It will be both physically demanding and mentally demanding. Which is what all my training runs are like anyway!
Buy “The Third Marathon” on Amazon