Month: January 2012

For some strange reason, I kind of like running against the wind. Even when it's blowing really hard and I have to push myself that much harder to keep up the right tempo and reach the final goal. You also feel very thankful that you are healthy and in good condition, physically as well as mentally.

Pushing against the elements is alot like life. You live day by day and move forward, sometimes with the wind at your back and other times in your face. If the wind is not blowing at all, that's the nicest and makes you feel the most relaxed. But that's also very rare and should be cherished whenever it occurs.

You push a little bit harder and when the running loop has been completed, you feel that much better. Tomorrow will bring yet another loop to finish, and be sure to appreciate it as well as the rest.

I'm sure glad I didn't live back in the days of the Spanish Armada. In the book "The Confident Hope of a Miracle" by Neil Hanson, the events leading up to and surrounding this famous historical event are described in every kind of detail. This is really interesting reading and every chapter leaves me amazed at what went on back in those days.

In those days you had a number of ruthless heroes. For example, Sir Francis Drake was a notorious pirate who attacked many ships. His specialty was harassing Spanish shipping and ports and capturing gold treasures for Queen Elizabeth.

Sir Francis Drake, El Draque "the Dragon"

Protocol back then meant that when your ship was attacked, you had two choices. Either you surrendered immediately and you and your men were taken prisoner, or you fought back. If you fought back and lost, then every person captured would be killed, sometimes in excruciatingly gruesome ways. This was accepted practice, so you can imagine how worried you might be when the battle started.

One common practice was to flay the prisoners alive, and then hang the bodies upside down from the masts. It was better to be killed outright, rather than being merely wounded and later skinned alive. This was a warning to other ships, making them reconsider entering a fight with this person the Spanish referred to as El Draque "the Dragon" who was sent by the devil.

Another interesting fact about the defeat of the Spanish Armada was that the tactics of sea battle were changed drastically. Since ancient days, fighting at sea was done just like on land. The only difference was that the two ships would approach each loaded with soldiers, the goal being to get close enough and grapple together, allowing the attackers to jump on the defending ship and initiate battle there.

What led to the defeat of the Spanish was that the English had faster ships which could maneuver to a safe distance from the enemy and open fire with cannons and other artillery, sinking or immobilizing the enemy.

Borrowed from Wikipedia, Spanish Armada

This was very frustrating to the Spanish and caught them completely off guard. It was completely against all accepted rules of war. The poor Spanish would be cursing and yelling at this unfair way of waging war, as the poor souls sank to the bottom of the English Channel.