fitness

Sep 24, 2023 ∞

🏃‍♂️ Starting to see the Fall colour changes on today’s run. Powered by PUP and Rage Against the Machine

One tree with bright orange and red leaves along a trail

Sep 22, 2023 ∞

🚴‍♂️ Likely the last ride of the season with this crew. Getting too dark! Unfortunately we had to end early, thanks to a flat tire.

Crew of cyclist near a lake with the sunrise behind. Ride stats are overlaid: 22.39km 1hr10min

Sep 19, 2023 ∞

GPS Watch? No Thanks. Top Runners Are Ditching the Data.

For many, GPS watches are a remarkably useful training tool. But there are other runners, including world-class runners like Jacobs, who have a hard time understanding the fuss. To them, a smorgasbord of data is more hindrance than help. And get this: Some runners don’t wear watches at all.

I’m sympathetic to this idea. In general, I’m trying to stop obsessing over my health and fitness data (tough for this data analyst to do). That said, I’m far from an elite runner. So, I don’t have enough body awareness to intuitively know my pace zones and find realtime data on my performance helpful for making sure my runs are effective.

Perhaps more importantly, my watch is also my source of music and a way to keep my family updated when I’m out on a long run.

I don’t expect to be running out the door without my watch anytime soon.

Sep 17, 2023 ∞

🏃‍♂️ Today’s run was an endurance run with a progressive fast finish. I tried breathing through my nose for the first hour to keep things slow.

Powered by Billy Talent and Beastie Boys

Map of the run in Cambridge. 20.99km in 1:59

Aug 19, 2023 ∞

Found another long run loop 🏃‍♂️

Gravel road through hills with running stats overlaid: 19.67km; 1hr52m

Aug 14, 2023 ∞

Tried a new route today 🏃‍♂️

Gravel road winding through a forest with running stats overlaid: 16km 1hr35m

Jul 25, 2023 ∞

Huntsville 70.3 Ironman notes 🏊‍♂️🚴‍♂️🏃‍♂️

After a few weeks of recovery, here are a few notes on the Huntsville 70.3 Ironman. The short version (given there’s lots of details below) is that the course was fantastic, though very hilly, and I managed to shave 15 minutes from my last 70.3. Pre-race No surprises here. There were scheduled times for registration and all we needed was the receipt from our online payment. With that, they handed over a wristband, timing chip, stickers for my bike and helmet, a hot-pink swim cap for my age group, t-shirt, and a morning gear bag for transferring clothing from the swim start to the run finish.

Milton Sprint Triathlon 🏊‍♂️🚴‍♂️🏃‍♂️

That was fun! Really well organized, friendly racers, and great weather. There were 466 racers, though other than the parking lot, it didn’t seem crowded. Swim Mass start by age group for the swim. Temperature was quite nice. Other than an elbow to the nose coming around the last buoy, a pleasant swim 😀. Bike The course confronts you almost right away with a steep 320m climb up the escarpment that really tests the legs.

May 26, 2023 ∞

🥱 This justifies a nap

Screenshot from the Training Today app showing a readiness to train score of 0/10

May 21, 2023 ∞

🏃‍♂️Nice zone 2 run with some pickups

Running trail through trees with stats overlaid on image: 23.95 km, 2hr 11min

Apr 9, 2023 ∞

🏃‍♂️ Good trail on today’s long run. Fun to slog through mud on occasion

Mar 25, 2023 ∞

The whimsy of Zwift distracts from the difficulty 🚴‍♂️

Jan 20, 2023 ∞

🏊‍♂️🚴‍♂️🏃‍♂️ I’ve cancelled my Strava subscription. This isn’t directly caused by the price increase (though a 100% increase is big!), rather this was a good reason to reconsider the service. Most of the Strava features that I’ve found useful (detailed analytics for the most part) I can also get from the built-in Apple Fitness metrics, augmented by the HealthFit app. So, I’m not seeing the value in keeping the subscription. I’ll keep using the app, though, since I do appreciate the social aspects of the service.

Dec 31, 2022 ∞

My 2022 focussed on fitness. Strava helpfully summarizes this as over 4,000 km travelled with 1,600 🏃‍♂️, 2,500 🚴‍♂️, and 100 🏊‍♂️. Plus 🏋️‍♂️ and essential 🧘‍♂️ sessions. I’ll build on this in 2023 while striving for balance

Dec 28, 2022 ∞

🏃‍♂️ Nice run along the river. I’m glad it has warmed up a bit

Dec 11, 2022 ∞

🏃‍♂️ Running in fresh snow can be nice. The ambient noise of the city is muffled and the snow cushions your foot striking the ground ❄️

Pathway through a cemetery with trees above and snow on the ground

Dec 3, 2022 ∞

🏃‍♂️ I expected the rain on today’s zone 2 trail run. The hail and wind gusts were a surprise. Hard to hold zone 2 while being pummelled by ice! 💨🌧️🥶

Dec 1, 2022 ∞

🏃‍♂️An easy, zone 2 run today. Almost dark by 5pm

Nov 27, 2022 ∞

🏃‍♂️ I’d planned for an easy zone 2 run this morning. Picked the wrong running group though. Time to update my zones anyway. I likely shouldn’t be able to hold zone 5 for so long

Nov 18, 2022 ∞

How much does a Triathlon cost? 🏊‍♂️ 🚴‍♂️ 🏃‍♂️💰

Other than knowing if I was physically capable of finishing, the main source of uncertainty when I signed up for my first triathlon was how much it would cost. Starting out, I had one pair of running shoes and some goggles from my kids' swimming lessons. So, I knew I’d need to invest in a lot of gear. Here’s the list of what I ended up buying along with some commentary.