Fitness

The TL;DR is that Garmin's pace alerts seem to trigger on average pace but the alert on the screen shows current pace. It can be confusing especially early on in a run where the average is much more volatile. Garmin CoachI own a Garmin Forerunner 245 GPS watch and use it track my runs, bike rides, and any indoor activities. I also have an Apple Watch Series 4 with Cellular but don't use it for tracking any longer because of weird GPS behaviors. The Forerunner 245 has definitely been a superior GPS unit and their biometrics (especially with their heart rate strap and sensor package) blow the Apple Watch out of the water. ...

Every year at Automattic's Grand Meetup we're required to give a flash talk of up to four minutes on any topic. This past year I gave mine on a subject related to my post "How Working Remote (Probably) Saved My Life". I'm actually developing a much longer talk to dive deeper into what's been involved with my successes and failures. Until then, here's my flash talk for your enjoyment. [wpvideo M5HpGRy1]

Bicycling is my meditation. I use it as part of my toolset to calm my brain and to train my mind to take in a lot of input and focus on important things. I recently realized that there's a moment that doesn't happen very often when biking. It sometimes takes an entire summer for me to have it occur. I call it the Bicycler's Quiet. Bicycler's Quiet is the sudden loss of wind noise in your ears when you're cycling with the wind. It doesn't happen very often because you need to be cycling at roughly the same speed and direction of the wind. Biking on days with very little to no wind doesn't do it because your movement creates wind across your ears. ...

Before Working RemoteIn July 2013 I started working remote at Automattic working on the WordPress for iOS app. I was pretty happy with my life at that time and the transition to the new job was not for reasons of disliking my previous job. In fact I loved working for Red Arrow Labs in Milwaukee and it was incredibly hard leaving them. I only left Red Arrow because it felt like Automattic was my unicorn of jobs and I had stumbled upon it by sheer luck. It turns out that I really wasn't entirely happy with how things were going in my life at the time even though the job was great. ...

I've taken on a challenge to do 30 days of cardio and weight training exercises. The challenge was put on by Jenny Ford, an avid YouTube home workout producer. So far I'm at day 11 and absolutely loving it! The challenge consists of a mix of cardio one day and weight training the next day. There are six days of workouts and then one rest day. Generally the sixth day is more laid back doing yoga stretches. The only required equipment for the challenge are hand weights (I have 3lb, 5lb and 8lb weights), a step aerobics board or a surface to step up on, and a balance ball. None of the equipment is really required however - you can adapt any of the exercises to use soup cans for weights or just the floor if you have no board. ...

I've mentioned before on this site and other places that I have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and that I've been doing a lot to manage it. I didn't really connect the dots until I started working remote for Automattic almost two years ago. It's a continual process for me and I'm continuing to make adjustments over time to combat it. I have good days and I have bad days. ...

Walking While You WorkI'm not going to link to any articles or research about the benefits of walking while you work. I've been standing at my desk since I started working at home and to me this is the next progression. I have ADHD and I'm always trying to find ways to hack my brain. I decided to get in on the treadmill desk game. The First StepsA couple months back I ended up buying a cheapie treadmill on Amazon to experiment with walking while working. I used it a couple of times with some success but I ultimately felt it didn't provide much help for my focus. I kept doing research to determine what the issue was and spent time observing myself during a walking session with it. I was surprised it wasn't obvious why I didn't like this experiment. ...

I posted a while back about what I've been doing to lose weight. I was my heaviest last year around September 2013 at 277lb (125kg). I started on my ADD meds around October and stopped taking a medication for my cluster headaches that was causing weight gain as well. You can see the drop but then around end of January I came off the meds. The weight hopped back up for a bit but I dug deep and kept my exercise a bit more regular. So far I'm down 40lb! I don't really have any goal in mind other than to reach at least 235lb which the lightest I've been for the past five years. ...

You know you've lost your mind when you trip a little and the recovery move resembles a move from your step aerobics routine and you hear the instructor say: "Now, funky push!"

Nerds are notorious for being the most disinterested in staying fit - well at least our stereotype. I've definitely yo-yoed in weight over the years, being at my best weight about three years ago. Job and other life changes got me distracted and I ended up 40lb heavier in a relatively short amount of time. When I started working at home, I decided change was in order to make me a bit more aware of myself. I ended up getting a standing desk and a really great Herman Miller chair as part of my office setup when I started at Automattic. Standing throughout the day, and sitting at strategic points of fatigue and after exercise, has made a significant difference in my attention levels and I believe my overall health. ...