clever & funny bio goes here

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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: February 25th, 2024

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    • regular vigorous exercise - I do this five or six days per week
    • no caffeine after about 2 pm
    • mostly consistent bedtime
    • heating pad, for nights when my lower back is stiff or sore
    • white noise in the form of a fan (though I’m going to need something more powerful, as my neighbor has started the lovely habit of watching tv at 330am with no headphones)
    • on nights when I’m really having trouble, I have a small stash of chewable 5mg melatonin tablets on my nightstand

  • When I was in middle school, on an organized camping trip to a lake where we would work on our canoeing skills, another kid and I started to horseplay. We were struggling over who could take a specific canoe paddle. My opponent held the handle, and I the blade. We each tried using the paddle to shove at the other & cause them to lose control, thereby securing the paddle for our own exclusive use.

    Nevermind that there were a dozen other equally good paddles laying around unclaimed, we had to fight over that specific paddle.

    I wound up losing my grip right as my opponent shoved. The blade hit me square on the bridge of my nose. I bled like crazy.

    It wasn’t until several years afterwards that I realized how perilously close I had come to losing one or both eyes.



  • Recently, as in for the last week or so, I’ve started developing shin splints. It’s a little annoying when the limiting factor in endurance & speed isn’t heart & lungs.

    I’m attempting to stretch the shins specifically by planting my heel, pushing the toes as far forward as I can stand, and holding it as long as I can.

    Is there anything else I can do about it? Are there exercises which target shin muscles specifically to strengthen them?



  • I went to a local park by myself today and did the trail there. It was 3.22 mi (5.18 km).

    It was hell.

    The middle 60% of the route was a dirt path. Except it rained recently, and due to ongoing cloud cover the middle 60% was actually mud.

    It was like trying to walk on a slip & slide. It was frustrating in the extreme. I persisted because I’m stubborn and not terribly sensible.

    Never again will I attempt that trail, even if there hasn’t been any recent rain.

    What I do need to do, is find a local park with a dirt path that has better drainage. Jogging on sidewalks is starting to make my feet hurt.





  • I have a Garmin ForeRunner 165 on order, set to arrive in early January. I’m looking forward to its arrival.

    Thanks to some tips from last week, I finally figured out how to connect my Polaris chest strap to my fruit phone. As expected, it was a user error.

    I did have one thing I wanted to query the hive mind about. For scheduling & heat management reasons, my outdoor runs will be starting at around 630am local time. In January this means 40-45 minutes before sunrise. What would you recommend for lights or reflectivity in the hour or so before sunrise?



  • Upon receipt I tried connecting the H9 through Polar Flow but my phone can’t see it at all through bluetooth in the device settings. Might be a phone issue? Idk.

    I’d eventually like to get into lap swimming, but realistically that won’t be for another year or two, have to find a place that’s convenient, has good hours, and isn’t extortionately priced.

    I don’t have a Spotify account, I do have a Pandora subscription. If a ForeRunner can work with Pandora that potentially means I don’t have to carry my phone while running.

    I’m not picky about a screen, but whichever kind I go with I’ll probably buy a screen protector of some kind.

    I’m a big guy so a large watch probably won’t be an issue.




  • I’m in a pretty warm and humid climate. We rarely get below freezing in the winter, perhaps once every other winter. So odds are I won’t have to wear long sleeve attire much.

    My current chest strap is a Polar H9 model. I’d like to connect it to whichever gps watch I buy while I’m exercising. It connects flawlessly to the treadmills in the gym at work, but won’t connect to my phone, which makes me wonder if it’s ANT+ only and not bluetooth.

    I don’t need a super long battery life. No marathons for me. I’m at the level of 45 minutes of alternating brisk walk and jog.

    Budget wise, I’d like to keep it under $250. If I get a $200 watch (whether Garmin or some other brand) and use it consistently for a year, then I could justify spending up to $500 or $600.

    Apple Watch is an option, but they’re a bit more than what I’m willing to spend at the moment, especially since my current chest strap won’t connect to my iPhone at all.



  • I’m considering getting a gps watch that does heart rate monitoring. I’m looking to transition away from treadmills to outdoors.

    Does anyone have recommendations on what to get or what to avoid?

    I currently have a chest strap heart rate monitor that connects to the treadmills (but, annoyingly, not my fruit phone). I’ve never used a wrist-based heart rate monitor so I have no idea how accurate they are.

    If a gps watch is bluetooth enabled, presumably it could also talk to my computer, not just my phone.


  • There are some decent to good video games available on Android & iPhone, of a wide variety of genres.

    If you have the self discipline to not let gaming take over all your spare time (whistles innocently while totally not looking in mirror), it’s absolutely worth getting into.

    Where to start? I recommend keeping it simple. If you don’t already own a desktop or laptop computer at home, it’s probably easiest to stick with games on your phone.

    • ask friends & family what games they play, particularly those who fall on the same side of the Apple/Google divide as you.
    • open your app store and look at lists of popular games by genre. Pick a free one, download it, and try it out. If you don’t like it, delete it and try another one.
    • if there’s a news or culture site whose judgement you trust & like to follow, even if it’s not a technology or gaming related site, it’s worth spending a couple minutes to see if they have review articles or recommendation lists available. You can even find a related Lemmy community and ask there.

    Personally, I play the following:

    • an older logic puzzle game
    • a free klondike solitaire game
    • Egg, Inc - this is an idle incremental game available on both iOS & Android
    • Leaf Blower Revolution - just started this one. It’s in the idle incremental genre as well. Available on iOS, Android, and through Steam. Supports cross platform play by way of cloud saves. I picked it up a week ago and it has been fun so far.

    I don’t have the reflexes for active combat games. I like RPGs but prefer to play those on desktop.