Treadmill workout: Catching up on steps (again)

It doesn’t happen too often these days, but I again found myself short of my 10,000 steps daily goal and I have stinkin’ badges to earn.

I decided a 2 km walk on the treadmill would do the trick (it did), but ended up running for the second km (albeit at a slower speed of 8, rather than 9), which means I am growing increasingly tolerant of running on the treadmill. Probably a good thing with temperatures starting to get colder and the possibility of the “s” word getting higher.

The second km pace was 5:41/km, which is not bad for a planned walk.

Stats:

Speed: 6.7-8.0 (9.0-9.2)
Incline: 1 (1)

Pace: 7:26/km (5:35/km)
Time: 15:04 (28:07)
Distance: 2.03 km (5.03 km)
Calories burned: 159 (347)
BPM: 127 (149)

Parenthetical numbers are from the previous treadmill run.

Walk 129: Unplanned and mostly dry

Brunette River, pre-walk. Brightness before the next storm.

I went out to stretch my legs this afternoon and ended up walking to the lake. Since I was there, I figured why not make it an exercise walk coming back. So I did.

Since I wasn’t dressed for running, I didn’t do any running, but as a strict walk, my pace was pretty perky at 9:00/km. The weather was mild and cloudy, and it seems I just beat the incipient showers by the time I got back.

I took a lot of photos on the way to the lake, where I found the water fountain has been locked up for the winter (and probably a good chunk of early spring, if history repeats), but there were still some nice leaves here and there providing colour.

In all, a pleasant and unexpected bit of exercise.

Stats:

Walk 129
Average pace: 9:00/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 4.02 km
Time: 36:14
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 9°C
Humidity: 84%
Wind: low
BPM: 114
Weight: 168.6 pounds
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255
Total distance to date: 926.94 km

Monitor problem diagnosed!

Surprise twist: It wasn’t the monitor.

Last night I had my PC running in Windows 11 and per usual, left both monitors on, with the screensaver running to blank the screens. Shutting the right monitor off would result in it acting flaky for up to half an hour before it would settle down.

This morning, the right monitor was acting flaky, anyway. I described the issue, which included the power button being ignored when pressing it. Jeff said that seemed funny and it occurred to me to try plugging in the power adapter from the other monitor. The “bad” monitor immediately sprang to life.

The fix is a $23 compatible (hopefully) power adapter, which should be here in four days. In the meantime, I’ve temporarily replaced one of the monitors with my old 24″ one and the part that bugs me is not so much the size/resolution difference (though 24″ seems really small now), but rather the colour/temperature difference. I’ve made enough adjustments to the 24″ monitor that now the 27″ looks funny.

I should probably just go outside for a walk.

But at least I don’t have a dying monitor, as once feared.

Treadmill run: Wind again

I mean, it looked windy outside, but it was probably 50-50 on it being strong enough for flying debris. Despite mild temperatures and no rain, I opted for another treadmill run.

It as the same as the last one, except I bumped the speed up from 9 to 9.1, then 9.2 for the last quarter km or so. Ironically, my pace slowed down. So much for science!

My overall performance was better, though, with a stronger start and more consistent overall pace.

I don’t want to do something crazy like get used to running on the treadmill, so I will probably try to run outdoors next time. I’m also curious to see if the fountain remains open because I get curious about weird little things like that.

Stats:

Speed: 9.0-9.2 (9.0)
Incline: 1 (1)

Pace: 5:35/km (5:47/km)
Time: 28:07 (29:08)
Distance: 5.03 km (5.03 km)
Calories burned: 347 (355)
BPM: 149 (148)

Parenthetical numbers are from the previous treadmill run.

More leaves

Again, I had to crop out my feet in several shots. I don’t have big feet, they just have a tendency to be intrusive.

Not as colourful as the last batch of leaves, as fall trundles toward winter.

Leaves!

Leaves!

Leaves!

With bonus stones!

Secretly I love urban planning

Maybe it’s also the secret futurist in me that hopes for a brighter, well, future.

A Dutch intersection that works for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. At first glance it seems confusing, but look closer, then read the article below. It’s a great example of considered, thoughtful engineering–the kind we see too little of in North America. But here’s hoping we adapt the lessons from our European neighbours.

The overhead shot:

It actually makes sense. Really!

The article: A common urban intersection in the Netherlands

A photo of trees in black and white

I played around a bunch to make this not just black and white, but also a little weird and possibly spooky. This week I’m going through another black and white phase. Next week, who knows? Maybe purple!

Spooky? Arty? Just hard to see after I kept fiddling with the contrast? Only you can decide!

Who am I?

I’m still not sure. Some people have a passion that drives them and pushes them through their entire life. No one wonders what Picasso’s hobbies were1Apparently he liked gardening and photography, among other things. I suspect most or many people are like me–good at certain things, interested in a variety of stuff, but not especially driven by any of them. So a lot of what we do seems to be puttering around, or a bit unfocused. These are not necessarily bad things.

I like to draw and write, but I’ve left both of these interests go fallow at times, sometimes for years. I know how my mind works and constantly do battle with its weaker aspects. I am an expert at procrastination, so I’ve adopted the two-minute rule and other techniques to help. I’m lazy, so I try to motivate myself early in the day to let the momentum carry me.

I try to be funny and good to others. I try to be wise, or at least not appear to be a dummy. I consider other viewpoints. I apologize when needed. I realize I will never be perfect or everything I could be because no one can. Not even Picasso.

I’m not sure what prompted this. Sometimes I just have random deep thoughts and write them out to see what comes of them.

I conclude with a bookish cat.

Treadmill run: 10 months later

Yes, for the first time since January, I did an actual run on the treadmill.

I couldn’t recall the settings I used last time, so I just winged it. I knew to set the Incline to 1, which simulates the wind resistance you get when running outdoors. This is somewhat ironic, because the reason I’m running on the treadmill instead of outside on the trail is due to persistent high winds from the BOMB CYCLONE that came in over the area last night. The wind itself is not the issue, it’s more all the flying debris it creates, which I witnessed in one of the many recent windstorms and found somewhat terrifying.

I started the treadmill at a moderate walking pace (5), then switched to 9, which is apparently 6:40/km. At this point I had to run to avoid falling off the treadmill. As incentive, it works well. I completed 5K and curiously, the first lap nearly matched the stated pace, coming in at 6:38/km, which is really slow for me as a run pace. But every lap after that was more akin to my usual pace of late, ranging from 5:30 to 5:41. My BPM averaged 148, which is a bit lower than normal, but still close to normal.

I am satisfied with this, even though I still dislike running on a treadmill. Instead of scenery, I get this for 30 minutes:

Trees, river and wildlife provided by my fertile imagination.
Speed: 9.0 (8.7)
Incline: 1 (1)

Pace: 5:47/km (5:35/km)
Time: 29:08 (28:07)
Distance: 5.03 km (5.03 km)
Calories burned: 355 (348)
BPM: 148 (150)

Parenthetical numbers are from the previous treadmill run on January 18, 2024.

If you’re going to be wrong about something, why not be super wrong?

I don’t actually have a follow-up on this, it just felt like a catchy thing to say.

But if I was trying to boil it down into something meaningful, it would be something like this: If you really believed in something and it turned out to not just be wrong, but very wrong, don’t beat yourself up over it, just acknowledge it, learn from it, and move on.

It’s kind of fortune cookie wisdom, but it’s mid-week and my watch told me I’d have a harder time thinking today, so that’s what you get.

But also this artsy black and white photo of my feet next to a pipe by the river edge as a bonus: