Just this afternoon I finished up another round of scans at Mayo Clinic āĀ my standard regimen of an hour-long MRI of the abdomen and a CT scan of the chest / lungs. Everything went routine and the worry level leading up to it the past couple weeks was as low as its ever been. So thatās a victory.
I was thinking about how many times Iāve actually gone through this process and Iāve lost count. I think it must be around 12 times now, with how often I had to get them done during the first couple years after treatment. Iām sure itāll be a lifelong procedural activity, so itās good to make it a routine and get used to it.
We had a hurricane blow up part of a week of productivity around here, but I still limped along with some middling progress on the yearās goals. Iām behind the targets this year late in the game, but Iām still happy with the results. I can still close the gap on the running target, at least.
Iāve been thinking about an idea Patrick OāShaughnessy wrote about recently on āgrowth without goalsā āĀ setting up systems to be able to pursue and achieve personal growth without having hard numbers on a scoreboard. Using this site as a public accountability tool helps me to keep these top of mind for continued effort. Iāll have to give this some thought as we near the end of 2020 as to how I want to set up my personal growth systems for 2021. Iām thinking an evolution is in order that creates more space for discovery of new interests without interrupting growth in focus areas.
Activity
Progress
Pace
Goal
Plus-Minus
Running
588.6 miles
597 miles
650 miles
-8.02
Meditation
1070 minutes
2607 minutes
3120 minutes
ā
Reading
24 books
27.53 books
30 books
-3.53
Reading seems like one thatās particularly absurd to quantify as num_books_read. The dimensions of depth and breath of a ābookā are so all over the place that the metric approaches uselessness as a measurement. Iāve tried to avoid selecting material I choose to read around āmanaging to the metricā; the last thing I want is to end up reading 11 garbage quick reads just to hit an arbitrary number. The purpose is defeated if I were to fall into that trap.
One idea that comes to mind as Iām writing this is selecting target study areas to read about āĀ something like choosing 4 or 5 topic areas I want to dive deeper in and measure to how many of those subjects I learn more about. A trackable tool to keep me honest would be useful, but Iām conscious of falling prey to simply managing whatās easily quantified.
With the downramp in the previous daily posting regimen, Iāve used that time mostly to catch up on a bunch of new ideas cooking in (and about) Roam, and put out a couple of newsletters, issues 4 and 5 of Res Extensa. (Subscribe here!)
Itās been fun to do so far. Iāve landed on this idea for the last couple of following a theme topic rather than a simple digest of links or interesting things. That could be interesting, but there are a lot of great ācuratorā newsletters out there already. Issue 4ās theme was legibility, from James C. Scottās epic Seeing Like a State, and issue 5 looked at alternate timelines from a couple of different angles.
At this rate, itāll be New Years in no time flat.
Anyway, letās check in on the 2020 goals:
Activity
Progress
Pace
Goal
Plus-Minus
Running
534.25 miles
543 miles
650 miles
-8.90
Meditation
1070 minutes
2607 minutes
3120 minutes
ā
Reading
23 books
25.07 books
30 books
-2.07
I made middling progress in areas, like some better runs in the first couple of weeks. Felt good to have some overachieving progress. But then we did a week out of town up in Georgia last week, and my plan to do some trail running didnāt become reality. Between schoolwork (Elyse was still remote-learning from the Georgia countryside), rain, and a surprise tropical storm, much outdoor activity was a challenge, to say the least. We did get in 1 hike, but 5 and 3 year olds arenāt that compatible with long excursions.
I went a full 7 days without running, the longest gap in probably 2 years. While it wasnāt necessarily intentional, itās probably good for health to get some air space there every now and then.
On the reading side, I finished Stephen Fryās Mythos, which is his reimagining of the greek myths. I listened to the audio version which is read by the author himself, and if you know any of Fryās work, youāll know this is the proper way to consume this book. An outstanding rendition of the tales, more accessible than Edith Hamiltonās Mythology or something like Ovid or Virgil classics.
Ross Douthatās The Decadent Society was both thought-provoking in its claims, and occasionally frustrating by its pessimism about the state of western culture. I tend to agree with many of Douthatās views on his ā4 horsemenā of decadence: stagnation, sterility, sclerosis, and repetition. Iām skeptical of, but open-minded to, the theories of technical stagnation that you read about in the works of Peter Thiel and others. Thereās a compelling case to be made that something is going wrong, and Douthat has an interesting take on where he thinks the issues lie. My skepticism is less around the presence of decadence, decay, or drift than it is around the severity of the issues. Itās a worthwhile and provocative read. Along the same lines Iād highly recommend Yuval Levinās takes on institutional decline in his book A Time to Build from earlier this year.
Good news is I closed the deficit a bit on the running goal, even though it didnāt feel like a particularly productive month there.
COVID makes time fly and crawl simultaneously, through some sort of perverse time distortion. There were just no notable events this month to break up the monotony of online school, Zoom meetings, and tame weekends around the house. Maybe the holidays and better weather weāre entering soon will help get us outside some more.
Outside of widening our circles a little from shelter to family and one or two friends, weāre still spending most of our time at home or in outdoor activities.
The start of Elyseās kindergarten over the last couple of weeks really put a dent into anything other than work or supporting her online schoolwork. By the end of the day Iāve been too burned out to do much running or reading at all. Itās also been raining like crazy here over the last week.
I just barely kept it together with the running habit. I just picked up some new running shoes that have me excited to schedule some more longer runs the next couple of weeks.
A quick touch on progress for July. I canāt believe itās already been 5 months since the beginning of the pandemic.
Activity
Progress
Pace
Goal
Plus-Minus
Running
371.27 miles
379 miles
650 miles
-8.05
Meditation
1070 minutes
1821 minutes
3120 minutes
ā
Reading
17 books
17.51 books
30 books
-0.51
Nothing that notable this month. Steady upkeep on the running goals, but the summer time in Florida is brutal. Really restricts the scheduling if you canāt do early morning or late evening exercise.
Iāve got a couple of side projects going on that Iāve been pleased with the progress on: a couple of things with the website and some work on personal finances that all feel like good progress.
These updates during the quarantine are weird. In some ways time feels like itās standing still, in others it feels like itās flying by. Every day feels mostly the same. Even though some has opened up in our area, weāre still basically in isolation from friends.
Activity
Progress
Pace
Goal
Plus-Minus
Running
317.49 miles
324 miles
650 miles
-6.62
Meditation
1070 minutes
1556 minutes
3120 minutes
ā
Reading
15 books
14.96 books
30 books
+0.04
It wasnāt that interesting of a month from a goals perspective. Iām continuing to close the mileage gap that I fell into early in the year. Iām hoping in July to bring that one into the green. Other than that, nothing notable this month other than powering on through this quarantine. Seems like itās going to last a while longer now.
Just a quick update this month. With the pandemic still going, lockdown in a state of unknown non-committal from any authority, and the madness going on around the nation the past week, all of this seems kinda trivial. Iām sure weāll power through past it, but Iām just doing my best to keep the habits going. Iām still fortunate to get to plow forward mostly unimpacted by it all.
Activity
Progress
Pace
Goal
Plus-Minus
Running
257.89 miles
272 miles
650 miles
-14.58
Meditation
1070 minutes
1308 minutes
3120 minutes
ā
Reading
13 books
12.58 books
30 books
+0.42
Iāve been reading some great books lately. No particular update this time on that front, but From Dawn to Decadence is fantastic, I just started Matt Ridleyās How Innovation Works, and Ra is one of the most interesting fiction works Iāve read.
Meditation hasnāt gotten folded back into the routine yet. Iām going to leave the goal in my updates and plan to get back to it and catch up by year end.
So many bits in this post from David Smith resonate with me. He committed to getting in shape 3 years ago, and this post is a summary of thoughts on what works and what doesnāt. A key takeaway is one that should be obvious (but clearly isnāt for many people), that many details about workout effectiveness are personal. Some things work for some people, others need to take a different tack.
I liked this point on tracking data about fitness. Feels true to me, as well, in my case with tracking run data:
Iāve also found it to be really helpful to have a objective measure of my performance. This can take both sides. Either I can be encouraged by how tough this workout feels is being proven out in my heart rate or pace. Or alternatively, I can look down at my wrist and see that I can push things a bit further. In both cases I can do better because Iām not basing my choices purely on how I feel, which can often be misleading in the moment.
What I find most useful about run tracking is to combine the objective results (distance, average HR, pace) with the subjective (how do I feel?) and try to figure out whatās contributing to the difference.
April was the first full calendar month of COVID lockdown. In the beginning of the month I started getting comfortable with the working-from-home setup. I have a decent desk setup and a large master bedroom-slash-office space, which until early March Iād barely used since we moved in. Itās gotten a workout now for 2 months of all-day work. Iāve got one of these adjustable desks thatās nice and wide, with plenty of light in the room, so aside from the zero separation between work and life zones, itās not too bad.
In this past week though the strain is coming on. Some of it is certainly the 2 months of social separation from anyone (which is especially bad for the kids, which is, in turn, bad for us), but I think working as a distributed company is weird, too. Productivity has still been high, and since we were already about 30% remote anyway, it hasnāt been the huge adjustment for us that it has been for many others.
Letās look at the goal progress:
Activity
Progress
Pace
Goal
Plus-Minus
Running
198.46 miles
215 miles
650 miles
-16.54
Meditation
1070 minutes
1034 minutes
3120 minutes
+35.7
Reading
11 books
9.95 books
30 books
+1.05
So I fell off the schedule completely in the middle of the month on the meditation practice. I went a few days without doing it, and then just fell apart with consistency. There wasnāt a specific reason other than laziness, and not building it into a morning routine as I had planned. Iām not sure what Iāll do with the practice, but I do intend to get back to it. One thing Iāve still got to get figured out is a more solid morning routine to create the transition from personal to work life more smoothly.
I closed the gap pretty well on the running schedule. The weatherās been unpredictably cool out a lot for Florida spring. We typically have the occasional cooler temperature in April, but this year we had a lot of days in the mid- to upper-70s to work with, which was fantastic for workouts. The kids have been along for the ride on many of them, probably most of them. It helps to get them out of the house; we usually go over the neighborhood bridges and go near some of the water and look for any manatees, fish, and whatnot. With that mild weather there have been some beautiful days to get out lately.
I closed out a bunch of books Iād had in progress for a while. Iāve referenced Martin Gurriās work a few times here recently, and his The Revolt of the Public is one of the most insightful books Iāve read to explain the modern state of affairs with the culture war, political landscape, social media, and more. It was a lot broader than Iād expected, but highly recommended.
Arthur Koestlerās Darkness at Noon is a classic Iād had on the list for a long time. Very glad I spent the time with it. A grim work of historical fiction about Stalinist Russia and the Great Purge.
So March has wrapped, probably the longest month weāve had in many years.
The shake-up in schedule, work-life patterns, and disruptions in everything from kids, to family, to day-to-day activities played absolute hell with my progress on goals.
Activity
Progress
Pace
Goal
Plus-Minus
Running
141.04 miles
162 miles
650 miles
-21.01
Meditation
860 minutes
778 minutes
3120 minutes
+82
Reading
6 books
7.48 books
30 books
-1.48
Letās start with the āokayā news. On the meditation front Iāve been doing alright, but made a decision to switch from using Headspace to Oak. This was partially to shake up what was feeling like a lack of improvement, but I recognize that the tool is not the problem when it comes to disciplined practice of any sort. After reading Tomās comments on Oak, I decided to give it a shot. Iāve been preferring unguided modes to help work on concentration myself; the cues can actually be a distraction in that way once you know what youāre supposed to be doing. Will see what happens here over the next month with our new normal.
Running was an unmitigated disaster this month. Way too many days off and missed for no particular reason other than the mental disruption in the daily flow. Itās counterintuitive that more time indoors and at home would make less time for running (it really hasnāt), but not having clear breakpoints in the day, plus the kids being home 100% of the time, has made this a difficult adjustment for things like exercise. Iām going to make a concerted effort to do mid-day runs with the kids in tow, even if that means higher quantity of shorter workouts. Iāve got to figure out a way to get a pattern going again.
Books appear behind, but donāt feel that way. Iāve done exactly what Iād intended all along at the start of the year, which was reading longer, deeper books āĀ quality over quantity. Iāve really enjoyed the thread Iāve been following with the history of tech, and Iāve got a few more in the queue Iām looking forward to.
The COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest global event thatās happened in my lifetime. It hasnāt impacted me personally that much (yet), but the financial and public health implications are clearly already disastrous, and bound to get worse.
Most concerning, though, is how little we know today about whatās in store for the rest of 2020 and beyond.
I donāt use this outlet to make predictions, and Iām generally not a fan of trying to call shots on uncertainties. But as an experiment, letās set down some open-ended questions to revisit in 6 months to see whatās different.
What will be different by mid-September?
Restaurants and bars
Will the restaurant market return to how it was before? If it rebounds, how does the renewed landscape look different?
Does the expansion of the food delivery market change the kinds of restaurants that open? Not all food types are equally compelling when jammed in a box. Does that influence whatās available?
We were already Shipt customers before all of this for grocery delivery. Is COVID-19 the stressor that shifts more grocery business from brick-and-mortar to delivery?
Hotels
Airbnb already impacted the hotel business over the last 10 years. But as we return to normal, what changes? Do people start putting extra priority on personal space?
Airbnb has been, generally speaking, cheaper than traditional hotels over the years, but does this balance shift?
Airlines
Seems like a fairly irreplaceable business, but does air travel return to pre-COVID level? Do people reduce non-essential travel?
Cruises
Already an expendable industry, but not a small one ($45bn annually). After COVID, how does it ever return to normal
Where would this spending go if it doesnāt? What form of recreation, travel, entertainment picks up that spending?
Businesses
Businesses have gone dormant, people laid off, reduced hours, high unemployment. When things start to rebuild, what returns?
For those of us that have gone to remote work with minimal disruption, how many companies return to an office full time?
If even 20% of these remote-capable companies decide either āwe donāt need an officeā or āwe could downsize to a smaller one,ā what impact does it have on commercial real estate?
Schools
Schools around the world closed pretty quickly, most moving to remote learning. Universities mostly have some infrastructure in place now for online coursework, even though most traditional ones are still in-person heavy. Given that there was already a trend (albeit small) toward distance learning in higher-ed, and assuming at least moderate success in moving to remote over the next several months, are colleges ever the same again?
At elementary and high school levels, the move to remote Zoom-based classes seems shakier. Our daughter is still in pre-school, so we arenāt that impacted (plus the first week of this quarantine spanned spring break, with no school anyway). But Iāve heard from others mixed experiences with their kids trying to āhomeschoolā while they work from home. When do the kids return to a normal school life? Will it be back to normal by the fall and start of the 2020 school year?
Entertainment
The feature film industry could be done-for. With theaters all closed for a while, what happens to them after? Will they re-open? And if so, how long does it take to reconstitute a business in which many will likely have permanently closed and laid off their staff?
Film studios are now forced to release new movies online, jumping the theatrical release completely and dropping movies directly on iTunes for $20. What will these new āvirtual box officeā results look like compared to their predicted receipts if theyād been released traditionally? If the earnings are still attractively high, will this new release model be permanent?
What happens to film and television production over the next 6 months? Do we end up with a lull in new content similar to the writers strike from 2007?
Tom MacWright on chess. Reduce distraction, increase concentration
Once you have concentration, you realize that thereās another layer: rigor. Itās checking the timer, checking for threats, checking for any of a litany of potential mistakes you might be about to make, a smorgasbord of straightforward opportunities you might miss. Simple rules are easy to forget when youāre feeling the rush of an advantage. But they never become less important.
Might start giving chess a try just to see how I do. Havenāt played in years, but Iām curious.
The best resource Iāve run across for aggregated data on COVID cases. Pulled from state-level public health authorities; this project just provides a cleaned-up version of the data. Thereās even an API to pull data.
This talk from Jonathan Lim gives a good overview of how the newest treatments for cancer work āĀ radiation/chemo, targeted therapies, immunotherapy, and ecDNA.
I wrote about my experience with immunotherapy and how itās different in The Infinity Machine a couple months ago, but this video gives a good animated visual example of how it works.
A quick update for February. No big revelations or movements on goals, just slight progress.
Activity
Progress
Pace
Goal
Plus-Minus
Running
97.76 miles
107 miles
650 miles
-9.09
Meditation
600 minutes
513 minutes
3120 minutes
+87
Reading
4 books
4.93 books
30 books
-0.93
Iāve struggled with building longer meditation sessions into my routine. I think the only way itās going to happen is if I can get a pattern of sitting down in the morning before the kids are up. At night things are just too unpredictable āĀ kids might stay up late, too tired, have to do runs, unmotivated.
Running was a little better than last month. I stayed a bit ahead of the curve through the month to close the deficit a bit, but still had several multi-day-off periods.
As Iād mentioned in my Goals post at the start of the year, I plan to read some deeper books this year so I reduced the total number. A focus on quality material and better retention is the priority. I also have about 6 or 7 in motion right now, which is abnormally high even for me.
Tyler Cowenās recent piece in Bloomberg makes the case that technology is helping, not hurting the cause of containing the pandemic. The openness of the web was certainly instrumental in forcing transparency on the part of the Chinese government.
Scientific information about the coronavirus has spread around the world remarkably quickly, mostly because of the internet. The virus has been identified, sequenced, and tracked online, and researchers around the world are working on possible fixes. The possibility that the failed ebola drug remdesivir may help protect against the virus is now well known and the drug is being deployed. The notion of using an HIV cocktail plus some anti-flu drugs against the coronavirus also has been publicized online. The final word on those potential fixes is not yet in, but the internet accelerates the spread of knowledge, along with its application.
I just committed to my first race of the year, a 10K in the St. Pete Distance Classic. Sort of a seat-of-the-pants commitment, but should be able to do a competitive personal time (maybe a PR if I feel good enough). I promised to do more races this year, so gotta stick to the plan.
The weatherās cooled down for the weekend, and a 6:30am start time should make it comfortable for a speedy run.
The first month of 2020 is already in the books. 31 days blew by already?
Itās been a rollercoaster of a first few weeks, with some vacation at New Years, shot out of a cannon with a reinvigorated team at work, a trip to Miami, and a trip to Jacksonville.
I already fell behind on the targets with all thatās been going on. Once I can fall into a better rhythm with some normalcy in the schedule (which should be happening over the next couple weeks), I think Iāll be fine to catch up.
Activity
Progress
Pace
Goal
Plus-Minus
Running
43.14 miles
55 miles
650 miles
-12.07
Meditation
350 minutes
265 minutes
3120 minutes
+85
Reading
2 books
2.55 books
30 books
-0.55
My runningās been reasonable, if not frequent enough to stay on track with the increased goal over last year.
Reading I intentionally re-prioritized some longer stuff, and Iāve been working through a couple that are great so far, but one in particular leads down all sorts of Wikipedia side trails while reading it.
Last year was my first serious attempt at setting goals at the outset with structure and plan to hold myself accountable to each one throughout the course of the year. āGoal orientationā is not my native approach to motivation, but being able to quantify results in data-driven terms (for good or ill) is something Iām compelled by. If, for example, I canāt track a run with Strava, I donāt even want to do it. The inanity of this compulsion is not lost on me, but the way I think about it is that if any strategy keeps you going (even a superficial one), it works. Itās all about the result after all.
In the spirit of 2019, here are the goals for this year. The learnings from last yearās results showed me some ways I want to iterate on certain of the areas, not necessarily to perform better against a metric, but to get deeper meaning out of healthy habits.
Health
Run 650 miles ā When I set 500 as a target for 2019, I thought itād be all I could do to hit that. I ended up landing on 615. With consistent effort (it requires an average 12.5 miles per week) I can definitely hit 650. Feels incremental, slightly uncomfortable, but attainable.
Run 2 half marathons āĀ Did one last year, will shoot for one in the spring and one in the fall or winter.
Deeper meditation ā In my takeaways on this from last year, I mentioned the lack of depth with short, frequent sessions. This year Iām going to try doing 2 sessions of at least 30 minutes per week. Iāve read from multiple sources that anything shorter than about that length doesnāt get you all the way to the āpresentā state that mindfulness techniques are targeting. Half an hour will feel like a long time, but only twice a week should be fine.
Begin strength training ā Shooting for 3 days per week. My plan is to get a setup in the garage to do workouts pre- or post-evening run.
Reading, Learning, and Writing
Read 30 books āĀ Iām lowering the number this year, but have no plans to read less. I want to prioritize more long-form, deeper books that Iāve got on the shelf.
Continue daily posts āĀ Iād also like to force myself to write posts on 1 book per month.
Study finance āĀ With a half-decade of being heavily involved in the business end of a SaaS company, Iāve gotten a ācrash MBAā in budgets, finance, and tons more. I plan to spend more time learning about markets, investing, and economics to have a broader understanding.
Professional
Host Fulcrum Live 2020 āĀ The name of the event is TBD, but weāll be doing another iteration of our user conference that we last did (with success!) in 2017.
Grow the team āĀ Much of my time this year will be focused on team growth. No hard targets yet, but we have some things in the works thatāll be expanding our team.
Other Things
Share more posts from the blog ā When I started the daily posting habit in fall of 2018, I made the intentional decision to just put posts out there and see what would happen organically. No expected plan to drive traffic, just post and leave it be ā personal journal out in public. One of my main reasons for doing that was to reduce the friction in getting things out there. The idea that every post was getting tweeted or shared couldāve made me overly attentive to perfection and polishing, something I wanted to avoid not only because itād take longer on net for each new post, but it could make me hesitant about certain things. This year Iāll plan to share more widely the content for feedback and discussion.
Take a few local weekend trips with the family ā Thereās a shortlist of places in driving distance Iād like to take the kids to, like on long weekends.
Iām updating my tracker to include some other things. Iāll be back on this topic with a post-January check-in on my progress.
Continuing my summaries from a couple weeks ago, this post covers some statistics on running throughout 2019.
I track all of my runs with a Garmin fenix 5 watch synced to Strava, but also have been logging each one to a spreadsheet as I complete them. That way Iāve got an easy dataset to work with for analyzing and charting the results.
Hereās the overall breakdown of stats for the year:
Stat
Total
Total Distance
615.55 miles
Total Duration
86 hours, 32 minutes
Total Activities
148
Average Distance
4.16 miles
Average Pace
8:26 minute/mile
Average HR
156 bpm
Total Calories
66,431 cal
Best Month
September (88 miles)
Worst Month
March (39.6 miles)
September was my big training month for the October half marathon (August was decent too, at about 70 miles).
2019 was my best running year by a wide margin. I got the fitness up to the point where 5-6 milers are pretty easy (when pacing), and the half proved that I can go even farther with a little preparation.
Iāve got new marks Iāll be aiming for in 2020, but probably wonāt have time to post about the plan until into January a bit. Next up will be the map showing the yearās running coverage.
This one is part book review and part reflection on some personal experience, a chance to write about some science related to a harrowing past experience.
A couple of years ago I had a run in with genetics-gone-wrong, a life-altering encounter with cancer that wouldāve gone much differently if I was older or had the run-in in the wrong decade. The short version of that story (which I still plan on writing more about one day on this blog) is that I made it through the gauntlet. A stage IV diagnosis, 6 months of chemotherapy, and 2 major surgeries, and now Iāve been at āNED,ā as they say, for 2 years1.
The fine doctors of the Mayo Clinic were able to navigate me through a treatment plan that had to do with genetics, and whatās possible nowadays with modern treatments that rethink the toolbox for cancer.
Working with the doctors and genetics team there2, I got a crash-course in Lynch syndrome, an inherited disorder that results in increased risk of developing cancers āĀ specifically colorectal, intestinal, liver, and a few others. To say that Lynch is complex is a massive understatement. The geneticist I met with had to draw diagrams and flowcharts to answer the seemingly simple question āDo I have Lynch syndrome?ā (see the image below) To cut to the (strange) point, my cancer expressed Lynch, but not me (see, itās complicated). This meant we could try something different. Genetic oddities like this can serve as targeting tools for specific drugs.
A testing algorithm for Lynch syndrome (Goodenberger & Lindor, 2011.)
Thus began my experience with immunotherapy, a category of wonder drug thatās exploding on the medical scene as a weapon for battling cancer. More on this in a bit, but letās explore the book and how it relates to all this.
The Elegant Defense
An Elegant Defense investigates the power, and sometimes lethality, of the immune system. Through four separate cases ā a patient with terminal cancer, one with HIV, and two with autoimmune disorders ā it looks at what happens when immunity works like it should, but also what happens when the system goes haywire. This book isnāt about cancer immunotherapy exclusively, itās an overview of the immune system in general ā the adaptive versus innate immune system, T cells, cytokines, inflammation, and much more. As a primer on the amazing adaptive machinery of human immunity, itās a top-notch read.
Throughout the book, Richtel uses the analogy of a āpeacekeeping forceā to describe the immune system, an apt one that I think works well in most of his descriptions. Peacekeeping elements maintain law and order, of course, but sometimes under the wrong conditions, the peacekeepers can incite violence themselves. Instances of āautoimmunityā (any time the immune system inappropriately responds to stimuli by attacking healthy cells) he compares to phenomena like nationalism, xenophobia, or even Nazism āĀ cases in sociocultural systems where what starts off as a ādefense mechanismā goes on the offensive. Itās a fitting analogy that helps to make a deeply complex scientific topic accessible to a wider audience.
The highlight of the book was Part II, titled āThe Immune System and the Festival of Life.ā This section serves up the meat of the story, providing a background on how immunity works, its building blocks, and the history of the science of immunology. B cells, T cells, vaccines, the thymus, inflammation, transplants. Richtel does good work succinctly covering the basics of an incredibly complex system. How did this level of complexity emerge? What is the immune system evolved to respond to?
The Villains
The āFestival Crashersā come in several forms. Bacteria, viruses, parasites, and cancers each bring their own deadly tactics that our immune systems have to learn to defeat. The biggest challenge comes from the fact that these enemies know this and do everything they can to blend in, so the immune system has to identify friend or foe:
Survival depends on knowing what is self and what is alien. The immune system must cope with three major challenges: the variability of bad actors, the central circulatory system that sends rivers of blood throughout our body in seconds, and the need to heal.
And the immune system must do all that without so overheating that it kills us in the process. It walks the most delicate path. It succeeds with the help of peacekeepers so effective that their work could be mistaken for magic.3
Faced with this challenge, the bodyās adaptive immune system needs to evolve along with its enemies, to get better over time.
Trainable Defenses
Talebās notion of antifragility is on glorious display with the human immune system. His central theory holds that for an antifragile system, stressors, shocks, failures, and challenges increase a systemās abilities over time. The stressors serve as information channels to help the system adapt to future ones. At birth, babies have weak immune systems;Ā their bodies havenāt seen the millions of pathogens theyāll eventually run across. Being exposed in manageable doses to mild illnesses gives a childās immune system the feedback loop it needs to counter future threats.
But what about completely novel threats? How can it, on first encounter, identify and eliminate threats itās never seen?
How can your T cells and B cells react to a pathogen theyāve never seen, never knew existed, and were never inoculated against, and that you, or your doctors, in all their wisdom, could never have foreseen? This is the infinity problem.4
Itās my favorite part of the immune system story, the part thatās the closest to the supernatural. Proof of the incredible things the ātinkeringā of evolutionās trial and error can develop.
It turns out that the genetic makeup of B and T cells is very different from other blood cells:
The antibody-encoding genes are unlike all other normal genes. Yes, I used italics. Your immune systemās incredible capabilities begin from a remarkable twist of genetics. When your immune system takes shape, it scrambles itself into millions of different combinations, random mixtures and blends. It is a kind of genetic Big Bang that creates inside your body all kinds of defenders aimed at recognizing all kinds of alien life forms.5
The system essentially pre-creates trillions of possible random combinations of genetic codes, creating an archive of āguesses,ā keys to locks that could exist, but your body has no idea. Human genetics adapted a way to combat intruders by brute force.
Or if you prefer a different metaphor, the body has randomly made hundreds of millions of different keys, or antibodies. Each fits a lock that is located on a pathogen. Many of these antibodies are combined such that they are alien genetic materialāat least to usāand their locks will never surface in the human body. Some may not exist in the entire universe. Our bodies have come stocked with keys to the rarest and even unimaginable locks, forms of evil the world has not yet seen, but someday might. In anticipation of threat from the unfathomable, our defenses evolved as infinity machines.6
It all seems impossible to believe.
A Bit of History
The potential to use the immune system as a controllable disease-fighting arsenal was first observed in the 19th century. In the pre-Germ Theory days of medical treatment, however, there was little hope of physicians figuring out what was really going on. True immunotherapy drugs have only been around since the 1970s, with the development of interleukins, followed by the cytokines (like interferon) and others.
In reading more about the history of immunology as a treatment path for cancers, I ran across the āfather of immunotherapy,ā bone surgeon William B. Coley. He noticed several cases in which patients with cancers developed unrelated bacterial infections, then had their tumors disappear, so he searched for a link:
Having noted a number of cases in which patients with cancer went into spontaneous remission after developing erysipelas, he began injecting mixtures of live and inactivated Streptococcus pyogenes and Serratia marcescens into patientsā tumors in 1891.
Coley achieved responses such as durable complete remission in several types of malignancies, including sarcoma, lymphoma, and testicular carcinoma. The lack of a known mechanism of action for āColeyās toxinsā and the risks of deliberately infecting cancer patients with pathogenic bacteria caused oncologists to adopt surgery and radiotherapy as standard treatments early in the 20th century.7
In the days before antibiotics, Coley was bold enough to experiment with intentionally dosing patients with bacteria, with the theory that this was stimulating the immune system to handle the cancer on its own. Though it was much more empirical and experimental than based on scientific theory, it just seemed to work. This kicked off decades of exploration in how the immune system actually worked, and investigation into manipulating it to fight ailments like cancer.
Changing Tactics
One of the patients followed in the book is a guy named Jason, a friend of the author that throughout is in a battle with a vicious case of Hodgkinās lymphoma. After every form of surgery, radiation, and chemo, heās eventually put through trials on an immunotherapy, with incredible response that ravages the tumors (or rather, enables his immune system to do so). He gets the same thing that I had 12 doses of, a drug called nivolumab.
My first few monthsā experience in treatment was a crash course in understanding the different options available. I was loosely familiar with chemotherapy and radiation, at least as broad techniques for treating the disease. Immunotherapy was completely new. Luckily the research doctors at Mayo are happy to give their patients crash courses in understanding the detailed science behind how the treatments work.
Oncologists are fond of analogies in comparing treatments:
Chemotherapy is like carpet bombing, or even a nuclear weapon. The tactic is to blow up everything in the area and hope the disease goes with it.
Contrast that with immunotherapy, which is more like a surgical strike. Find the right target and targeting method, and send in the cruise missile to kill the disease with minimal collateral damage.
Or a better way I like to think about it: compare immunotherapy to code-breaking. Figure out the foeās patterns and algorithms, then formulate a key that defeats the āencryption.ā As mentioned earlier, itās much like the immune systemās natural solution to the āinfinity problem.ā But rather than generating those genetic keys, immunotherapies are only assisting the immune system in doing the job its already got the keys for. Cancer cells express proteins that essentially deactivate T and B cells, causing them to ignore the mutated monsters and turn away. All of the ācheckpoint inhibitorā drugs like nivolumab function by ignoring these proteins so the immune system can attack.
My genetic history as diagrammed by my geneticist
Itās hard to describe the contrast in treatments without experiencing them (which no one should have to do). My chemo regimen was one called FOLFOX, which was a cocktail of several drugs delivered over the course of several hours, every 2 weeks. I also had Avastin added to the mix for additional factors8. Total all of that up and youāre under a flood of poison flowing through the bloodstream, leaving a trail of side effects like nausea, high blood pressure, terrible cold sensitivity, neuropathy, and brutal fatigue. My age plus excellent anti-nausea meds helped me work through it much better than Iād expected, and without more than mild symptoms. But toxicity builds up from treatment to treatment, so treatment 1 is bad mentally not physically, and treatment 10 is the reverse, since you feel worse, but your anxiety about the process is much lower.
Immunotherapy had zero side effects for me. Iād go and get my 30-minute infusion biweekly (contrast again with chemoās 3+ hour infusion sessions), and head home as if nothing had happened. Itās wild to go from such a rough treatment process to something actually easier than most routine visits to the doctor.
Emergent Power
The infinity machines within our bodies are marvels of evolution. Understanding better how these machines work can give us deep insights into the complex and powerful emergent order of immunity, with opportunities to harness those T cells in lifesaving treatments. But the autoimmune story is a terrifying display of what can go wrong if weāre not careful. Toying too much with the infinitely complex immune system could result in the deadly overreactions that can kill in minutes.
The field of immunology research is complex, costly, and fraught with risks of exacerbating problems if trial and error isnāt kept in check or if researchers overshoot the target. But Iām personally thankful for the research institutions and pharmaceutical chemists out there on the edge figuring out new ways to understand disease and aid our bodies in doing magic.
The goal at the start of 2019 was to hit 500 miles running this year. Tonightās run pushed me up to 602 miles for the year, with a couple of weeks left to go.
150+ miles more than any prior year
Through the mid-summer time I was only averaging 42 to 45 miles a month, which was barely keeping me over the pace mark week to week. I would log my runs and watch the moving plus/minus number I track and see myself float above for a couple days, below for a couple days, hovering around the pace for hitting 500.
In August I made the commitment to run the Halloween Distance Classic half marathon at the end of October, so August through October had me attacking a rough training plan to prep for the race. Mileage increased up to 71 and 88 miles, respectively in August and September. That really accelerated me beyond the pace and I crested 500 before I even finished the half (which I finished with under 10 minute pace).
I havenāt yet decided what I want to target for next year. Thereāll likely be a couple of races and some kind of mileage target, but nothing crazy. Iāve got too many other things I want to spend time on. But Iām glad I was able to stay healthy enough to push forward to the best health Iāve ever been in.
This was a busy one. Between the All Hands earlier in the month and the week off for the holidays, those are brutal to maintaining the routine (though great to get a break and spend time with both workmates and family, respectively).
Here are the stats with one month left to go:
Activity
Progress
Pace
Goal
Plus-Minus
Running
574.02 miles
457.53 miles
500 miles
+120.53
Meditation
3503 minutes
3340 minutes
3650 minutes
+163
Reading
51 books
45.75 books
50 books
+5.25
Once I hit the 600 mile mark on the running in the next couple of weeks, Iām planning on taking the rest of the year off to see if I can rehab the foot and ankle pain thatās built up. Iām past the goal line now on a couple of these, which feels good.
The big achievement this month was the culmination of the half marathon training, ending October by finishing my first one.
Activity
Progress
Pace
Goal
Plus-Minus
Running
520.12 miles
416.44 miles
500 miles
+103.68
Meditation
3208 minutes
3040 minutes
3650 minutes
+168
Reading
47 books
41.78 books
50 books
+5.22
The other notable movement was surpassing the 500 mile goal, which happened on this run and I didnāt even realize it at the time. I was able to knock out the mileage goal 2 1/2 months early. Back in March I definitely didnāt expect to be much over the target at all, let alone a full 100 miles beyond the pace mark. At this rate Iām pretty confident in hitting the 600 mile mark, especially with the nicer weather around the corner. I might do one more race in December, likely only a 10 or 15K.
This month I finally finished The Federalist, which Iād put down for a while. I made extensive notes throughout it. Iām looking forward to flipping back through for a refresher soon. Such a phenomenal work to put together such a deep, thoughtful, still-relevant rationale for strong but limited governance.
The other read this month that definitely made my ābest ofā list for the year was Tracy Kidderās The Soul of a New Machine. A riveting story of a small team developing an early minicomputer. This story had to be one of the inspirations for Halt and Catch Fire, turning rooms full of geeks into a fast-paced drama.
Today I finished my first half marathon. Felt great until about mile 10 when things got a lot harder. The final mile was painful, but I got it done and even ended up pushing it to under a 10 minute mile average pace (a goal I decided to shoot for around mile 8 when I was still feeling good and thought I could push myself).
In September the training push continued for the half marathon. I did a personal record 88 miles in the 30 days, for an average of just about 3 miles per day the whole month. Somehow Iām not dead yet, but the aches and pains were there to prove it.
Activity
Progress
Pace
Goal
Plus-Minus
Running
460.88 miles
373.97 miles
500 miles
+86.86
Meditation
2893 minutes
2730 minutes
3650 minutes
+163
Reading
42 books
33.66 books
50 books
+8.34
I think Iāve got the joint, knee, and foot pains to a manageable stage and seem to be turning the corner on that. My post-workout stretching process has been more diligent, shoes improved things, pacing, and proper rest days inserted in there. Iām really looking forward to the weather playing nicely in October and getting the temperatures down, at least a little.
The best books this month were for sure the two short story collections I read: Ted Chiangās Exhalation and Ken Liuās The Paper Menagerie. Both of them phenomenal blends of fantasy, speculative fiction, and historical science fiction, with imaginitive and thought-provoking short stories and novellas Iām still thinking about.
Weāre moving into the final quarter of the year going strong on all of the goals. By the end of the month Iāll be able to report back on my experiences with the first 13.1 mile race of my running career.
Iām almost at the two-month mark since upping my mileage at the beginning of August. I did about 72 miles in August, up from an average of less than 50 per month the prior months of the year. With 3 days left in September Iām over 80 miles, with a couple of runs left to do:
A few notes on how thatās gone so far:
Slowing down my pace has been essential to push the activity durations higher (obviously, to lower the average HR).
After the first couple of weeks I started to get foot pain on the sole of the feet. Of course the distance increase is going to add stress all over, but Iāve also tried improving posture by standing up straighter and pulling the shoulders back, while also keeping the cadence more consistent.
To help with the foot pain I got some better shoes to help with supporting my very-high arches. Anecdotally so far this has helped a lot. The On shoes Iād been running with are light and speedy, but lack support for my feet.
Running while monitoring my HR zone is helping a lot to get in the distances Iām targeting. On longer runs I just get my HR into the range I want and adjust pace and cadence to keep it there.
Once I get past the half-marathon, Iāll probably reduce the number of weekly activities but raise my average miles on each one. Back-to-back days are leading to some morning soreness I could avoid with more rest days.
At this rate I should easily break the 500 mile goal, and probably reach 600.
The kids had a great holiday ā a beach day with their cousins, lunch on the beach together, then an evening playtime slash barbecue over at a friendās house for dinner. It was the first beach trip here at home since probably Fathers Day of last year. We need to do it more often on the tail end of the summer.
I even got a 5-mile run in while everyone was napping and relaxing after the beach trip.
This month I made a concerted effort to kick it into a higher gear with the running. Mid-month was the start of the Strava training plan Iām going to try and follow for race preparation.
Activity
Progress
Pace
Goal
Plus-Minus
Running
372.51 miles
332.88 miles
500 miles
+39.63
Meditation
2563 minutes
2430 minutes
3650 minutes
+158
Reading
36 books
29.96 books
50 books
+6.04
The longer mileage is feeling good. I wasnāt sure what to expect when doing longer times with only single days of recovery in between, but itās really not bad. The latest few runs have actually felt great cardio-wise right up until the end. The limiters at the moment are the heat (nothing I can really do about that) and some calf muscle and plantar fasciitis pains in the left foot. Iāve been doing lots of stretching and foam-rolling after runs, though, to try and counteract that, which I think is working alright so far. Iām trying to pace my mileage increase so I donāt end up with a real injury that really throws a wrench into the plan.
For books this month the most notable was the finale to Cixin Liuās Remembrance trilogy, Deathās End. I havenāt had the time to write up many thoughts yet on that series, but itās up there with the all-time best science fiction, for sure. Another pleasantly surprising read was Simon Winchesterās Pacific, which is a broad history of events and places on the Pacific Ocean since the 1950s. Itās one I plan on writing a longer piece about sometime down the road.
So thatās August in the can. Having pushed the running to 40 miles over the pace mark, I think I should be able to get to +60 at least by end of September, perhaps even higher if weather and health permit.
Jason turned me onto this Chrome extension for Strava data analysis called Elevate. Itās a pretty amazing tool that adds deep analytics on top of the already-rich data Strava provides natively as part of their Summit plan.
In addition to having its own metrics like this fitness/freshness curve, it overlays additional metrics into the individual activity pages on the Strava website. My favorite ones are this (which Strava has its own simpler version of) and the year-over-year comparison graph, which lets you see your progression in total mileage over time:
I love to see the consistency this year reflected visually like this. I feel like Iām doing well staying on course for hitting my goals, and this cements it. I was surprised to see how well I was doing in 2017 before the health issues struck. My long term goal is to be able to exceed that trend in 2020 after making progress on the fitness front this year.
Our SNI running club on Strava keeps expanding. Weāve got 12 members now and counting. Two people are committed to marathons in the fall, and two of us to half-marathons.
Somewhere in reading about marathon training I read that the community aspect of the training plan is one of the most important: finding a group of people around you for mutual support and motivation along the way. Proper training (aside from the physical effort) is time-consuming and requires consistency to get 4 or more activities in per week, without falling off the wagon. It certainly helps to have the visibility of those around you keeping their habits going as a motivator to push yourself.
When we do our semi-annual All Hands events with the whole team in the office for a week, we now have something of a tradition of doing a group run sometime when weāre all together. I think weāve done it for 2 or 3 years now pretty consistently. It looks like the upcoming November event weāll be mobilizing about 15 of us or so to get out there and do at least a 5K. Thereās a half-dozen of us that are real active and do this routinely, but itās awesome to see the communal gravitational pull working, attracting many to join in who are really just trying to get moving on building the habit.
Thisāll be right after my half-marathon, so it might be the first recovery run after that race.
When I committed to the half marathon for October, I also enabled one of Stravaās Summit training plans to keep me honest on the times and distances I should be ramping up with as I prep for that race. My personal goal isnāt to hit some target time in the half; itās mostly to finish in a comfortable time frame. I chose a plan that has a 10-week training course, 4 activities per week with rest days and/or cross-training in between.
Over the last 3 weeks Iāve been trying to manage my activities by duration and heart rate zone rather than just running with no plan. Throughout the year up until now Iāve been doing pretty high paces (sub-8-minute miles), but at that level I canāt keep the times up or the HR in the right ātempoā zone. Iāve been consistent with keeping under the threshold zone for my midweek runs for about 30-45 minute lengths. Iām particularly happy that Iāve gone 3 weeks in a row with long runs on the weekend and hour-long continued effort in the right HR zone.
Weāll see what happens tomorrow and this weekend as I kick off the training plan. Itās set to start next week, so my long run this weekend will be the pre-training benchmark for the 10-week program.
Iāve already crested the +20 mile mark over my yearās goal pace with my increased times and efforts this past month. With this lead up to the half marathon, I could be in the +50 territory by mid-October.
This is the kind of stuff that gets you out of bed in the morning and really gets the motivators up to do things like Fulcrum Community to support disaster relief efforts.
When Cyclones Idai and Kenneth steamrolled into East Africa beginning in March, the crew from Team Rubicon was deployed to help with EMT response and recovery in Beira and Matarara, Mozambique. They used Fulcrum to record patient data after prior experience with another partner of ours, NetHope:
Earlier in 2019, Team Rubicon deployed with NetHope to install wireless access points on the Colombia/Venezuela border to provide Venezuelan refugees with access to news information and offers of assistance. NetHope utilized Fulcrum to track access-point install requests as well as record successful installs. Team Rubicon received training on Fulcrum during the deployment and grew to like the offline form entry capability, ability to change forms on the fly, and manipulate and analyze the collected information via the console. When faced with the need to collect medical information in an internet-disconnected environment and transmit reports later when within range of internet, Team Rubicon reached out to Fulcrum for support. Fulcrum provided a community disaster grant to facilitate Team Rubiconās Cyclone Idai response, including developer assistance to rapidly publish medical forms.
Fulcrum did exactly what we designed it for, providing a robust data platform in an austere, low-comms environment easy for field EMTs to use:
Fulcrum allowed Team Rubicon to quickly enter patient data as well as the multi-sector needs assessment data in a completely disconnected environment. And since the Fulcrum app works on a cellular phone, there was no longer a need to pack bulky and heavy paper forms. Once back at base camp, and with access to internet, Team Rubicon could transmit the daily collected information to its National Operations Center so they could generate the EMT/CC daily reports in the format the EMT/CC preferred.
Weāre already looking at other ways we can help the amazing folks from Team Rubicon on future missions with data, reporting, and impact analysis.
After a long ride today, I was looking at the stats on Strava and wondering how wattage calculations work to determine power. Strava has a built in estimate it uses for your power rating if you donāt have a power meter on your bike. From looking into it, their calculations look pretty sophisticated for estimating power pretty closely, unless youāre really riding in extreme conditions:
The power produced while riding is made up of several components:
Power produced to overcome the rolling resistance of forward motion.
Power produced to overcome wind resistance.
Power produced to overcome the pull of gravity (in the case of climbing hills).
Power produced to accelerate from one speed to another.
The total power produced, P(total), is the sum of all four power components.
It looks like the biggest source of error would be the environmentals, particularly wind resistance and elevation change (if the GPS elevation data is poor). My ride today shows an average 103 watts for the 1 hour 20 minute ride. Since itās almost totally flat and their was only a little wind today, it should be pretty accurate. Seems to me that wind-induced error would sort of cancel itself out on circuitous routes like this one āĀ for every segment of headwind, you get another with tailwinds.
I also found this bike calculator that takes various inputs and adjusts the resulting speed and watts accordingly.
Iāve committed myself to running my first half marathon, coming up in October. This sort of happened on a challenge from a couple folks at work. I didnāt really intend to throw something like this into the schedule that could interrupt my regular goal progress, but in looking at Stravaās training plans, their half marathon one starts mid August and scales up in a way I think I can tackle relatively comfortably. It starts off with easy runs in the 40-60 minute range, with weekend long runs up to 75-90 minutes. Iāll need to bring the pace down from my recent patterns if I want to build that level of endurance.
August 19th is the first day of the training calendar. Going to grind on until then and see if I can get comfortable with longer sustained times.
I had surprisingly good results on goals this July given how much was going on all month.
Activity
Progress
Pace
Goal
Plus-Minus
Running
300.57 miles
290.41 miles
500 miles
+10.16
Meditation
2270 minutes
2120 minutes
3650 minutes
+150
Reading
33 books
26.14 books
50 books
+6.86
On the exercise front, I was able to get the same quantity of runs in even though we started out with the holiday weekend, which always makes sticking to patterns and habits challenging for me. Plus all month long has been exceptionally busy (more than usual) at the office. Iām planning on starting up a more formal training schedule in August in prep for a couple of long races later in the year, so I already tried to incorporate some long runs on the weekend at a lower tempo pace to start building the endurance. I got 46 miles in versus the 42 from June. For the first time this year I officially closed out the month 10 miles ahead of the pace mark.
On a different exercise-related note, Iām trying to bring cycling back into the regimen, mostly for cross-training with the running routine, but also because I enjoy being able to commute to and from the office.
Iāve still been able to squeeze in reading time somehow with a couple of really enjoyable fiction reads in The Dark Forest and Lovecraftās Call of Cthulhu collection, two that have been in the backlog a long time. Both are well worthy of longer write ups at some point. Iāve just now cracked open Liuās final installment of that trilogy: Deathās End, which has to be an exciting climax given how original and expansive book two was.
Iām 3/5ths of the way there now on the running target, feeling good. Letās see how early I can hit all these marks.
Dr. Keith Flaherty is an oncologist specializing in targeted therapy treatments, with a background in studying and treating varieties of melanoma. I listened to this extended interview with him on Peter Attiaās The Drive podcast, which was an excellent deep dive into lots of oncology subjects.
Keith dives into the topic of immunotherapy, probably the most exciting recent development in cancer therapy, and also provides us a rundown of his notion of a different approach to cancer that attacks all the essential pillars of cancer growth and survival.
As a survivor/patient myself, and having received a full round of immunotherapy treatment for colorectal disease that (at the time) was a brand new option for patients with my situation, I love that someone is out there doing this and having this no-holds-barred technical conversations on radical, important new treatments. One of the best ways to get more support behind research like this is to have wider exposure to the amazing work folks are doing in the field, and showcase how intricate and wildly complicated cancer is. For patients itās also incredibly helpful to have a deeper understanding of the mechanics of a terrifying disease.
This week I tried out commuting on the bike, like I posted about earlier this week. Itās a comfortable, nice ride with a dedicated bike lane the whole way from my house, a block away from the Island Loop through Shore Acres and Snell Isle. I havenāt done any rides to the office from the new place yet; itās a decent morning workout of about 6 miles when connecting up to the North Bay Trail route downtown.
There were some crazy summer thunderstorms all week long. I had originally intended to work in a Tuesday / Thursday plan for bike commutes each week, but Mother Nature screwed that up Thursday. Some weather came through during the day today, but I dodged it for the ride home.
A commute plan like this would add a solid 25+ miles of cycling weekly to my health routine. I want to at least try to keep this up through the summer before Elyse starts back at school.
Wearables have become such a big market these days that thereās a wide variety of options to pick from if you want to monitor activity metrics. From the basic Fitbit step counters to more ruggedized outdoor watches to full-blown smartwatches, thereās a device for everyone.
Iāve been a devoted user of Garminās activity tracking watches for years now, starting out with the Forerunner 220. A couple of years ago I upgraded to the fÄnix 5 model, one of their highest-end watches.
I used the 220 model for about 3 years for run tracking. It was always reliable for me ā water/sweat resistant, long enough battery life, and provided accurate GPS data. Because I also wanted to monitor heart rate during activities, I also used to use the chest strap HR monitor to feed that data to the watch. It worked reliably for a long while, but I think the contacts got corroded and the data started to get wonky after a time. Iād see huge surges in HR for no reason that would suddenly drop back down to normal.
Iāve now been using the fÄnix for a couple of years and have loved it, one of the better devices Iāve ever owned. After a good experience with Garminās Forerunner series, I felt confident enough that Iād get benefit out of one of the higher end models. Letās walk through some of its best features.
Multisport Activity Tracking
One of the things I didnāt like about the Forerunner was that it only supported recording run activities. The fÄnix supports over a dozen activity types, indoor and outdoor, like cycling, climbing, swimming, and more. With the Forerunner it would still log GPX tracks that could be exported and treated however you want, but when synced to Garmin Connect or Strava, it would consider every activity a ārunā. With fÄnix when you select a different activity type, it gets picked up accurately in both sync services and treated differently for metrics reporting.
There are some differences between activity types in terms of instant feedback on the watch display. For example, between runs and rides, you can have different ālapā lengths to notify you of progress along an activity. So the advanced features like HR zones, pacing, and other things differ in how theyāre fed back to you while youāre active.
Iām interested in incorporating swimming into my workout routine and to see how that would work with the watch.
HR Monitor
Having the HR monitor built into the device has some great advantages: mostly that itās always on, and always available. I like that I get passive tracking of heart rate all the time to be able to see the resting heart rate during the day and during sleep (more on sleep tracking in a moment). I donāt have a good sense for the accuracy of the measurement with the on-wrist infrared sensor, but it seems generally consistent with what I used to see with the chest strap. To me itās mostly important to have relative consistency between activities, and that I can see it in real time during activities. When Iām running I usually switch the watch display to view HR, which tracks amazingly closely with how I feel during a run. I can see a measurement of when Iām on the limit, so I typically use that readout to pace myself.
Battery Life
This is one of the best features about the fÄnix, to me. Garmin reports 2 weeks of passive usage, 24 hours of active usage, which tracks pretty closely with my experience. What I tell people is that it lasts so long that I usually donāt remember exactly when I last charged it. This is the main reason that the Apple Watch has never interested me. I like the idea of richer apps on a wristwatch (especially with the phoneless-but-still-connected capability of the Series 3), but having to charge something every night is a nonstarter to me.
Sleep Tracking
Given that I wear the watch all the time, the sleep tracking is an easy side benefit. Ever since reading Why We Sleep recently, Iām more interested in prioritizing long enough sleep cycles (which with children simply means going to bed early). The watch reports not only sleep time, but also sleep stages somehow, through some combination of heart rate monitoring and movement tracking it buckets your sleep time into deep, light, and REM sleep stages. I donāt need hyper-accurate reporting, so this is a slick feature to get for free with an exercise tracker.
A rare example of 8+ hours of sleep
Iāve heard about the Oura ring as well for more detailed sleep tracking, but itās a bit pricey for something I donāt have a big problem with right now. If I want to get more sleep, the simple solution is to prioritize it (which I donāt do well).
Smartwatch Capability
Through Bluetooth pairing, the fÄnix also supports integration with push notifications from the phone. This can be convenient sometimes, but Iāve honestly never used it that much. Probably the most utility for me is quick access to turn-by-turn directions while in the car or on my bike. Quick readout of SMS and instant messages is convenient, too.
Strava Integration
You can set up Garmin Connect to sync with a number of services, including Strava, which is the only one I use for activity tracking. The main feature it has tied to Strava that I like is that with Segments in Strava, any segments you add to your favorites transfer to the watch for live progress tracking. Itās a feature they call Live Segments, and itās cool because itāll give you live feedback on your performance against your previous efforts and the KOMs from your friends. I love the ability to challenge myself on my own personal records on common routes.
The syncing works pretty flawlessly both with Garmin Connect and Strava. Never had a problem making sure my data is always up to date.
Any Downsides?
Itās been a rock-solid device for me, overall, with no major drawbacks.
The custom charging connector is probably the only downside, and not too acute because of the long battery life and rarity of needing to charge. Itād be much smarter for Garmin to use USB-C or micro-USB, but I donāt know what would motivate a custom interface. Given that the connector plugs in perpendicular to the watch back, itās possible that thereās not enough thickness to fit the receptacle for a USB-type connector. Regardless, the need for a special cable to charge is an annoyance. I have keep one at home and a spare at the office so I can charge anywhere.
Overall itās a very solid device, and Iād consider buying other Garmin devices down the road.
Last weekend I got the bike back up and running again. Itās been out of commission in the garage since the move a few months ago. Just had to clean it up a bit and put some air in the tires and itās good to go. Iāve got a budding plan to start commuting down to the office, thinking Iāll start with a target of doing that two times per week to start. Itās about a 6 mile ride each way, which wouldnāt take much longer than driving, but in the summer heat here itās plenty to require a shower when I get there. With the unpredictable weather here in the summer, committing myself to more than a couple commutes per week will just mean Iāll come up short on the goal.
My bike is only a single speed (a Takara Kabuto with no bells and whistles. Itās been reliable over the 7 or so years Iāve had it ā no problems at all but tire replacement. Iām exploring getting a more serious road bike at some point, but Iāve told myself thatās not allowed until I can build up a good pattern of regular usage on the one Iāve got.
I went out for a loop ride yesterday and it felt good. My regular running has got my cardio up to make a decent pace ride pretty easy.
I tried this out the other night on a run. The technique makes some intiutive sense that itād reduce impact (or level it out side to side anyway). Surely to notice any result youād have to do it over distance consistently. But Iāve had some right knee soreness that I donāt totally know the origin of, so thought Iād start trying this out. I found it takes a lot of concentration to keep it up consistently. Iāll keep testing it out.
A neat historical, geographical story from BLDGBLOG:
Briefly, anyone interested in liminal landscapes should find Snellās description of the Drowned Lands, prior to their drainage, fascinating. The Wallkill itself had no real path or bed, Snell explains, the meadows it flowed through were naturally dammed at one end by glacial boulders from the Ice Age, the whole place was clogged with ārank vegetation,ā malarial pestilence, and tens of thousands of eels, and, whatās more, during flood season āthe entire valley from Denton to Hamburg became a lake from eight to twenty feet deep.ā
Turns out there was local disagreement on flood control:
A half-century of āwarā broke out among local supporters of the dams and their foes: āThe dam-builders were called the ābeaversā; the dam destroyers were known as āmuskrats.ā The muskrat and beaver war was carried on for years,ā with skirmishes always breaking out over new attempts to dam the floods.
Hereās one example, like a scene written by Victor Hugo transplanted to New York State: āA hundred farmers, on the 20th of August, 1869, marched upon the dam to destroy it. A large force of armed men guarded the dam. The farmers routed them and began the work of destruction. The ābeaversā then had recourse to the law; warrants were issued for the arrest of the farmers. A number of their leaders were arrested, but not before the offending dam had been demolished. The owner of the dam began to rebuild it; the farmers applied for an injunction. Judge Barnard granted it, and cited the owner of the dam to appear and show cause why the injunction should not be made perpetual. Pending a final hearing, high water came and carried away all vestige of the dam.ā
This is something we launched a few months back. Thereās nothing terribly exciting about building SSO features in a SaaS product ā itās table stakes to move up in the world with customers. But for me personally itās a signal of success. Back in 2011, imagining that weād ever have customers large enough to need SAML seemed so far in the future. Now weāre there and rolling it out for enterprise customers.
So thatās a wrap on the month of June. This was my best month so far in terms of a consistent plan and feeling more productive with staying on target. Even with an out-of-town trip to visit the Cape and Jacksonville for a few days, which threw a brief wrench into the running plan, I was still able to climb enough above the target line get to my highest mark so far.
Activity
Progress
Pace
Goal
Plus-Minus
Running
253.54 miles
247.95 miles
500 miles
+5.59
Meditation
1920 minutes
1810 minutes
3650 minutes
+110
Reading
28 books
22.32 books
50 books
+5.68
At some point mid-month I was actually about +10 miles over the goal line for running, but a 4 or 5 day break for that trip chopped it back down. Itās okay, though, since thatās exactly the point in overachieving for brief periods ā creating the flexibility to go off-schedule if needed. I completed the Shore Acres running project, got under contract with a buyer for the old house, and had an all-clear follow up visit last weekend.
Weāre halfway through the year and still tracking on all the goals. Letās see what Julyās got in store.
I just got back from a trip up to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville for the every-three-month scans cycle. MRI and CT scans clear with only a couple minor things to monitor. These weekends are always a bit of a mental āresetā, and a relief to be done with. Laying in a tube for 90 minutes is never fun, but Iāve done it enough times now that itās sorta routine. Being proactive about monitoring change is more important than a little discomfort for a couple hours.
Earlier this week I finished up my personal challenge to run all of the street segments in my neighborhood, Shore Acres.
Hereās the breakdown of stats to get there:
Total distance: 125 miles ā by my rough calculation there are about 39 miles of streets in Shore Acres, but it takes significant overlap running over past ground from my house to hit new streets
Total activities: 36
Average run: 3.5 miles
Longest run: 5.2 miles
Started: March 22, 2019
Finished: June 20, 2019
This was a fun challenge and added extra motivation for me to keep getting out there consistently. As I talked about in my post on habits, any form of personal challenge or goal-setting (even if manufactured) that forces you to get it done is a good one.
Now that this is complete, Iām planning to move on to Snell Isle to the south. Why not keep painting the streets with GPS tracks?
This yearās annual target for running (pinned at the 500 mile mark) has me trying to figure out my own personal flow ā what it takes to get a consistent, comfortable process for building the habit. The number one factor consistency: making the appropriate time and not breaking the promise to myself is the foundation of being able to hit the target.
Itās also important to get your kit in place. One of the great things about running is its minimalistic nature. You truly need nothing but your own body and motivation to get started. As you get into it (and depending on your preferences for style), you eventually figure out a consistent set of gear that works for you.
This has been my consistent setup now for a few months for every run. I always have the AirPods and my watch on me, so thereās very little required to always have what I need. The headlamp has been a game-changer for night running, which I do a lot. Really makes me feel much safer even when running in the neighborhood.
Iāve really loved the Cloudflashes with their extreme lightweight build, minimal form factor, and still-decent support. Strava reports that Iām approaching the 300 mile mark on the shoes, and the wear is showing in the heel of the sole pretty bad. This week I ordered a pair of their new Cloudrush shoes that I should get in a couple of days that Iām excited to try out.
If you told me 5 years ago Iād be running 5K distances routinely like it was nothing, Iād have thought you were crazy. Now itās a habit I thoroughly enjoy and look forward to. Just goes to show that (for me) consistency, good gear, and some stretch goals can really change that perspective.
For the second half of the month I got into a good rhythm with every-other-day running. I was even able to push almost 5 miles beyond the pace target to end the month. I started running with the kids again in the jogging stroller, which I havenāt done really at all since Elyse was little (2015-16). Itās good because it gets them out of the house, adds some cargo to push for additional workout, and gives Colette a nice break if I take them when I get home at the end of the day.
Activity
Progress
Pace
Goal
Plus-Minus
Running
211.61 miles
206.85 miles
500 miles
+4.76
Meditation
1595 minutes
1510 minutes
3650 minutes
+85
Reading
22 books
18.62 books
50 books
+3.38
I was able to do more of what Iād talked about doing in previous months with more frequent, shorter runs rather than having to force the longer ones to stay on pace. Consistency is everything when working on a long-term goal like this. The last 8 sessions have been in the 3-4 mile range, which I feel works well right now ā a good balance of exercise without taking too much time, so I can still squeeze them in later in the evening.
With my reading Iāve got too many threads open at the moment. Iām bad about getting 5 or 6 books in progress simultaneously, so sometimes it takes me longer to finish them up. This month I read Matthew Walkerās excellent Why We Sleep1, which is an excellent scientific deep-dive into how sleep works and all of the interplays between sleep quality and other health factors. Iām looking forward to writing up something longer about it here sometime in the next few weeks when I have time.
June has quite a bit lined up both personally and professionally, but I donāt see anything in the way of plowing through on the goals all month.
Iām making quick work of the streets of Shore Acres. Yesterday I set up a quick and dirty local database that I could load the tracks into. Iām just using the GPX export feature on each activity and the ogr2ogr command line utility to import each one.
Now I can see the streets get painted as I complete the job.
I ran a quick calculation on the street centerline data to estimate the total distance of roadway and counted about 37 miles. Once Iām done with each section Iāll tabulate how much total running it took to cover all the combined distances.
This year has been an experiment for me in how one goes about forming habits ā at least those of the healthy, positive variety.
Weāre all familiar with falling into negative habits and how easy that can happen. There are automatic gravitation-like forces pulling us toward unhealthy habits all the time. Eating junk food, lazing around the house watching TV, not exercising, not reading, spending too much time with social media. What all of these things have in common is short-term gratification. In fact, I struggle to think of any easy traps like this that only have a delayed, long-term payoff. If eating that extra snack late at night or staying up 1 more hour to continue your Netflix binge didnāt give you instant gratification, youād just skip the snack or go to bed.
On the flip side, positive habits are those that everyone wants to do more of, the stuff of New Years resolutions. They have the opposite common trait: you donāt see a result right away, sometimes not for months or years. Not only that, for many types of long-term investments itās actually painful in the short-term. All forms of exercise fit this model. Running an 8-miler involves some suffering today and doesnāt knock off those pounds right away. It takes months worth of them to make a dent. This short vs. long idea is not a secret to anyone, yet itās hard to defer those immediate satisfactions for the big win down the road. Often very hard.
Iāve never been a particularly goal-oriented person. Putting big numbers on the board to hit isnāt required for me to stay motivated. My personal motivators tend to be more intrinsic; I donāt need an externally-set objective target to stay on track. Often the act of the work itself is enough of a motivation to keep building. I canāt put my finger on it exactly other than that my motivation tends to come from within rather than without. That said, I wanted to figure out how I could manage to work in some new productive habits in a consistent, accountable way. Would setting a goal and staring at it every day actually make a difference?
I took a new approach this year by picking some things and tying numbers to them to see how itād go. So far at about the 4+ month mark, results look promising. Because Iām such a data-driven person, I knew that not only was it critical to have the target mark set, but to be able to measure the progress toward those marks over the course of the year. Building this spreadsheet to keep track of my pace against the trendline has helped. I look at it all the time to keep up with it:
One of the keys was to pick only a few goals and focus on them ā running, meditation, reading books, and blogging. Those are what Iāve got on the board that Iām measuring. Trying to also add weightlifting, getting an MBA, or swimming to that list would overload the available resources and none of it would happen. I intentionally picked things that fit a specific class: not too time consuming, still enjoyable activities in their own right, fit my day-to-day pattern of life, and healthy over the long run.
Keeping it limited to things that are both good and enjoyable seems like a sound approach so far. It strikes me that this could be part of the problem with people consistently breaking their New Year promises by the time February rolls around. Creating habits around things you actually despise doing is extremely difficult. It also doesnāt hurt to have some sort of precedent of success first before committing to an every day routine. If you want to run a marathon before the year is over but youāve literally never run 100 feet in your life, itād be a good idea to start with some progress first rather than setting up for failure.
Itās a work in progress for me. I have a better sense now of how hard it is to get things to the point of being automatic. Itās getting close! I definitely think about getting my meditation session or running in each day without having to be reminded. Itās not on autopilot and may not ever be. My goal is to test these waters with myself on how to reprogram my own motivations so good habits become routine.
With all my commitments each day between work life, kids, and other things, itās hard to fit exercise into the schedule. Combine that with the struggles I have personally with rising before the kids to get running in, and the only option left is running at night.
For the past 9 months or so Iāve been pretty consistently running at night time after the kids are asleep āĀ anywhere between 9 and 10:30pm. I actually enjoy it, even though it took a while to get comfortable making that commitment to still get out of the house that late. Itād be easy to be lazy and ātoo tiredā to go. That does happen occasionally, but Iām usually pretty good about keeping myself honest if I mentally commit to doing it earlier. As we move into summer, night running is also essential to help keep good pace and avoid the brutal Florida sun and heat.
Most of the miles Iāve done late were down on the waterfront toward downtown St. Pete. Thereās a nice set back trail down there which is well-lit, so safety and visibility never worried me that much. After the move though Iām running mostly in the neighborhood where the street lighting is a lot less consistent and the sidewalks arenāt always great. I posted last week about the headlamp I got, which I tested out last night:
It worked great āĀ comfortable to wear, plenty bright without being overkill, and adjustable to point down in front of me for good visibility. Today was a 90 degree heater, so it feels good to have an added level of safety for keeping up the night runs where I can get in miles without melting in the sun
For no particular reason I decided to try and run every street segment in my neighborhood. A while ago I saw this project from ultrarunner Rickey Gates where he ran every single street in San Francisco. Of course my neighborhood is a fair bit smaller, but attempting it will keep things interesting. You can already see the progress zigzagging through the street spurs of waterfront property, with canals in between each row of houses.
Iāve been doing a route regularly out onto Venetian Isles. This will mix it up and give me a chance to see the rest of the neighborhood. If I get it done soonish Iāll extend to Snell Isle to the south. My plan is to also download all the track line and point data and create a custom map.
This is an interesting project on GitHub for syncing data from the Strava API for analysis from a local database. Iāve had my eye out for some way to do this cleanly ā to use the Strava Activities API to sync each track and its metadata to a local Postgres database. My interest is in being able to put the tracks on a map (mostly), but some of the analysis shown here is pretty cool, too.
In this authorās case itās about cycling data. I want to be able to run SQL on the global archive of activity data, like so:
Since I do so many of my runs at night (even as late as 10-10:30pm), Iāve always been mindful of being visible for safety. Until we moved last month, I used to drive down to the Coffee Pot Bayou area and run on whatās called the North Bay Trail, since runs in my old neighborhood were boring. That whole route was on a dedicated trail set back from the street, so visibility was less of an issue. Now that Iām doing most runs in the neighborhood, even though the sidewalks are good, there are plenty of crossings that can be sketchy in the dark. So I bought a headlamp to try out.
I havenāt gotten to use it yet, but will likely be doing some runs in the evenings over the next week.
One feature I do really like to make it a multitasker is itās got a red light mode. Really meant to be used in outdoors activities to preserve night vision when doing things like checking maps or looking around in your tent, Iāve already found it useful for reading in the bed at night. Usually Iāll only read my Kindle Paperwhite in the bed since itās got a nice low power backlight, but this is great because it allows be to read paperbacks in the dark, as well.
I was able to stay on track this past month toward my 2019 goals.
Activity
Progress
Pace
Goal
Plus-Minus
Running
164.51 miles
164.38 miles
500 miles
+0.13
Meditation
1285 minutes
1200 minutes
3650 minutes
+85
Reading
19 books
14.79 books
50 books
+4.21
Weāre still in the throes of prepping our old house for sale, so between that and work at the new house, thatās occupying a good bit of time. I have a goal to have the house listed in the next couple of weeks, so thatāll be a relief to have successfully behind us. With our All Hands early in the month and a trip to San Diego right after, staying the course was a challenge to make the time. I mentioned last month wanting to do a higher volume of shorter runs. I did a bit better, with 11 runs instead of 9. With a more regular schedule Iām sure I could improve further.
Meditation practice has been steady. Iād still like to work in longer sessions, but I feel the only way Iāll get that done is to wake up early and get started before anyoneās up. Iāve tried 20 minute sessions in the evening once or twice, but by then Iām too tired to focus properly and I end up dozing off. Practicing early in the morning will be a challenge, but Iāll give it a shot a few times this month if I can and see how that goes.
I still havenāt published the long backstory on my cancer battle from 2017. Itās still a work-in-progress. Thereās a draft going, but I want to make sure I do justice to the whole story properly, and itās a little hard to spend time on. One day soon Iāll get it out there.
I mentioned a bit about my immunotherapy treatment a few weeks ago. Long story short is that thereās been good news recently, uneventful scans and visits (other than those 90 minute sessions in the MRI tube ā not a good time there).
A quick update from todayās visit with the oncologist: Iāve graduated from a monthly schedule of checkups and diagnostic bloodwork to a 3-month cycle. After having multiple visits over there per week, to only a couple per month, then monthly, spending less time in that office is a welcome change.
Found via Tom MacWright, a slick and simple tool for doing run route planning built on modern web tech. It uses basic routing APIs and distance calculation to help plan out runs, which is especially cool in new places. I used it in San Diego this past week to estimate a couple distances I did. It also has a cool sharing feature to save and link to routes.
I mentioned scientist Vannevar Bush here a few days back. This is a piece he wrote for The Atlantic in 1945, looking forward at how machines and technology could become enhancers of human thinking. So many prescient segments foreshadowing current computer technology:
One can now picture a future investigator in his laboratory. His hands are free, and he is not anchored. As he moves about and observes, he photographs and comments. Time is automatically recorded to tie the two records together. If he goes into the field, he may be connected by radio to his recorder. As he ponders over his notes in the evening, he again talks his comments into the record. His typed record, as well as his photographs, may both be in miniature, so that he projects them for examination.
I thought this was an excellent rundown of remote work, who is suited for it, how to manage it, and the psychology of this new method of teamwork.
Letās first cover values. Remote work is founded on specific core principles that govern this distinct way of operating which tend to be organization agnostic. They are the underlying foundation which enables us to believe that this approach is indeed better, more optimal, and thus the way we should live:
Output > Input
Autonomy > Administration
Flexibility > Rigidity
These values do not just govern individuals, but also the way that companies operate and how processes are formed. And like almost anything in life, although they sound resoundingly positive, they have potential pitfalls if not administered with care.
I found nearly all of this very accurate to my perception of remote work, at least from the standpoint of someone who is not remote, but manages and works with many that are. Iām highly supportive of hiring remote. With our team, weāve gotten better in many ways by becoming more remote. And another (perhaps counterintuitive) observation: the more remote people you hire, the better the whole company gets and managing it.
Thereās been a draft post in my archive for months to tell a longer version of the story on my cancer diagnosis and treatment. Itās been something thatās hard to write up in detail ā hard to muster the motivation to spend time on the topic any more than I have to. Iāve had good news since late 2017, but still dwelling on it too long is not something Iām interested in. Usually would rather move on to other things.
But reading this book I couldnāt help but post about my experience. I did so today on a Twitter thread (mostly since I have more reach there than here), but here it is for posterity, assembled in a format easier to consume for those not on Twitter.
I'm currently reading "The Breakthrough" from @charlesgraeber, a story on the background of immunotherapy treatment for cancer. A few thoughts on this from a patient, survivor, and receiver of one of these treatments. (1/x)
Iām currently reading āThe Breakthroughā from @charlesgraeber, a story on the background of immunotherapy treatment for cancer. A few thoughts on this from a patient, survivor, and receiver of one of these treatments. (1/x)
2/ In late 2017 after my second surgery for stage IV colon cancer, I got permission to receive an immunotherapy (nivolumab, AKA Opdivo) near the end of my chemo regimen.
3/ My 2nd surgery had removed what they could see on any of the scans prior, but I wasnāt out of the woods yet ā after surgery I had about 4 more rounds of chemo and a year of the immunotherapy treatment ahead.
4/ I always had an okay response to the chemo until some neuropathy set in toward the end. Only mild nausea along the way. I was on FOLFOX, which can be rough for many patients, but probably my young age & good health made it easier to take.
5/ But once that was over and I was only on the immunotherapy, the contrast between the treatment methods of the last 100 years ā the triad of ācut-poison-burnā (surgery-chemo-radiation) ā and IT was enormous. I had 2 of those, and of course, neither was a comfortable experience.
6/ Immunotherapy is a completely different thing. Rather than acting on the mutated cells, it acts on your immune system. Cancer cells do what they do by duping your immune system into not attacking them.
7/ Immunotherapy treats your immune system (to activate, in the case of nivolumab) ā blocking this signal from cancer cells so the T cells will attack.
8/ I got a dose of nivolumab every 2 weeks for 30 minutes via IV, with zero side effects. I would get an infusion w/ an hour visit to the clinic, then head to work like nothing happened. My blood chemistry would fluctuate a bit, but not enough to create noticeable side effects.
9/ An eye-opening moment that highlighted my own good fortune was learning how new this treatment really is. Nivolumab wasnāt FDA-approved for colon cancer until late July 2017 ā nearly a month after I was initially diagnosed.
10/ The timing was perfect, and I have a world-class treatment team at @mayoclinic that were up to speed on the latest treatment options, trials, and genetic testing strategies required to fit patients to options.
11/ Here we are about 6 months beyond my last round of immunotherapy treatment. Two sets of follow up MRIs were all clear. Back to normal life with a renewed respect for how quickly it can go south on you.
12/ I wanted to call attention to this book and can attest to first-hand experience with immunotherapy. Itās a generational medical breakthrough thatās not well known enough when it comes to cancer treatments.
13/ It should be celebrated & reinforced, with more public success stories. Thereās a chance that this is the treatment methodology that shatters this disease forever.
14/ Last thing: If your doctor recommends a colonoscopy, do NOT avoid it. Itās not that bad a procedure and can find all sorts of bad early signs well ahead of an advanced stage. Itās much, much, much easier than what might happen down the road if you avoid early detection!
Month three is in the books. A seriously eventful month for us, so Iām surprised I was able to stay ahead of the curve.
Activity
Progress
Pace
Goal
Plus-Minus
Running
123.65 miles
123.29 miles
500 miles
+0.36
Meditation
975 minutes
900 minutes
3650 minutes
+75
Reading
15 books
11.1 books
50 books
+3.90
We closed on the new house on the 15th, had an out-of-town trip to Jacksonville right after. Plus there was packing, moving, and child-management throughout. With all that going on Iām surprised I was able to stay on track, particularly with the running. I know last month my main observation about my performance was the fewer, longer runs I was planning to avoid. Turns out I didnāt do a great job. This month Iāll chalk that up as intentional āĀ all of the time commitments this month made me push harder on the days I could run to make sure I could get in the miles and stay on track.
Thereās still plenty to be done on the house front, but weāre past the worst of it. For April, Iām going to target more frequent runs in the ballpark of 4 miles and see how that works.
As Iāve been pushing onward with daily meditation practice on Headspace, the āstreakā number has been climbing higher and higher. I have mixed feelings about this in terms of driving motivation. Is the desire to increase a number a healthy way to motivate positive mental health? Is it pushing the right buttons for the right reasons?
Headspace founder Andy Puddicombe recently wrote on exactly this topic:
Some people love this feature, viewing it as a source of motivation, a record of accountability, and a badge of honor that reflects their commitment in building a meditation practice. Others canāt stand it, viewing it as a source of anxiety, a reminder of days missed, and an unspoken judgment of their dedication, passion, or priorities.
Iām glad to see them thinking about this, and not just gamifying everything because every other consumer product does. Itās already crossed my mind that the temptation to meditate for the purposes of incrementing a counter rather than for health benefit alone canāt be a healthy one. But Andy (who trained in Tibet) says this structure of practice is common in the Buddhist traditions:
The romantic version of meditative training is often portrayed as one in which time is forgotten, routines are abandoned, and goals are immediately relinquished. Having trained as a monk, I can tell you firsthand that this is anything but the case.
The reality of that lifestyle is a commitment for a certain number of years, and a daily routine set by the clock. We even had a fixed amount of time to complete meditation exercises ā a number to which we had to commit. Within this context, we used the concept of run streaks all the time, but it was never about the number; it was a tool to help us deliver on our intention and direction, ensuring we wasted no time and worked towards a singular point, in a clear and steady way.
When I started to think about my personal motivations, Iām definitely motivated by gamification systems and stat tracking. Itās just wired into my brain to feel compelled by data. Sitting here now almost 90 days into a streak, was the outcome of the motivation, whether inherent for its own sake or motivated by being a āgameā, worthwhile? Am I at a better place now than I was 3 months ago with the practice? I would say the answer is a resounding āyesā. When I compare the patterns and results of practice now with some time in December, I notice a few impactful differences: itās always on my mind to remember to sit down and do it, I can get into focus mode more quickly, and I donāt feel the same resistance to practicing I once did ā that voice that says āI donāt feel like itā. The routine is much more like clockwork now. So regardless of the means it took to get there, itās begetting the desired results.
One good reminder is to not get hung up on the number, to not treat it like the front-and-center measure of success:
As long as we are doing our best, thatās all we need to know. We all miss days, and thatās okay. In fact, some people donāt even want to meditate on a daily basis, and thatās okay, too. The important thing is to realize when we have missed a planned session and then continue with the next, a little like noticing when the mind has wandered off before returning to the breath.
While the streak counting does drive me to do the behavior to some degree, what Iād actually rather see is a measure of aggregate momentum ā like a score that indicates the āconsistencyā of practice. It could rise in increments with each session, and decrease slightly when skipped, but wouldnāt drop to zero immediately when a chain is broken. I think thatād be a better balance of keeping the positive driver there. Not deflating the balloon, but still exacting some negative feedback when you fall off the wagon.
We just crossed month number two of the year, so hereās another pulse check on how Iām tracking against some personal goals for 2019. Iām tracking on all fronts, slightly better positioned against the pace marks than I was at the end of January.
Activity
Progress
Pace
Goal
Plus-Minus
Running
84.06 miles
80.82 miles
500 miles
+3.24
Meditation
660 minutes
590 minutes
3650 minutes
+70
Reading
10 books
7.27 books
50 books
+2.73
With meditation practice Iāve widened my plus gap more than last month through some longer sessions. Experimenting with longer 15 or 20 minute sessions has been positive, but I donāt want to push that too far and demotivate the daily routine. Iām also still working out how to best fit that practice into my schedule in a consistent way ā inconsistency in the timing (sometimes morning, sometimes night) makes it challenging to do longer sessions.
I came out ahead on the running this month. Not losing a week to illness like I did in January certainly helped, but I was able to do a week-long trip out west without disrupting the routine too much. One thing Iāve fallen into over the last couple weeks is fewer, longer runs rather than frequent, shorter ones. Itās been okay for the most part, but I could see that irregularity breaking up the pacing too much, so I need to do better about an āevery other dayā general goal. Having 2 or sometimes 3 full days off in there requires 10K+ distances to be able to keep on pace (Bill actually wrote on this topic recently, also). Every so often I have an evening where I go out with an intent to do 3.5 to 4 miles, but end up stretching to 6 just because I feel good. Itās fine for that to happen occasionally, but I donāt want to risk injury. Yesterday I did a 3.5-miler with a half-numb mouth (I had just gotten a filling at the dentist less than an hour before), so that was interesting. But I kept on pace!
There were a couple of great books in my reads for the month. In particular John McPheeās Coming Into the Country is one Iām looking forward to writing about soon.
I havenāt had much time lately to spend on my cartography projects, but that should change in the next couple of months. Iām still rolling with the daily writing routine. Thereās no sign of a shortage of topics to write about. I thought this would be much more challenging than it is, but I guess (like any habit) the key is routine. I tend to write longer-form things in spurts where Iāll add to 3 or 4 posts in one sitting so I gradually can build a backlog of content. Post ideas come to me at all times of day, so having a ubiquitous capture method to always log those somewhere is helpful to keep track. Making the time for writing each evening definitely takes commitment. Getting a bunch of it done while Iām āin the zoneā helps to lighten the load on other days where I donāt have the mental bandwidth to write very much. For example, on a long flight a few weeks back I wrote about 3 or 4 posts in one sitting.
In other personal news, weāre under contract for a new house in Shore Acres, which is exciting. Will post more here as that develops!
On to March. Weāve got a visit to Jacksonville, Elyseās spring break, Disney on Ice, and some other fun things planned.
This is the first year I set some goals on a few things. Iāve never been strongly goal-oriented, so I thought Iād put some stuff down to hold myself accountable and see if it helps build some healthy habits into my routine. Also, I thought it might be fun, as long as the goals were aggressive but attainable.
For the month of January, hereās how things stack up with each area. Weāve got my progress in the first column, the pace mark I should be at to keep on target, the total goal, and āplus-minusā is where I net out against the goal:
Activity
Progress
Pace
Goal
Plus-Minus
Running
41.77 miles
42.47 miles
500 miles
-0.7
Meditation
340 minutes
320 minutes
3650 minutes
+40
Reading
5 books
3.82 books
50 books
+1.18
I ended January technically behind on running, but caught back up with a 4+ miler today.
Iām ahead of the pace on the other fronts. After 1 month it didnāt feel like a stretch to achieve any of them. Meditation is all about building it in and making the time. Running is about committing and not backing out even when I donāt feel like it. And reading more or less comes naturally, but it leaves little time for things like TV and whatnot. The running target has definitely felt the hardest to keep up with. Part of it was getting behind with a head cold the first week, but even without Iāve got to put in about 10 miles per week to make it happen. What that first week did was demonstrate how hard it is to catch back up after going 8 miles or so into the negative. Too many days missed (vacations, illness, other commitments) could really screw me up.
Iāve listened to a few of Peter Attiaās The Drive podcast episodes. This one was a stand-out conversation between him and Dr. Zubin Damania. Itās a wide-ranging discussion about the health care system, diet, creativity, and meditation (among other things).
Iāve spent a lot of time right in the thick of the health care system the last couple of years (thankfully with a good experience). Insightful thoughts on whatās wrong inside that ecosystem that ring true from first-hand exposure.
With 2018 in the rear view, itās time to set some goals for 2019.
Here are some things I want to focus on, and some markers to aim at by year end.
Health
Run 500 miles ā At just under 10 per week on average, this feels achievable, but will require consistency. A fall off the track will be hard to catch up from. Iād like to do some races in here, also.
Eat better ā Nothing specific here. More cooking at home, more plants, less grease/fat, less quantity, more fish, more variety.
Meditate 10 minutes per day, 5 days per week (a total of 43 hours) ā Iām enjoying this so far, want to get it closer to an automatic habit. Itās always something I enjoy having done once itās done, but I donāt always look forward to it yet. As Iām learning, mindfulness practice can be frustrating once you know what youāre supposed to be doing.
Reading, Learning, and Writing
Read 50 books ā I did almost this many this year. Itās doable.
Learn and do some work with R.
Get better with SQL.
Keep working on cartography and keeping up with open source geo (QGIS, PostGIS, OpenStreetMap)
Continue writing every day, 365 posts. Combining this with the reading habit is working well. I like using the process of writing āreviewsā of books as a way to digest and think about what I read. If I could put together a full year streak, Iād be elated.
Professional
Go big with Fulcrum Community ā We have some plans in store for this. Exciting to think about; time to execute.
Launch two new products āĀ Good progress here already, will be bringing them public probably midway through the year.
Improve our product narratives all around ā This goes for internal and external purposes.
Other
Take the kids on a trip, just the family āĀ Not sure where, but somewhere out west would be fun.
Buy a new house āĀ Working on this now. Kind of a big deal, but weāll see!
Iām planning on putting together a tracking tool so I can keep myself honest on progress. Iāll publish something on that in the coming weeks once I get it figured out. Iāll also put some reminders on the calendar to revisit my progress here on the blog once a quarter.
2018 was a good year, both personally and professionally. Rather than a long-winded post about everything that happened, hereās a brief summary of accomplishments, major events, family stuff, and travel.
Traveled to NYC, San Francisco, Atlanta, Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Toronto, St. Augustine, and Boston.
Ran 214 miles in 66 separate runs. (This one is particularly special to me. Since I had two major abdominal surgeries in August and October 2017, with a 12ā scar running down my belly, Iām glad Iāve been able to push and get back up to pre-surgery pace.)
Completed immunotherapy treatment in November. Clear scans mean Iām on āmaintenanceā for the foreseeable future, with scans every 3 months for now. Probably the best āaccomplishmentā of the year!
Wrote a post per day here since October 4th. 88 days in a row.
Began practicing mindfulness once a day. Going strong the last month and enjoying it.
Family
Everett turned 1, started crawling at 8 months, climbing at 10 months, walking at 11 months (yes, he was climbing ladders and stools before walking š¤·š½āāļø).
Elyse turned 3, started school 3 days a week, and switched to a new school 5 days a week. She loves every second of it.
Colette and I celebrated our 10th anniversary!
Professional
We reached over 1800 customers of Fulcrum. Itās been used by customers in 180 countries. Zooming back to when we launched the platform in 2011, I never thought weād achieve what we have so far (and it feels like weāre just getting it figured out).
We brought on 33 new people āĀ now up to 53, across 11 states.
Iām blessed to work with a large group of veterans these days. Iām thankful for the service of all veterans for making that amazing sacrifice. Itās easy to get wrapped up in nonsense, shortsighted, heated politics ā Twitter these days is nearly unbearable with its tribalistic bickering. Itās worth taking a moment to zoom out and see the bigger picture; to see how many out there are playing their part and putting skin in the game for something larger than themselves.
My Veterans Day was made even better thanks to some excellent news on the health front. Iām overdue for a post to document my health āadventuresā of the last year and a half. Now that so much time has passed, I think itās time to take a look back at that for some perspective. Maybe some time in the next couple weeks Iāll try to get something up here.
To all of our current and former service members: thank you.
The experiment was designed to test a theory in motor learning that distinguishes between directing your focus internally or externally. A large body of research suggests that focusing externally, on the consequences of your actions rather than on the actions themselves, produces better results. For example, youāll do better shooting a basketball free throw if youāre told to focus on seeing the ball go through the rim than if youāre told to focus on the angle of your elbow or the motion of your wrist. Focusing internally on the details of your movements disrupts the āautomaticityā of these familiar actions.
Iāve been thinking about this since I mildly injured my knee a couple months ago, trying to diagnose what may or may not be wrong with my stride or cadence that couldāve contributed. This research makes sense to me intuitively that overthinking form in a running stride, golf swing, or basketball shot could force you to overemphasize a particular phase of the motion. The caveat the article points out is that this holds true for experienced runners tweaking their form. If youāre a novice or have never really learned proper form to begin with, the risks of changes negatively impacting performance are lower.
After a tumultuous 8-10 months since last summer, Iāve gotten regularly back into running the last few months. I did over 50K in distance during August. I havenāt checked, but that must be a personal record. There were 2 weeks in a row with 3 10K runs a piece in there. Running late in the evening has turned out to be good for multiple reasons; I can always guarantee the freedom on the schedule and the weather is more manageable at 10pm in August and September.
But I think all those long runs in that spell screwed up my right knee. None of those runs that month felt bad ā in fact quite the opposite. Each one felt great, during and after. But a week or so later I had a really uncomfortable morning run, only a few miles and every bit past the first felt terrible. Fatigue in the calves and ankles, higher-than-normal heart rate. I think a combination of overwork, dehydration, and poor warm up combined to mess me up. The next several activities felt better, but the knee pain would be noticeable each time ā not so much during activities, but the next morning.
On the advice of Caleb, I bought a wobble board and a foam roller to do better with my post-workout routine. The foam roller to avoid fascia injury and loosen muscle fibers, and the board to work on ankle and knee stability. Iāve only been using them for a week, but weāll see how that cool down activity helps the joints feel better.
The last 3 weeks or so have been busy, with the All Hands week, tons of personal family events, and other various things. Iām hoping to get back on a consistent pace through the rest of the year as the weather gets much more tenable and enjoyable.
The concept of activity tracking is getting ever closer to ubiquitous nowadays with the prevalence of dozens of mobile apps, wearable wristbands, and other health monitoring tools like Bluetooth-enabled scales and video games based on exercise. Now the worldās largest tech company is even rumored to be working on some form of wearable hardware (and software APIs), at which point the whole concept of ālife trackingā will reach 100% penetration. Everyone will be tracking and recording their lives like characters in cyberpunk literature.
Iām a casual runner and cyclist, and started testing a handful of fitness tracker mobile apps to map my activity. Since Iām a stats and data junkie, I did some extensive experimental testing with these four apps to size up the advantages of each in terms of technical capability, as well as the feature-set of services provided by each within their online social systems:
There are dozens of other options for wearable hardware for tracking activity, location, and more, but I still think most of them are either too costly or not mature enough to invest my money in. I seriously debated buying a Fitbit or Up, but Iām glad I havenāt given Appleās potential push into that market.
Letās run through the details of each and compare what they have to offer.
Basics
Each of these apps has its focus, but they all promise the same basic set of features (with the exception of Moves, which Iāll get to in a moment):
Allow user to log an activity of specific type ā running, walking, cycling, hiking, kayaking, skiing, etc.
Calculate metrics about the activity including time, distance, map location (in the form of a GPS track), speed, pace, calories, elevation, etc.
Share your activities with friends, and join a social network of other active people (including professional athletes)
Compete against others in various ways
Set goals and measure your progress toward said goals
Moves is a different style of app. Itās a persistent motion tracker that runs continuously in the background on your device, mostly for calculating steps and distance per day for all of your activity. No need to open the app and record independent activities. I wanted to include Moves in the mix primarily for its deep data recording and mapping capabilities. Iāll revisit Movesā data quality later on when discussing data.
Mobile Apps
Iām an iPhone user, and iOS has matured to the point that serious, veteran app developers have ironed out most of the annoyances and kinks of basic app design concepts. Most of the conventions around app UI have arrived at general consensus in presentation, using a couple of well-known paradigms for structuring the user interface. Both RunKeeper and Strava use the home-row tab button UI layout, with standard ā5-buttonā options list across the bottom. MapMyRun uses the sidebar/tray strategy to house its options, like most of Googleās iOS apps.
The basic interfaces of all three of these apps are nice. RunKeeper and Strava are almost exactly level on features on the mobile side. They both have a basic social presence or feed of your friendsā activity, activity type selectors, and big āStartā buttons to get going with minimal fiddling. MMRās look is a little cluttered for me, but it does include other functions on the mobile side like weight entry and nutrition logging.
All of them support configurable audio announcements of progress during an activity. A voice will chime in while youāre running to give you reports on your current distance, pace, and time since the start. Each also can be paired up via Bluetooth with an array of external sensors like heart rate monitors, bike speedometers, and others. Strava even has a nice capability to visualize your heart rate metrics throughout the course of your activities if you use a monitor.
Reliability
In my testing, the reliability and consistency of all of these apps has come a long way since the early days of the App Store, back to iPhone 3G and the first devices with GPS. The only one of the group that Iāve been using that long (since 2009) is RunKeeper, and its reliability now is in another class than it was back then. Since the introduction of multitasking with iOS, apps run silently in the background when switching between apps while a tracking activity is in progress. I tested tracking with all three simultaneously without any issues.
During a couple of my test runs, Strava inexplicably stopped my activity for no reason, but didnāt hard crash. When Iād switch back to the app, the current activity was paused mid-way, which is an annoying bug or behavior to encounter when you canāt recreate your activity easily. RunKeeper still seems the most reliable option all around, including the mobile app dependability and the syncing operations with the cloud service. Multiple times I had trouble getting the activity to properly save and sync on Strava and MapMyRun, though usually it was just a delay in being able to get my data synced ā didnāt involve data loss except for the paused activities and couple of app crashes.
Services
All three of these apps function as clients for their associated web services, not just standalone applications. Theyāre not much different; each of them shows a feed of activity and a way to browse your (and your friendsā) activity details. Stacking up your accomplishments against your friends for some friendly competition seems to be the main focus of their web services, but the motivators and ability to āplus upā friendsā activity might push some to work out harder or more often. The differences here are mostly minor, and deciding on the ābestā service in terms of its online offerings will come down to personal preference. One of the features I like with Strava is the ability to add equipment that you use, like your running shoes or specific bikes. Doing this will let you see the total distance ridden on your bike over time.
Each service offers a premium paid tier with additional features. Strava and RunKeeper have free-to-use mobile apps with fewer features, while MMR goes with advertisements and in-app-purchase to remove the ads.
Data Quality / Maps
My primary interest in analyzing these services was to check out the quality of the GPS data logging. I ran all three of them on the same ride through Snell Isle so I could overlay them together and see what the variance was in location accuracy. Even though iOS is ultimately logging the same data from the same sensor, and offering that up to the applications via the Core Location API, the data shows that all three apps must be processing and storing the location values differently. Hereās a map showing the GPS track lines recorded in each ā Strava, MapMyRun, and RunKeeper. Click the buttons below the map to toggle them on and off to see how the geometry compares. If you zoom in close, youāll see the lines stray apart in some areas:
Each app performs roughly the same in terms of location data quality. The small variances in precision seem to trend together for the most part, which makes sense. When the signal gets bad, or the sky is slightly occluded, the Location APIs are going to return worse data for all running applications. One noticable difference between the track geometry (in this example, at least) is that the MapMyRun track alignment tends to vary in different ways than the other two. It looks like there might be some sort of server-side smoothing or splining going on to make the data look better after processing, but it doesnāt dramatically change the accuracy of the data overall.
I did notice that using these apps without cellular data enabled results in severe degradation of quality, I think due to the fact that the Assisted GPS services are unavailable, forcing the phone to rely on a raw GPS satellite fix. When using any location logging app without cellular data switched on, the device has to take longer to get a position lock. A couple of runs from my Europe trip exhibited this, like my run along the Thames in London, and one in Lucerne.
Since these motion trackers rely on the GPS track and time series data for calculating total distance (which is obviously way off with this much linear error), you end up with massively incorrect pace and calorie-burning metrics. This jagged-looking run activity in London reported itself to be 4.7 miles, and in reality it was only about 3.5. Soon Iād like to pair my iPhone up with an external GPS device Iāve been testing out to see what the improvement in accuracy looks like.
If you want to export the raw data straight from the web services, Strava and RunKeeper are the only ones that will give you a full time series-enabled GPX track file for each activity. MapMyRun only exports the track point data, which without the timestamp info for each point canāt be processed to calculate pace and other metrics with elapsed time as a variable.
The location data captured by the Moves app works a little differently. It splits your persistent movement activity up into day and week views, with totals of steps taken and calories burned, by type of activity. It does some cool auto-detection of activity type to try and classify car transport, cycling, running, and walking automatically. Because itās always running in the background, though, the location data isnāt quite as granular as from the other three applications, probably due to less frequent logging using the location APIs.
One caveat important to note is that Moves was acquired by Facebook back in May. That may turn a lot of people off to the idea of uploading their persistent motion tracking information to the Borg.
Wrap up
Strava and MapMyRun also support pulling the track info from external devices like mountable GPS devices, watches, and bike sensors.
Overall, my favorite is Strava as the app-of-choice for tracking activity. It performs consistently, the GPS and fitness data is high quality, and the service has a good balance of simplicity and social features that I like.