How bored can you be? “I’m bored,” my son often says. He uses it as a justification for distraction. Boredom is bad, he thinks, so something external should be sought so the boredom can end. But the mind is a muscle. And boredom can make it stronger. More
VO2 Max: A 14-year retrospective In 2005, three friends and I went to get our first VO2 max tests. Without any training knowledge, I didn’t know what the results meant. Fourteen years later, that first test is a good benchmark. I can make some unfortunate conclusions More
Is 5.11 the junk zone of rock climbing? Between 2005 and 2010, I focused on sport climbing. I redpointed 13c and onsighted 12b. A key part of my progress was avoiding 5.11 More
How to calibrate a treadmill I recently discovered that my treadmill doesn’t report its actual speed. At first, I was disappointed. Then I calibrated the machine and found that it under-reports its speed. Phew! The other day at the gym, I warmed up on a treadmill that I had used many times in the past. The speeds that I set... More
Should Whoop change its name to Whoops? Last month, I started using a Whoop. I hoped that it would guide me toward better recovery. Unfortunately, the Whoop’s activity tracking is too inaccurate and imprecise to be of much use. I sent it back for a refund. The Whoop is a 24-hour activity tracker marketed to athletes. It purports to quantify “strain” and... More
