Friday Thoughts 108
Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Thoughts, where I share what’s been on my mind over the past seven days. Enjoy!
Snow Running
Running in snow is the best. Someone said it best to me last night: the amount of outside activities I’m doing in the winter directly correlates with how grumpy, or not, I am with the weather. At the start of 2025, I committed to running through the whole winter, something I hadn’t managed in a few years. Most of the time, I did a 30-minute neighborhood run. This year, I wanted to get back in the woods and out on the trails.
After the first snow last week, I had the itch to get my winter running gear out, and I’m happy I did. Cold weather and a little sun, plus packed-down trails, equals perfect snow running conditions. It smooths out the trails, and winter woods are the ultimate running scenery. Besides, nothing makes you feel warm in 20 degrees like a big hill to climb.
Inspired by the video below, I headed to the hardware store and got a bunch of 3/8 hex screws and zipped them into the lugs of my shoes. When I had heard of this in the past, I imagined putting the screws in from inside the shoes, leaving the pointy end to dig into the ice. That seemed too aggressive, never mind a recipe for wet feet. What you actually do is drill from the soles, picking the biggest lugs to drive the screw into. The head of the screw is the traction, not the pointy part.
This was perfect for “I don’t quite need microspikes” weather. Nothing against them, but if I can avoid using them, I’m going to.
Baseline Testing Underway
Our December Baseline Challenge is underway. Six simple tests to gauge your strength, balance, and power. The idea is to know these numbers so we can see if we’re getting better, worse, or staying the same. I think for a lot of you, this will be proof your training is working, especially if you’re feeling stuck or bored with your program.
I find people who feel this way often fall into a routine of using the same weights over and over, stalling their progress not because of boredom, but because the intensity is no longer there and they’re no longer on the edge of their abilities. Something like the 20-rep max goblet squat test often surprises people with how much they can do, and it’s valuable for future training sessions to dial in appropriate loading and reps in reserve.
People are picking away at the six challenges as we near halfway through the month. Today is the day to get started if you haven’t yet.
The three easiest to bang out after a workout in five minutes:
SOLEC (one-leg, eyes-closed balance test)
Grip strength (takes literally seven seconds)
Hang (I’ve been avoiding this one)
The goblet squat pairs well with a Monday or Day 1 workout. Same with the 20-second AirBike sprint. You can fit that in any time you have conditioning. As for the farmer’s carry, I think it’s a good finisher after some intervals or a Day 2.
Keep in mind, you don’t need to game this too much. We just want to set some baseline numbers to revisit in a few months.
January Walking Challenge?
On one of the cold days earlier this week, two people within minutes mentioned bringing back the January Daily Walking Challenge. Consider this your early warning. A 20-minute walk every day for the month of January. And it totally goes with what I said earlier, doesn’t it? When you have a reason to get outside and do something, the weather doesn’t seem quite so bad.
Happy Birthday, Nolan
Believe it or not, Nolan turns 3 today. Happy birthday, Nolan.
See you in the gym!
—Justin Miner