Friday Thoughts 99
Distractions
Cleaning companies often reach out wanting to give me a quote to clean the gym. Years ago, I actually answered one. They asked how big our locker rooms were, how many bathroom stalls we had, if there was a smoothie bar or a basketball court . I laughed and said, “We don’t have any of that.” Their reply: “Well, then you’re not a gym.”
That interaction stuck with me.
These days, the “fitness country club” model is everywhere. All the latest and greatest equipment, smoothie bars, saunas, ice baths, workspace—you name it. Honestly, I think some of that stuff is pretty cool. But the problem is, it’s still missing the point.
We’re missing one key point: it matters how you move.
Movement quality—how well you can move and control your body—rarely gets mentioned but it’s the ultimate caveat to every training protocol out there. Just knowing which exercises are “good” doesn’t guarantee you’ll do them well. But once you understand that movement is a skill, you can practice it forever. Usually, in order to do that, you need a coach.
The gyms without the frills, without the smoothie bars or golf simulators or locker rooms—places like GAIN—those are the ones that actually care about movement and real coaching. Everything else is just a distraction.
More HRV Ramblings and Training Update
I’ve been chatting with a lot of you about this lately and here’s an update and a couple more takeaways.
Still tanked, but on the upswing. More importantly, sleep has been long and scores have been high. I’m feeling well-rested and refreshed in the morning. Overnight HRV averages are swinging more, and I think that’s a good sign.
After reflecting on my summer of training, maybe it isn’t so crazy that it’s dropped like this. I was going hard! I ran a lot of double days, and not only that—I made training a top priority almost every day. After getting sick in September and losing that training rhythm, it’s been nice to just exercise without it being on the forefront of my mind.
I have periods like this every year, usually in the fall, after a big running summer. Had my foot on the gas all the summer and then training motivation is low. I focus on shorter, low-barrier-to-entry workouts to keep my sputtering fitness spark alive.
This raises an interesting question.
Does this massive HRV drop happen every year?
Has the pattern always been there? I just didn’t know because I didn’t have a watch telling me?
I don’t know, and the only way to find out is keep collecting the data.
I’ve reached the orange square!
The Watch Isn’t Always Right
Despite the scary look graph above, I really have been feeling good this week when training. I just don’t “feel” like training or have the enthusiasm I’m used to. That’s why when I headed out to do my local trail loop on Sunday morning there way no way I expected to randomly throw down and set a huge PR.
I stalled for a good hour before finally getting out the door. I’ve run this loop about 50 times. It’s 4.6 miles with 550 feet of elevation gain. It’s a big climb at the start and then ups and downs the rest of the way.
I set my PR way back in 2020, and for the past couple years I’ve been thinking that time is untouchable. I would often hit the trail intersection around mile 3.5, and see that I would have to finish in 5 minutes to beat my PR. It seemed so out of reach, to the point I was questioning the accuracy of my time.
And then, someone on Strava beat my course record.
I was annoyed, but also relieved—it was possible to break.
So when I was running up the big climb on Sunday morning I noticed my legs felt amazing, my heart rate was high—like very high, but it felt, comfortable. So I thought, I’m going to keep pushing to the top at the 1 mile mark. I’ve had plenty of runs go well until the high-point where I realize came out too fast. But not this time. I knew the average pace I needed to stay under and on the downhill I tried to stay way under it. It felt great. Like the cumulation of a hard summer of training.
I kept saying that to myself on the loop: you ran a faster mile this year than in 2020, you can run faster!
I ended up shaving 41 seconds off my time, I was pumped. I missed taking the crown back, but it’s within reach, and more importantly I beat my own previous time.
The watch didn’t tell me that was possible. But I listened to my body and knew I felt good. Even though I was dragging my feet to get started, I just knew I could—because I listened to my body.
Dear Garmin, the hold HR chart was better
Almost hit that 220-age number. My watch also adjusted my estimated max HR after this run, it was the highest it’s been in a while!
It’s So Easy
Thanks for reading, see you next time!
—Justin Miner