May by the numbers

Welcome to this month’s edition of By The Numbers, where I break down data from my watch and training log to reflect on the past month.

I track a few simple metrics—average sleep, daily steps, and total workouts. I’ve been doing this consistently for over two years, and it’s become one of the most useful tools I have for spotting trends, holding myself accountable, and fine-tuning habits. I highly recommend building a practice like this into your own routine.

Let’s get into it.

Steps

Total: 338,403
Daily Average: 10,916

Daily average steps dropped from April but not too significantly. I’m not surprised to see it either, I was getting a lot more running in April than I was in compared to May.

SLEEP

Average Sleep Score: 81
Average Sleep Duration: 6 hours 45 minutes

Sleep has been good. Average duration stayed the same as May and my average score increased by 1 point. I’ve been feeling well-rested in the morning. Goal for the summer is to get that average duration back up over 7 hours—which it was a couple months ago.

My HRV was climbing most of the month and even was “above baseline” for several days. It’s only happened once or twice before, and I like to think it’s because I’m so stress-free and recovered, but I don’t know.

Training

Total Workouts: 27
Runs: 4

At the start of May I withdrew from the Vermont 100k. I was bummed but it wasn’t my year. That race was supposed to get me out of my training slump, which never happened. I needed something to shake it up and get my mojo back. Instead of running, I’ve been focused in the gym. Lifting heavy, doing hard conditioning workouts, and a lot of other stuff I enjoy, but have been neglecting or avoiding.

I wanted to have fun training again, because it felt like a while since I was enjoying it.

I’m not quitting running all together. I am however going to make sure I’m having fun, and not stress too much about getting out to the right trails everyday.

Final Thoughts

I always learn a thing or two when I do this monthly reflection, which is why I always encourage you to build a similar practice. It’s an easy way to check in and see how you’re doing and where you may be able to improve. Thanks for reading!

—Justin Miner