AMR Trains #24: The Link Between Running, Productivity, and Creativity
Dimity chats with Kara Cutruzzula, the author of Do It For Yourself, a motivational journal and founder of the Brass Ring Daily newsletter, about the intersection of running, productivity, and creativity.
The duo discusses:
—How to create a habit (hint: start absurdly small);
—Why there’s no perfect time for a project—or why to start before you’re ready;
—The importance of being a kind protagonist in your own narrative;
—And why running helps connect the creative dots.
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The 5-Peak Challenge: Celebrating Turning 40
By Erin Pavon, a BAMR in San Diego [and AMR’s Fractional CFO!]
I was fortunate to meet my #BRF Sarah a few years ago in a YMCA Friday BodyPump class. As we started talking, running entered the conversation and she asked what I was training for. My response. “Um, nothing?” Although I’ve been running basically my whole life, I had only done a handful of official races. Sarah offered up a half marathon in December that she was training for with another friend. I said yes.
Six years later, we’re still together.
Every week we meet up for long runs on #sundayrunday, when we discuss plans for future runs. As time wore on, we started to branch out and get creative. These conversations are always prefaced by the caveat: “I have this idea. You can totally say no if you want or if you think this is too insane but…” This is how we ended up running 5 half marathons in one year (up from our usual 2); how we started trail running and entered trail half marathons; how we started a girlfriend get-away race weekend; and how, back in July 2019 we decided we should run the Walt Disney World marathon as a celebration for our 40th birthdays.
Sarah and I have what we refer to as “unfortunate birthdays”: hers is December 26, mine in January 11. Right after the holiday rush, everyone is always too tired and overwhelmed to party with you, and how can you possibly have a birthday wish list when you JUST got a pile of presents?
The Marathon, which falls the second week of January, seemed like a perfect way to celebrate. It was a major event that would require both months of effort and the buy-in of our spouses to support our training (Sarah has 2 young girls; I have 3 young boys), but it would also be a celebration of what our 40-year-old bodies are capable of. Plus, we could take our families along for a week vacation!
And then the universe spoke. “I see your plans and I raise you ONE GLOBAL PANDEMIC.” Universe: 1, Erin and Sarah: 0. Well crap.
I am, by nature, a fixer. I believe all problems have a work-around; you just have to think about them differently. We were going to find something epic to do to celebrate; we just had to organize it ourselves. Fortunately, spending 2+ hours together every Sunday does gave us time to focus on the problem at hand.
Ultimately, we settled on the 5-Peak Challenge, a well-known run/hike here in San Diego: We’d hit Cowles Mountain, Pyles Peak, Kwaay Paay, South Fortuna and North Fortuna all in one day. We have run/hiked all 5 several times before, but never all together in one day.
After much debate based on our self-designed training schedule, birthdays, and family obligations, race day was set as December 27. We made up our hashtag #5peaksfor40. Route planning ensued. We settled on a one-way route that covered 18 miles, 4,000 feet of elevation, over 400 flights of stairs, and anticipated roughly 40,000 steps. [Things with 40, just like us! Yay!]
Now we just needed a theme. If I am going to trot my happy butt around for 6 hours, I may as well look good doing it. Hmmm, now to decide…what are we? Women. How are we going to feel after we complete this? Exhausted? Ha, no. We can do better than that…super fit, proud, powerful, super hero…Wonder Women! In a matter of days between Amazon, Etsy, Pinterest, and my Cricut, we had full gear.
The holidays hit, and soon thereafter? #5peaksfor40! A quick drive to the trailhead, a couple of swigs of coffee, and a prime photo op at the main park sign, and we were on our way to our first peak!
We selected the peak order in part because our first peak is ridiculously popular, and we wanted to get it out of the way. Plus, it’s a short 1.5 miles up: a nice, quick win, followed by another peak only 1.5 miles later. Whee! Feeling great!
Two of five peaks complete and just 3 miles! However, with that comes the realization that there are seven miles to cover before we get to peak 3.
As an aside, if you are an introvert (like me), I highly recommend finding an extrovert (like Sarah) to hang out with. We’re trotting along – fully grown adult women in matching costumes—and walkers, hikers, bikers, and runners are shouting at us: “Go Wonder Women!” and “Love your outfits”. While I smile and mumble, “Thank you, Sarah shouts right back at them: “We’re doing the 5 peak challenge all in one day!” Which earned us further exclamations of “Wow!” or “I’ve always wanted to do that.”
Seven miles later, we arrived at Peak 3, the steepest by far. We used our climbing time to discuss our post-race meal and settled on cheeseburgers from In-N-Out. We celebrated Peak 3 with peanut butter sandwiches at the top, and the realization that we were only at mile 10. Eight to go. Oof.
And to get the last 2 peaks we have to go up the saddle: a low dip in the mountain between 2 peaks. Because I like data (or because I am a masochist) I took a look at the grade going up to the saddle and it turns out it’s a 20% grade. We trained on even steeper terrain, but not after running 13 miles, which is how far we had come when we began the climb.
As we slowed to a pace that we affectionately refer to as “power hiking”, we were greeted by another group of women hiking down the saddle. We learned they were also doing the 5-peak challenge; they do it every year the weekend after Christmas and this was their 4th time. A-goals! Discussions surrounding the commitment of making this an annual adventure propelled us to the top of peak 4.
Unbelievably we only had one peak left of our #5peaksfor40.
As we loped up to our last peak, on a sugar high from Stroopwaffles and gummy worms, the realization sunk in while our peaks were bagged, but the car? She was down at the base of the mountains. We had 3 more miles to go.
Time to muscle up buttercup.
My right knee was l screaming obscenities at me as we crept back down the saddle. Small steps hurt less and I wasn’t trusting my legs to not shoot out from under me on the tiny pebbles as. As soon as the path opened out to the flattish grasslands we started to trot, but we were silent. Moving forward required all of my mental attention (and oxygen) to cover those last 2 miles.
Stopping felt GREAT! We cheered for ourselves, then pulled up our masks and shared a big bear hug. While there wasn’t the fanfare that we’d have at the completion of a major race, we had each other.
Our weekly socially distant runs have carried me most recently through the pandemic, but also though career changes, family challenges, and down the rocky path called motherhood. When feelings of self-doubt creep in or I really want to quit, Sarah has always been there to say, “You can go a little further, you can do more, you deserve this!”
We definitely deserve this moment of celebration. It—plus cheeseburgers and wine—is enough.
Do you celebrate your birthday with miles or adventure?
#452: Insight from Plus-Size Runner + Running Memoirist Beth Probst
Sarah and Coach Liz have a wonderfully candid conversation with Beth Probst, who just self-published her running-related memoir entitled It Could Be Worse: A Girlfriend’s Guide for Runners Who Detest Running. (Use code AMR2021 here to save 20%.) Beth shares:
-why she went from couch to half-marathon in just 15 weeks;
-the hurdles and stigmas she faces as a heavier runner;
-why she hates (truly!) running, yet what she keeps her going;
-her enlightened attitude toward goals (both her own + other runners’); and,
-her perspective on the possibility of finishing last in a race.
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GPS Accuracy: Can you trust distance, heart rate, and sleep data?
Earlier this fall, I was delightfully entertained while reading some hilarious comments in an online running group. One runner was getting married, and she was looking for ways to cover up the very obvious tan line from her fitness watch. The best response was, “Just wear your watch during your wedding. How else are you going to track those steps down the aisle?”
The Pew Research Center conducted a survey in 2019 and found one in five people wear some kind of tracker. My own Garmin Vivoactive lives on my wrist as permanently as the freckles on my arm. I can’t deny my committed relationship with my watch since it tracks everything from my period to my mileage.
Watches, essentially, are tools that collect data. And the more you wear yours, the more data you’re collecting about yourself. But sometimes I wonder if GPS accuracy is as on point as I hope it would be.
To get a better understanding of what our watches can do—and to see if their data might be overly optimistic—I reached out to a few experts.
Would my bar graphs of deep sleep or VO2 max rating hold water under their scrutiny? Are my mile repeats really a mile?
“These are common questions.” says William Byrnes, a professor of Integrative Physiology at the University of Colorado Boulder. “Monitoring parameters like calories burned and sleep patterns have important implications for optimizing health and athletic performance, but the monitoring devices need to be accurate.”
DISTANCE: PRETTY DANG GOOD
The GPS feature our devices use is just a series of tracking points. The GPS “checks in” every few feet, notes where you are, and records how quickly you’re getting there. Each check-in is a tracking point. Add up all the tracking points and you have your total distance. Different watches and apps have various algorithms to calculating distance, which is why Strava might say you ran 3.63 miles while your watch says 3.52. Most times the differences are minimal.
“I’ve had a Garmin since about 2005 and am happy to see how much better the distance and pacing features have become. These just keep getting better,” says Dr. Andrew Subudhi, Professor of Human Physiology and Nutrition at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
“GPS devices can accurately measure speed and distance when exercise is performed outdoors, but this does not help with exercise on indoor devices like treadmills, steppers, and stationary bicycles,” adds Byrnes. Indeed. When you finish a treadmill run and the image on Strava looks like a 2-year-old went nuts with a red crayon, that’s why.
HEART RATE: DECENT IN CERTAIN SITUATIONS
One of the greatest changes we’ve seen in recent years is the transition from heart rate measured solely with a chest strap to heart rate measured through sensors on a wrist device. Watches and arm straps use photoplethysmography (PPG), which is the fancy word that describes the process of using light to measure blood flow. It’s pretty amazing to see those little flashing lights on the back of my Garmin and know they’re calculating the way my blood is moving through my veins. But does PPG work?
“Heart rates measured from light sensors on the wrist can be pretty good at rest, but often become questionable during exercise, when movement distorts the measurements,” Dr. Subudhi says. This is evident in one 2017 study from The American College of Sports Medicine that showed great results with PPG heart rate monitors on a stationary bike and a treadmill, but performed poorly on an elliptical trainer with arm levers. Depending on the device, the study showed error margins of up to 25%. It’s not to say your heart rate data is completely unreliable, but the gold standard for measuring heart rate will always be a chest strap.
Also, remember that our heart rates are finicky. They’re unique and they can be affected by any number of things. “Heart rates can be influenced by emotion, as well as thermal and altitude stresses,” Byrnes cautions. Keep that in mind the next time you’ve argued with your four-year-old for the 100th time about the importance of wearing a coat and wonder why your afternoon run showed a higher heart rate.
SLEEP DATA: PROBABLY NOT SUPER ACCURATE
I asked Byrnes about the sleep data on my Garmin. His response was cautious. “Regarding sleep, there seems to be a disconnect between the devices and what is actually happening.” This bore out in a study on the validity of activity monitors in The Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport from 2015. The participants in the study were elite cyclists, and researchers noted when the athletes trained at high levels, their bodies had a tendency to move more during sleep, naturally looking for ways to get comfortable or stretch those sore muscles. But that turned out to be a problem. It looked like more movement correlated to more awake time on each device, whether that was true or not.
Our watches look at how much we’re moving at night; measuring that way tends to underestimate sleep duration and overestimate wake duration. So if you thrash around in your sleep or you’re in the midst of a training cycle, you’re probably not getting the most accurate results.
VO2 MAX, STRESS LEVELS + OTHER DATA POINTS: ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
What about all those other watch features, like VO2 max and stress levels? “Biological signals are also getting better, but aren’t quite as precise as I wish they were,” Dr. Subudhi notes. “The information these watches display are not actually measured, but predicted [with] the information gathered from the GPS and light sensors. Typically, the prediction equations manufacturers use have been developed and validated on large groups of people, but aren’t truly specific to the individual wearing the watch.”
“VO2 can be predicted from heart rate and pace, but there can be a lot of error,” he adds, “I’m a scientist, so I generally don’t trust numbers that aren’t actually measured.”
Dr. Subudhi and I are not here to break your heart about your stellar fitness age or brag-worthy REM sleep cycles. Not everything about your watch and what it’s reporting needs to be thrown out the window. Instead, think of this as just a friendly reminder that what your watch tells you—and how your body feels—can be two separate things, and evaluating them both as during a workout (or a restless night) will bring you the most balanced perspective.
What has been your experience with GPS Accuracy?
Do you have a Fitness Age of 20?
AMR Answers #58: Acclimating to the Cold; When to Undertake Your First Marathon
Sarah and Dimity share:
-advice about acclimating to the cold for chilly Stacy;
-suggestions for Jenna on when to step up to the marathon distance; and,
-trying-to-conceive empathy and exercise recommendations.
Discover the benefits of CBD: Get one of three weekly deals, including a discount on Sarah’s favorite Rejuvenating Balm, at NaturesGemCBD.com/amr
Anti Running Streak: Why I Can’t—or Shouldn’t—Streak
[Read Tish’s counterpoint: Pro Running Streak: Day 260 (and Counting!) of Daily Movement]
Before I start, let me be clear: I am not anti running streak—or any streak— for you. If you’ve run for 1,000 days straight, I tip my sweaty hat to you. If you’re a Whole 30 devotee, have at it. If you’ve set up a DIY flossing challenge, awesome. I hope your teeth thank you.
I am against embarking on streaks for me because, having inhabited this tall body and swirling mind for nearly half a century, I know the benefits of a streak will be outweighed by the (self-imposed) pressure I’ll feel to perform. Sooner than later, the mile-a-day or 100-ounces-of-water or another self-imposed task will end up in my mental file as another project left unfinished, another slice of disappointment.
The stack of books I checkout regularly from the library makes it look like I’m full-time English lit student (I’m not). The simple needlepoint I want to finish for my daughter’s high school graduation is, I kid you not, 16 years old. I’d give myself 50/50 odds of finishing it in the next 3 months.
In other words, my plates, already plenty full and precariously spinning, don’t need another streaky entrée to weigh them down.
Plus, I often include “adventure” when I get all Brene Brown and name my personal values. Even if I’m not winging to Patagonia anytime soon for a glacier trek, a streak feels a bit too confining.
The only recent streaks I accidentally started—and stopped—and started—and stopped—are meditation ones. I use Insight Timer, a free app, and at the end of each session, it tells you how many days of you’ve meditated in a row. (I am not sure if you can turn this feature off; if so, maybe I should.)
I would rack up two or three days, and have grand imaginings about getting to 13 or 45 or 82 days—and then fantasize about how much easier meditation would be on day 13 or 45 or 82. (I am naturally an object in motion, and meditation is one of the hardest things I’ve attempted.)
Back in real life, after I’d miss a day or eight, the little circle would gradually fill in the number one again. As it did so, instead of celebrating that I showed up to concentrate on inhales and exhales, I’d immediately mentally fast forward. Now you need two, then three, Dimity; how are you going to do that? How are you going to keep it up?
I sabotaged the important act of showing up by berating myself for not being streak-y enough. I’ve got enough mindfulness to know that isn’t super effective.
A similar thought pattern happened with swimming; after a master’s coach told me you needed to be in the pool three days a week to, “be worth it”, my once-weekly chlorinated sessions felt feeble.
My immediate reaction: Why do something if improvement wasn’t imminent?
Take a deep inhale and exhale, then process my more thoughtful perspective: Oh, because the act of swimming itself is delicious: sensory deprivation, combined with the water’s full support of my long limbs and my rhythmic breathing, soothes me in a way very few things do.
I admire a full journal with no breaks. I truly do. But when I look at my own calendar and see one swim, a single meditation session, and a random hike with a friend, I realize I’m giving myself both space to simply enjoy an activity and grace to know it’s enough, no strings attached.
And that, I imagine, feels as fulfilling as a streak may.
[Read Tish’s counterpoint: Pro Running Streak: Day 260 (and Counting!) of Daily Movement]