I got my Garmin's battery down to 5% today! While it lacks today's modern conveniences as it comes from the before times, its 2017-03-29 release must have ripped out and inserted the innards of the Energizer Bunny.

Encompassing all 2 hours and 40 minutes of The 16th Expedition: 20⚡25 playlist plus a featured song from summer 2023, today's workout was outstanding. I reference that fall 2020 playlist because of my flys. This morning, I chose to NOT modify the weights to my setlist for my dinged-for-a-couple-of-weeks forearm, but go with what is typed up.

I was regretting going big and was going to change during my flys when this song came on. "Nope, I am not changing a THING!" I even chose to ramp up the weight for next week for my incline DB press and close-grip press!

I love that playlist—it's my favorite for lifting weights and smashing the bag. While I took it for my 5-mile walk, I think I may prefer The 35th Expedition: The Call of the Wild for striding—though it's far too early to say that sort of thing!

All of this recent conditioning has been great to apply...YARD WORK. Yeah, it was the BEST temperature outside, 63℉, and I wanted to try out my new trimmer line for my weedwhacker. And as a portal to the upside down opened up next to my pool shed, it was time to start whacking.

So I did. All 10-11 feet of the line. Added another segment. Then I ran out of battery power, so I popped another in. From time to time, my forearm was like, "Hey, remember me?" "Nope." Finally, my right hand, which held the trigger-safety combo the whole time, caused my inner Scotty to exclaim, "I don't know how much longer I can hold her together!"

Still, I really like the upgrades to my stamina. I'm on the threshold of 20,000 steps for today, something that is becoming ordinary for me, whereas before December, only happened ONCE (May 5).

While I walked in the rain the other day, yesterday morning was the first time I did the windy, slanted rain variety. It was a quiet experience and I wonder if it ever happened. I mean, it was only 45 minutes, but it was a 45 minutes that stood outside of time. And maybe that's what I love about that 4 AM hour, that everything I do is outside the typical machinations of the world. There is no one and the world is my own. There's no corridor of air formed in the wake of traffic. There is but the moon and the long call of the night train.

At 8 miles, I thought Friday's longest walk of 2024 was going to stand for some time. But no, it was snapped a couple of day's later with this morning's unplanned 8.4-mile trek.

This year is about that, setting marks and beating them. Today at 25.9K, I'm in line-of-sight of January 3rd's all-time 2nd place 31.2K steps. I'd like to take that today. January 2019 #1's ~50,000 is safe for today. However, that will go down in 2024.

I just feel really good with the direction I am going in. I don't know if I'll hit my moonshot goal for this year, that φ, but my spirit roars to capture it. I don't think of next month or next weighin. I think of New Year's Eve.

And all of this is in a context that demands a green headlamp...

YouTube Link

It's another Fat Focus Day for me! It was also a Shoulders Day, one in which I was especially sensitive to my forearm ding because I felt it throughout the upright row movement. I can't put in the weight my shoulders need, but it's important to me to put in something and not push to hit a normal day and then go dark.

For the very same reason, today was a 3.5 mile route when I had planned to return to the 5.1 mile path.

But, it's not out of motivation! As soon as I hit the door for cardio, I was delighted! It was like I was in a video game as god rays abounded through the fog. It created a fun morning walk! The ambiance was surreal as fog shrouded the streets.

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I'm mapping out routes for specific days. I'll have better consistency if a plan is in place. I also want to start integrating intervals on certain days.

I've also been drinking a LOT of fluids today. By the last dregs of the 6 AM hour, I drank a half-gallon of water, a quarter-gallon of chicken broth, and 2 cups of coffee. Makes it a little tight on today's Zombie Outbreak belt buckle!