Analyzing Garmin watch data with Metabase
I have had my Garmin Forerunner 255 since January of 2023. I have toyed with doing data export and more in-depth analysis once before, but it fell off due to other priorities. Now, I have decided to play around with this more using the Python GarminDB repository. I pulled all my data, and I ran the script once per day to make sure I kept my data up to date.
I love looking at charts and don’t really enjoy using the ones I can create in Python so I decided to install a local self hosted version of Metabase.I’ve decided to focus on the data and information that I cannot already get out of Garmin. Below is an example showing my Garmin Sleep quality by month. This data is helpful to determine when I have been having my best sleep and hopefully determine an underlying and repeatable cause.
![](https://iambrandoncole.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CleanShot-2024-03-25-at-14.55.52-1024x457.png)
Preparing for my first 5k in April
We bought a treadmill back in January using my employer-provided healthy choices benefit. Prior to this, I had never really enjoyed running. But I started to get into it and have been following a program in Pelaton called “You Can Run”. I have learned a lot and have become a much better runner because of it. I just completed a 30-minute consecutive run to finish up the program over the last weekend.
My wife also enjoys running and talked me into signing up for a 5k in April. I still have a few more weeks of prep, but I am looking forward to it very much. Wish me luck.
My exploration in Emacs and Org Mode
I decided to start experimenting with Emacs and Org Mode to try out plain note-taking. I have no previous experience with Vim, and I have had a bit of a steep learning curve over the last few days. However, I feel like I am now getting into a really good workflow. I like that I can take notes for free and even be able to schedule tasks. I tend to be a bit of an app jumper, but I am really narrowing in on applications that I can use for free without having to pay a yearly subscription. So, I am hopeful that this solution will help me replace Todoist and Tana.
Defining my 12 Favorite Questions to control knowledge curation
I have had this nagging feeling for a while now that my knowledge collection has been aimless and not immediately useful. I was lured into the PKM philosophy by creators who had managed to create a workflow to output content from their knowledge base with minimal effort. What I determined was that I was collecting information. However, the information I was gathering wasn’t always relevant to the things that intrigued me. This theme applied across my Obsidian vault, my book reading and my RSS feeds. I now know what some refer to as the “Collectors Falacy” and am working on fixing that.
Getting ready for local fiber internet
In my town we finally have a local internet provider that is installing fiber in my area. I have fiber at my house currently, but it is hosted through CenturyLink, and they do not have any service stations in my area, so my internet routes through Denver, Colorado, which is several hundred miles away. I am looking forward to testing out a local provider and determining if there is much difference. I will keep my CenturyLink fiber while I am testing.
What I am currently reading or recently finished
Right now, I am reading Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. This is my very first read-through of the book, and I am roughly halfway through. I have really been enjoying it as a fun read where I am not really taking any notes. It is interesting to learn a bit about the history of mankind, along with some philosophical concepts that I had never really thought of before.