Let's say you are dorkin' out on your fitness tracking. Or maybe the technology you have isn't helping you stay fit. That's what happened to me. I still use the GoPro Hero4 but not as much as I did when we first got it (3 years ago).
I really enjoyed my Nike+ sport band for tracking runs (9 years ago). That is when I actually went for runs. Its limitation was that it was limited to step counting. Then dear husband bought me a Garmin Forerunner (7 years ago), which could track both runs and bike rides. Its limitation was that over time the plastic band got worn down so that I had to safety pin it to my handlebars, and during one bike ride (2 years ago) it fell off. Shortly thereafter, we upgraded our phones and I started using apps to track fitness.
We had the Samsung Galaxy S7 for two years and have now upgraded to Samsung Galaxy S9. We didn't get the S9+ because it was even bigger. Honestly, your technology is only as good as it is useful. The phone is powerful but kind of large and definitely doesn't fit into most of our bike bags. My sister-in-law bought me a product called buddy pouch, but the phone is so heavy I feel like it will pull my yoga pants down if I tried to run with it.
I'm actually enjoying the REI Co-op Trail 2 Waistpack quite a bit more. The waistband is sufficiently wide and doesn't cut into my skin, it's long enough to fit my circumference. I can fit my phone, wallet, keys and poop bags for dog walks in there. I have also stuffed a light jacket or pants extenders if I have to. It's not really large enough for a water bottle, so I carry that in my hand. I wear it rollerskating ALL THE TIME.
We purchased a Lenovo ThinkCentre M72e Tiny Desktop with Intel i3-3220 CPU @ 3.30GHz and 8.00 GB RAM running Windows 10 Home 64 bit with 2 TB hard-disk space and LG 24M38H-B Monitor (1920 x 1080 resolution) from Fry’s. It makes my home computer (5 years old) seem clunky. I'm sure it doesn't help that the 5 year old computer is completely full of GoPro footage and other photos that should probably be uploaded to the cloud. One good thing about the new computer is that I edit video using Camtasia. I screen-capture video directly OR use the webcam on my AsusT100 OR use my Samsung S9 phone.
I used to use my teeny mp3 player, Sansa Clip (6 years old) to record audio files, but now that's completely unnecessary. From my phone, I can record audio and get a transcript, then email those files to myself and I don't even need a cable to transfer it. I bought the Sansa Clip to use with my Smart Car audio (there's a USB input in the glovebox) but the car doesn't recognize it. I haven't tried to interface the Samsung S9 with the car yet, maybe I'll try that soon.
Strangely enough, the car will recognize my super-old SanDisk mp3 player which sadly only holds 128kB of data (14 years old). In case you're wondering, that's like 2 albums of music or 12 podcasts nowadays. It's so passe to download files now anyway, most people use streaming services like Spotify to get their music. I have an older Pandora account (8 years old) that I still use when I really need to buckle down and get something done that does not require writing, such as housework. I do use the Pandora app on my phone for stair-climbing workouts.
I bought this handlebar bag to hold the phone on bike rides (2 years old) and one of the two zippers recently broke. The thing I like about it is that it can be worn as a purse or fanny pack, which is definitely something I looked for. When you lock your bike and walk away, it's convenient to take your valuables with you. I also detach the GoPro from my handlebars and slip it in here. I liked that it has some reflective detailing and there are mesh pockets on the outside for holding used Kleenex or sticky Clif bar wrappers. It's a great size for holding sunscreen, snacks, sunglasses, wallet, keys, phone and it is large enough for a 500mL water bottle. One drawback, besides the cheap zipper, is that when you have the bag facing you, the sun reflects off the plastic and can be blinding. I am considering making a fabric cover for the plastic part. Also, when you try to run Strava or Google Maps during your ride and the sun is shining, the phone will overheat and shut off. When the phone is inside the bag, this doesn't happen, but it's not always handy for navigating when you want to see the map on your phone as you ride. I have used the plastic window for a printed routeslip, so if you don't mind using old fashioned paper, this bag is great. On some bikes I Velcro the bag to the handlebars on the same side as the top tube and on other bikes I do it the other way. It depends on how close your knees are to the handlebars and your body position when climbing hills. It was originally designed for a folding bike.
One last item I'm obsessed with is the BESKYDDA safety vest from IKEA. When you don't need it, the vest folds up into its own pocket making a cute little sachet. When unfolded, you can put your phone in the pocket with the speaker facing out and let the Google Maps tell you where to turn. As long as you don't need to look at the map and the traffic isn't too loud, this works great. I'm not a fan of using headphones while walking, biking, cycling or rollerskating. I am a big fan of wearing safety yellow and reflectors.
The data will be in a zip folder, which you need to unzip. Then look in the following directory: Takeout\Fit\Daily Aggregations\Daily Summaries
After that, you can delete any rows/columns that aren't useful to you. The default units are meters and milliseconds for distance and time, which I thought was kind of strange.
I used Strava and Google Photos to remember what some of those workouts were, unfortunately Google Fit doesn't automatically create any kind of description of what you did. Also, you have to manually log things like our Commit To Be Fit (CTBF) program. I guess that would be one advantage to going back to a watch-based activity tracker. What do you use and what are the benefits and limitations?
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