Dumb Luck Brings Me to Finding that Pesky 15.1-Mile Discrepancy
Out of sheer dumb luck, I found the 15.1-mile cycling discrepancy between Strava and Garmin that I mentioned last week. I found it when I saw on my Garmin app’s year end review that I’d gone on a 15-mile run in September. No I didn’t. When I pulled up the day in question, Garmin showed that I’d gone on a 15.17-mile run at a 4:13 pace. I’d also gone on a 4.24-mile walk the same day and when editing my 4.24-mile run to a walk, I’d edited that day’s wrong event, accidentally changing a ride to a run instead. Remember, I have a basic Garmin watch that doesn’t have a walk feature so walks are recorded as runs and I have to manually go into Garmin Connect after my workout to make the correction.
Once that 15.17-mile run was switched back to a bike ride again, Garmin and Strava’s cycling miles for the year matched. Now I can sleep better! 😉
Exploring Segments of America
With 2024 in the rearview mirror, I’m looking forward to an exciting 2025 with three planned road trips which will include touring another chunk of the USA on our gravel bikes!
- • Late January to early February – Florida
- • Late June to mid July – gulf coast states, north to Utah, north to Wyoming, home through the midwest
- • Early October – New England
Overview of the Week
Before getting into each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from this past week. Scroll beyond the infographic for daily details…
Sunday
Cycling: 34 miles
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Average speed: 16.6 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 8:53 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 66° in basement, 57° and mostly cloudy outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra
Walking: 2.06 miles
• Average pace: 14:41 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 79 feet
• Start time: 1:58 PM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 67°, mostly cloudy, and windy
• What I wore: capris and s/s shirt
I slept in until almost 8 AM, did a few things around the house and then hopped on my spin bike without any distance in mind. After my ride, I procrastinated (read my book) and eventually made my way out for a walk. I couldn’t believe how delightfully warm it was, even with quite the breeze kicking around.
Monday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Walking: 3.26 miles
• Average pace: 14:47 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 60 feet
• Start time: 3:14 PM
• Location: neighborhood streets
• Weather: 59° and sunny
• What I wore: capris, s/s shirt, and nylon shell
I dropped my car off at a nearby shop and went for a walk while it was getting its annual safety inspection – I love being able to make good use of my time!
Tuesday
Cycling: 22 miles
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Average speed: 16.3 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 5:34 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 61° in basement, 33° and mostly clear outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra
Christmas undecorating: 2 hours
I started taking down our Christmas decorations by carrying items to the basement which gave me lots of additional steps up and down the stairs. I wrapped things up at 4 PM when overnight guests arrived to help celebrate New Year’s Eve. After an evening of pizza making and cookie baking we tucked our little guests into bed by 8:45 and I was asleep before 10 PM.
Wednesday
Strength training: 15 minutes of core
Walking: 2.06 miles
• Average pace: 15:31 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 108 feet
• Start time: 3:30 PM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 43° (feels like 39°) and mostly sunny
• What I wore: capris, s/s shirt, fleece jacket, knit hat, and mittens over gloves
Christmas undecorating: 6+ hours
For the third Wednesday in a row, fitting a full hour lifting session didn’t fit into my busy schedule. Our New Year’s Eve guests didn’t leave until around 11 AM (a good thing) and then I was all over continuing to take our Christmas decorations down and packing them away for the next eleven months.
I’m not going to lie, I hadn’t planned to fit a walk into my busy day until I saw Kim’s shinny Garmin badge and decided to go out and earn my own.
Thursday
Cycling: 17 Miles
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Average speed: 16.3 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 5:34 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 62° in basement, 36° (feels like 29°) and clear outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra
Christmas undecorating: 4 hours
After a fun morning spin with Kim, I trained one client and then it was time to tackle the rest of our Christmas undecorating, well almost all of it.
Our Christmas tree isn’t that huge – 7.5-feet tall – but it’s chocked full with many years of memories hanging from every branch. My mom and dad gave me an ornament every year from 1976 until Covid hit, my husband and I buy an ornament while on many or our trips (always at a national park), and there are an assortment of homemade ornaments from my craftier days and our sons’ elementary school years. Taking them down isn’t quick.
I moved the glass table with our large Nativity from the living room to the family room, placing the last piece of displaced furniture back in its original space. The Nativity will be a quick take down after the Epiphany.
Friday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Balance and stretching: 45 minutes
Saturday
Cycling: 53 miles
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Average speed: 16.3 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 7:21 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 62° in basement, 27° (feels like 19°) and clear outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra
I had no plan for how far I’d ride, but was on a roll (not literally LOL) so I just kept going. There have been rumblings from my husband that he’d like to ride 500 miles per month in 2025 and once an idea gets planted in my head… Wait, didn’t I declare about two weeks ago that I need to chill on the long indoor rides? Hopefully, we’ll have some nice days and I can get back outside soon.
Last Week’s Blog Posts
In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…
- • Sunday – Weekly RunDown: December 22 – 28 / Chill Christmas Week
- • Tuesday – Vermont Rare Recap
- • Friday – Catching Up Over Coffee: Strava Mocking Me, a New Tripod, and a Pink Aglaonema
Questions:
- • Do you set goals or resolutions for the year? ~ My goals are usually to keep up with regular strength and cardio workouts, but this year my husband may influence me to set a distance goal in cycling (rather than waiting until early December like 2024, LOL).
- • What was your most productive workout of the week? ~ If taking down Christmas decorations counts as a workout… 😉
- • Did you run in a race this weekend? ~ no
And that’s my rundown… Have a great week!
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I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but those of the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!
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Ha, my goal is to keep up with my new strength training regime and also stay healthy/uninjured! I did 9 on the treadmill this morning at 515, whichi isn’t race but I’m still proud of it. Hate waking up early on weekends but we were leaving the house at 7.
Those are excellent goals!
Mystery solved! That discrepancy would have bugged me too.I’ve accidentally started a ride instead of a run before, but not vice-versa. I wonder if it tracks you differently?
Other than rides calculating in miles per hour and runs in minutes per mile, I’m not sure.
Glad you solved the mystery! a 4:13 pace for 15 miles would be incredible 🙂
Looks like you have some really fun explorations of the US planned for this year!! Can’t wait to see pics!
Yeah, a 4:13 pace would be pretty crazy for this 67-year-old! 😉
Okay, reading this post filled me with despair. I’ve taken down the Christmas tree (phew) but everything else is still up- I have a lot of work to do. I don’t think it will take me quite as long as you though- I don’t have to go up and down stairs to get things put away. Sigh. I do NOT like this part of Christmas!
Anyway, glad you solved your Garmin mystery! Yes, I guess you weren’t running 15 miles at a 4:13 pace. It all makes sense now.
Where in Florida will you be?
No, I’ve never run ANYWHERE CLOSE to a 4:13 single mile, let alone 15 of them. LOL
While in Florida, we’ll be in the Miami area, Naples, and Gainsville.
Ah, there it is! So now that you’ve found the missing miles AND you did the extra miles on the bike last week, you have definitely done the 5035 miles! Great job, Debbie!
Let’s see… 500 miles a month will land you at 6’000 miles. Yes, I can definitely see that happening this year!
We shall see… I want cycling to stay fun so I don’t want to overdo it and end up with burnout.
I’m glad those missing miles were uncovered! That kind of thing would drive me crazy as well. I really need to get back to more consistent strength work. I’m doing well with upper-body work, but the core and lower-body are not as fortunate ;-( I’m hoping to find a better balance with my work life and available “home” time to get it all done.
I hope you can find that better work/workout time balance, but I understand the difficulty in getting there.
I used to strive for 1000 miles of running… that didn’t happen this year. I decided that there are too many factors involved and I’ll just be happy to stay healthy all year.
Glad you found your missing miles… no race this weekend. maybe next.
Trying to stay healthy is about the best goal we can make.
Happy New Year!
Taking down Christmas decorations is a huge workout! I am saving it for this next weekend.l
500 miles a month is a lofty goal, but i am sure you can do it! No races for me, this weekend… I’ve got a 5K coming up in two weeks that I’m super excited for.
Yay for an upcoming race! Have fun!
Ok, I’m setting a 2025 goal right now to take a cycling trip with my husband! I love your bike trips. I’m glad you found those missing miles, but I am shocked that you don’t have a more advanced Garmin (because you track all of the other stats!).
That’s a great goal – I look forward to see where you choose to travel!
About my Garmin, I have the Garmin Edge 1030 Plus for my bike which is awesome, but it’s not compatible to my spin bike (nothing is). My running Garmin is a Forerunner 235 which is very basic and doesn’t have either a walk or indoor biking option. 🙁
Love your nativity and how the clear table adds to it. Yay on the fixed discrepancy.
Will we just miss one another in Florida? Too funny.
I loved Wyoming in times i”ve visited. I think you’ve been before but let me know if you need any non bike info. I did Devil’s Tower, Grand Teton, Yellowstone and some of the Oregon Trail and Pony Express
Yes, we honeymooned in the Tetons and Yellowstone; and when we lived in Utah, Wyoming was an easy day trip so we went back many times. We also visited in 2018 for the Grand Tetons Half Marathon. We haven’t done the Oregon Trail or the Pony Express.