hDrop – Wearable Hydration Monitor

I *just* received my order of the hDrop gen 2 wearable hydration monitor, and used it for a short 45 min easy Zone 2 run. Based on my interest of sweat analysis, I was curious to compare my results to other tests I have done in the past. I plan to continue to use it for more sessions, and it will be interesting to see how the results fluctuate with the seasons.

MetricPrevious ValuePer hDropNotes
Avg Sweat Rate37Oz/h16.4Oz/hMy previous values were cycling, temps were relatively cool
Avg Sodium Concentration716mg/L – 1023mg/L901.1mg/LRange of 5 tests, last 3 were all at 1000mg/L +- 50.

After my first quick and dirty test, the unit is probably quite accurate on the sodium concentration, but I am unsure about the sweat rate. My past sweat tests were done based on weight loss during the exercise, cycling (not running) and majority were indoors. Based on the effort and ambient temp, I think around a 500ml sweat loss seems correct. read more

Export Apple Photos to the Filesystem – Apple Script

I have never really used Apple Script, but recently had the desire to backup all my Apple Photos to my local NAS. I currently have all my photos organized in a Folder -> Album structure so pulled this Apple Script together together to get this done. Create a new Apple Script (*.scpt) and select the source Photos Folder and a location to save the files on your filesystem. Note: Slashes in the name case folders to be created 🙁

https://gist.github.com/paschmann/536def178ea9dd96c22c2143cc2b212c

Endurance Racing – Sweat Analysis

Sweat, and specifically Sodium, is one of the three “levers” for endurance athletes when it comes to hydration and nutrition (fueling) and subsequently your performance. The other two key elements or levers are Carbohydrates and Fluids.

The most important part about sodium/sweat is that everyone has a unique sweat loss rate, and a unique sodium content ratio in their sweat. So while a more generalized approach can be defined for consuming carbohydrates, the same is not true for electrolyte loss. This is why having a sweat test is critical for athletes wanting to perform, understand and take advantage of their data to understand their personal needs and requirements. read more

Situational Leadership – Dr. Paul Hersey

I once took an interview for a role that was well above my skills, experience and background level, during one of the rounds the interview gave me some constructive criticism and suggested I read this book. To this day it sits on my shelf, and think back to at the lessons I learned from it, and the experience it has now given me to manage teams and people more effectively.

If you have or don’t have a leadership role, looking to advance your career or simply understand a workforce better, I would highly encourage giving this a quick read.