@whipmawhopma.bsky.social
Of course, if you're having fun and staying healthy and your running is fitting the place that you want it to have in your life, that's great!
But from a coaching and analytical standpoint, the bot's still doing a pretty poor job.
But from a coaching and analytical standpoint, the bot's still doing a pretty poor job.
December 20, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Of course, if you're having fun and staying healthy and your running is fitting the place that you want it to have in your life, that's great!
But from a coaching and analytical standpoint, the bot's still doing a pretty poor job.
But from a coaching and analytical standpoint, the bot's still doing a pretty poor job.
Were you going up a hill? Getting chased by a dog? Or was your heart rate gradually creeping up over the course of the run? If it's the third, and that would be my hunch, that's a sign that you're probably overcooking the effort for an everyday run.
December 20, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Were you going up a hill? Getting chased by a dog? Or was your heart rate gradually creeping up over the course of the run? If it's the third, and that would be my hunch, that's a sign that you're probably overcooking the effort for an everyday run.
A good coach would be clear about the purpose of the training and the intended level of effort. The bot is not.
Similarly, the bot notes your highest heart rate during the run but doesn't note how/where you hit it. If a good coach were looking at this data, they would be keyed in on this.
Similarly, the bot notes your highest heart rate during the run but doesn't note how/where you hit it. If a good coach were looking at this data, they would be keyed in on this.
December 20, 2025 at 1:53 PM
A good coach would be clear about the purpose of the training and the intended level of effort. The bot is not.
Similarly, the bot notes your highest heart rate during the run but doesn't note how/where you hit it. If a good coach were looking at this data, they would be keyed in on this.
Similarly, the bot notes your highest heart rate during the run but doesn't note how/where you hit it. If a good coach were looking at this data, they would be keyed in on this.
On the first page, for example, the bot talks about the run being "more like a tempo/steady effort than an easy shuffle." While different people use different terms, most knowledgeable coaches would see "tempo" and "steady" as being different levels of intensity with different purposes in training.
December 20, 2025 at 1:53 PM
On the first page, for example, the bot talks about the run being "more like a tempo/steady effort than an easy shuffle." While different people use different terms, most knowledgeable coaches would see "tempo" and "steady" as being different levels of intensity with different purposes in training.
This is not good! Instead of providing sound guidance around training discipline, the bot is steering you toward one of the classic training mistakes: chronically running too hard on your easy runs.
And the bot is also missing points of analysis that a good coach would be keying in on.
And the bot is also missing points of analysis that a good coach would be keying in on.
December 20, 2025 at 1:53 PM
This is not good! Instead of providing sound guidance around training discipline, the bot is steering you toward one of the classic training mistakes: chronically running too hard on your easy runs.
And the bot is also missing points of analysis that a good coach would be keying in on.
And the bot is also missing points of analysis that a good coach would be keying in on.
Practically speaking, the transition from zone 2 into zone 3 is the range where we start going harder than easy.
So, when the bot talks about "frequent zone 2-3 blocks being foundational", it's obscuring the key distinction between "easy" and "not really easy anymore."
So, when the bot talks about "frequent zone 2-3 blocks being foundational", it's obscuring the key distinction between "easy" and "not really easy anymore."
December 20, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Practically speaking, the transition from zone 2 into zone 3 is the range where we start going harder than easy.
So, when the bot talks about "frequent zone 2-3 blocks being foundational", it's obscuring the key distinction between "easy" and "not really easy anymore."
So, when the bot talks about "frequent zone 2-3 blocks being foundational", it's obscuring the key distinction between "easy" and "not really easy anymore."
When we go harder than easy, we're increasingly shifting over into a realm where intensity of effort limits volume and consistency and our bodies are responding in ways that take us away from basic aerobic adaptations while costing us significantly more in training stress. This is not what we want!
December 20, 2025 at 1:53 PM
When we go harder than easy, we're increasingly shifting over into a realm where intensity of effort limits volume and consistency and our bodies are responding in ways that take us away from basic aerobic adaptations while costing us significantly more in training stress. This is not what we want!
The key to basic aerobic development is volume of training, and the key to volume of training is keeping the bulk of the training easy. This helps athletes train more, more consistently, with better recovery, lower risk of injury, and more space for appropriately challenging workouts.
December 20, 2025 at 1:53 PM
The key to basic aerobic development is volume of training, and the key to volume of training is keeping the bulk of the training easy. This helps athletes train more, more consistently, with better recovery, lower risk of injury, and more space for appropriately challenging workouts.
Here's why: for the vast majority of runners, their primary focus should be basic aerobic development. That's what they need the most, that's what will do the most to make them fitter and faster, and that's what they need to work on first to lay a foundation for other things.
December 20, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Here's why: for the vast majority of runners, their primary focus should be basic aerobic development. That's what they need the most, that's what will do the most to make them fitter and faster, and that's what they need to work on first to lay a foundation for other things.
One of the basic principles of modern endurance training is that you want most of your training volume to be at an *easy* effort.
In a 5-zone system, that would mean that the bulk of your training, and specifically your regular everyday training runs, should be mostly in zone 1/2, not zone 3.
In a 5-zone system, that would mean that the bulk of your training, and specifically your regular everyday training runs, should be mostly in zone 1/2, not zone 3.
December 20, 2025 at 1:53 PM
One of the basic principles of modern endurance training is that you want most of your training volume to be at an *easy* effort.
In a 5-zone system, that would mean that the bulk of your training, and specifically your regular everyday training runs, should be mostly in zone 1/2, not zone 3.
In a 5-zone system, that would mean that the bulk of your training, and specifically your regular everyday training runs, should be mostly in zone 1/2, not zone 3.
Speaking as a longtime runner and former coach, you should run however you want to run, and it's possible to get fit and fast doing a whole bunch of different things.
From a coaching perspective, though, the analysis and advice that the bot is giving you is actually pretty bad.
From a coaching perspective, though, the analysis and advice that the bot is giving you is actually pretty bad.
December 20, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Speaking as a longtime runner and former coach, you should run however you want to run, and it's possible to get fit and fast doing a whole bunch of different things.
From a coaching perspective, though, the analysis and advice that the bot is giving you is actually pretty bad.
From a coaching perspective, though, the analysis and advice that the bot is giving you is actually pretty bad.
Ewedunnit.
December 19, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Ewedunnit.
Interesting! The OED has it originating in the 1920s, apparently in the context of industrial design (like an assembly line).
Their usage stats look a little different, w/o the dip seen in the chart you cite, and actually picking up in the last several years.
Their usage stats look a little different, w/o the dip seen in the chart you cite, and actually picking up in the last several years.
December 17, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Interesting! The OED has it originating in the 1920s, apparently in the context of industrial design (like an assembly line).
Their usage stats look a little different, w/o the dip seen in the chart you cite, and actually picking up in the last several years.
Their usage stats look a little different, w/o the dip seen in the chart you cite, and actually picking up in the last several years.
While "workflow" may be a term of art in modern publishing (I don't know), my guess is that you're responding to it as zombified corporate jargon that's taking the place of what you would call "practice."
A kind of Invasion of the Body Snatchers scenario.
A kind of Invasion of the Body Snatchers scenario.
December 17, 2025 at 11:09 PM
While "workflow" may be a term of art in modern publishing (I don't know), my guess is that you're responding to it as zombified corporate jargon that's taking the place of what you would call "practice."
A kind of Invasion of the Body Snatchers scenario.
A kind of Invasion of the Body Snatchers scenario.
Distinguishing between "fictional" and "fraudulent" is important, but honestly, the corporate project of consumer AI sucks in ways that are ineluctably uncool and no one should be expected to "come to peace" with.
December 14, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Distinguishing between "fictional" and "fraudulent" is important, but honestly, the corporate project of consumer AI sucks in ways that are ineluctably uncool and no one should be expected to "come to peace" with.
I'd argue that for the vast majority of educational purposes, AI proficiency is super simple.
Know enough not to use it.
Know enough not to use it.
December 14, 2025 at 3:22 PM
I'd argue that for the vast majority of educational purposes, AI proficiency is super simple.
Know enough not to use it.
Know enough not to use it.
(One thing I'm thinking about now for an end-of-the-semester assignment for the future: ask students to come up with a reading list for themselves for after their projects and our class is completed.)
December 11, 2025 at 12:44 AM
(One thing I'm thinking about now for an end-of-the-semester assignment for the future: ask students to come up with a reading list for themselves for after their projects and our class is completed.)
And in my experience, the cool thing is that it can be especially powerful for students who *haven't* felt that connection before.
December 11, 2025 at 12:44 AM
And in my experience, the cool thing is that it can be especially powerful for students who *haven't* felt that connection before.
Everyone has things that they care about, and there are books - good books - that connect with all of those things. If you can help a student find a book that connects with something they care about, that's about the most powerful thing you can do to encourage reading.
December 11, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Everyone has things that they care about, and there are books - good books - that connect with all of those things. If you can help a student find a book that connects with something they care about, that's about the most powerful thing you can do to encourage reading.
And to the degree that the goal is simply to encourage more students to read, there's a simple (not necessarily easy) way of doing this.
Give them more choice.
Give them more choice.
December 11, 2025 at 12:44 AM
And to the degree that the goal is simply to encourage more students to read, there's a simple (not necessarily easy) way of doing this.
Give them more choice.
Give them more choice.
(I say "guarantee" in quotes because the system remains complex and there are very real ways that students can still fall between the cracks.)
December 1, 2025 at 9:49 PM
(I say "guarantee" in quotes because the system remains complex and there are very real ways that students can still fall between the cracks.)
So, while your point about the countercyclical nature of cc enrollment is definitely well-taken, there also appears to have been a significant sector of potential students who couldn't/didn't feel able to access cc without the "guarantee" of free tuition.
December 1, 2025 at 9:49 PM
So, while your point about the countercyclical nature of cc enrollment is definitely well-taken, there also appears to have been a significant sector of potential students who couldn't/didn't feel able to access cc without the "guarantee" of free tuition.
Anecdotally, a number of students that I work with have confirmed that free cc was a major driver in their decisions. And interestingly, seeing a lot of students who started in the aftermath of the GFC and are coming back now.
December 1, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Anecdotally, a number of students that I work with have confirmed that free cc was a major driver in their decisions. And interestingly, seeing a lot of students who started in the aftermath of the GFC and are coming back now.
This may not speak directly to the question you're looking at, but speaking as a community college professor in a state that recently went to free community college, that move appears to have driven very significant growth in enrollment (from just under 4k to currently just over 6k, IIRC).
December 1, 2025 at 9:37 PM
This may not speak directly to the question you're looking at, but speaking as a community college professor in a state that recently went to free community college, that move appears to have driven very significant growth in enrollment (from just under 4k to currently just over 6k, IIRC).
*more work and less meaningful work,* that is
And to your point about the job side of things, definitely that, too. And the fact that a lot of student jobs and faculty jobs are increasingly precarious definitely doesn't help. I'm honestly impressed that my students manage as well as they do.
And to your point about the job side of things, definitely that, too. And the fact that a lot of student jobs and faculty jobs are increasingly precarious definitely doesn't help. I'm honestly impressed that my students manage as well as they do.
November 30, 2025 at 11:55 AM
*more work and less meaningful work,* that is
And to your point about the job side of things, definitely that, too. And the fact that a lot of student jobs and faculty jobs are increasingly precarious definitely doesn't help. I'm honestly impressed that my students manage as well as they do.
And to your point about the job side of things, definitely that, too. And the fact that a lot of student jobs and faculty jobs are increasingly precarious definitely doesn't help. I'm honestly impressed that my students manage as well as they do.