But you can't take the analytics out of the girl! This has been one of my findings in retirement. Whether it's a spreadsheet to track credit card categories to get a handle on our expenses, "testing" the software our financial planner gave us, or analyzing the hikes Katelyn and I took last winter, I find myself applying my analytic skills in new and different ways. In this blog, I'll share the insight gained from analyzing my fitbit data on top of our qualitative review of the 7 hikes we took. Since the banner takes the first insertion in the blog, I'll include one of my favorite retirement sayings that relates to analytics here:
For those of you who have been following my "Hiking Adventures" blogs, you will note that we evaluate more than just views. Just before Katelyn returned to DC last January, we sat down and "reviewed" the hikes we had recently taken. We found that different things were important to us than might be to other hikers or in a different time (e.g. rainy weather, Covid). For instance, our main categories were difficulty, quality of trail (muddy, width for ease of socially distancing), sun/shade, parking convenience, restroom facilities, views, wildlife and unexpected learning. In the table below I'll summarize those categories, then I'll wrap up with the fitbit data and the unexpected learning from that.
For your convenience, links to each blog are located here:
As you can see, we encountered a variety of difficulty and trail quality. We were specifically looking for trails that would be good after rains, since it was the rainy season. The sun/shade wasn't as critical in the winter, but would be important now that the weather is getting hot. And things like parking and restroom availability make a difference if you aren't always the earliest to get there, or if you're a girl!
While the views and wildlife are things you would glean from reading "all trails" reviews or photos on facebook (I'm a member of a group called "Sonoma County Hiker" which has been an invaluable source of inspiration and information), the above categories captured the things that were important to us.
So here's where the analytics come in! I went through my fitbit for the appropriate dates and noted down stats such as number of steps, floors, etc. Note: these stats were total for the day, so aren't strictly accurate when summarizing just the hike itself. It was impressive to see how much activity we had, but something didn't jive when I compared to our more qualitative "difficulty" rating:
When you look at how difficult we rated the hikes, you'd think it's a combination of how far it was and the number of floors climbed (a measure similar to the elevation difference you see tracked in most hiking resources). So what was it that made the Bodega Dunes hike "hard"? Katelyn and I definitely both rated it as difficult, but it wasn't particularly long (we must have had other activity that day to get that many steps) and the number of floors climbed was a measly 36. What were we missing???
I hadn't really paid much attention to the fitbit metric "zone minutes", which according to my fitbit uses active minutes, which is calculated through metabolic equivalents (METs). This metric, which factors in your body mass, is used to estimate exercise intensity. METs are calculated through a ratio (source):
Rate of energy expended during an activity : rate of energy expended during rest
1 MET is the rate of energy you expend during rest or sitting quietly, while you typically expend 3 METs or more during a moderately-intense activity such as walking. You earn active minutes for activities at or above about 3 METs.
When I add "zone minutes" to the table above, and then divide it by "floors", the answer to why we considered the Bodega Dunes hike becomes much clearer:
So while we didn't climb many floors on our dunes hike, we slogged through a lot of sand, which apparently is just as effective at getting your heart rate up! I thought that was very interesting, and so now pay much more attention to that metric on my fitbit. Plus, my doctor is a big fan of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), so I figure that's another reason to pay attention to it.
So that's your analytic learning for the day! I'm sure I'll be blogging more hikes this summer, but in the meantime I will take a break from that and regale you with some other topics.
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