Day 36 of 300: Productive
Garmin changed its mind about me. Yesterday it said “maintaining.” Today, after 87 minutes of squash, it says “productive.” That one word shift means more than any single session. It means the accumulation of the last week, the base run, the recovery jog, the walks, the squash, is actually building something instead of just treading water.
I’ll take it.
The session
- Activity: Squash
- Duration: 87 minutes
- Calories: 775 kcal
- Heart Rate: 119 bpm (avg) / 186 bpm (max)
- Steps: 2,882
Max heart rate of 186. That is genuinely high. My theoretical max is somewhere around 177 based on age, so I blew past it. Squash does that. The rallies are short, explosive bursts followed by rest, and in the heat of a point you don’t notice your heart trying to escape your chest until the rally ends and you’re bent over the T.
Average of 119 tells the real story though. Lots of time between points, warming up, chatting, recovering. The session was a proper mix of high-intensity spikes and active rest. Exactly what racquet sports are good for.
Training status
| Metric | Yesterday | Today |
|---|---|---|
| Training status | Maintaining | Productive |
| Acute load | 262 | 455 |
| Chronic load | 349 | 349 |
| Load ratio | 1.1x | 1.3x |
| VO2 max | 39.0 | 39.0 |
Load ratio jumped from 1.1 to 1.3. Still in the optimal range but pushing towards the upper end. The acute load nearly doubled after today’s session. That’s a big day. The key now is not to stack another big session tomorrow. The body needs to absorb this.
Recovery time estimate: 42 hours. That means no real training until Thursday at the earliest. Walking is fine. Anything with a heart rate above 120 is not.
The body battery situation
Body battery peaked at 80 this morning and is currently at 21. That squash session drained 59 points. I’m running on fumes. Training readiness started the day at 61, dropped to 22 after the session, and is now sitting at 26. Garmin’s feedback: “Let your body recover.”
For once, I agree with the watch. Water and sleep. That’s the rest of today.
OMAD, day four
Four days in. The fasting window is getting easier. Not easy, but easier. The hunger comes in waves now rather than a constant background noise. I ate my meal this afternoon before squash, which gave me fuel for the session. Now the window is closed until tomorrow afternoon.
Water is the cheat code. Every time the hunger pings, drink water. It doesn’t make the hunger disappear but it makes it manageable. I’m going through about three litres a day outside the eating window.
Weight trend
| Date | Weight |
|---|---|
| Mar 30 | 111.8 kg |
| Mar 31 | 111.7 kg |
| Apr 1 | 111.1 kg |
Down 700 grams in two days. I know. Water weight, food timing, scale variance. But the direction is right and the daily weigh-ins are happening. That’s the point. The trend over weeks is what matters. The daily number just keeps me honest.
BMI is 33.4. Garmin says getting that to 21.4 would drop my fitness age from 44 to 38.5. That’s a 5.5-year improvement from weight alone. It remains the single biggest lever I can pull.
Sleep
Last night was a step back.
| Date | Score | Hours | REM % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 26 | 68 | 6.1 | 15.9 |
| Mar 27 | 32 | 2.8 | 14.3 |
| Mar 28 | 51 | 6.7 | 2.5 |
| Mar 29 | 69 | 6.6 | 8.1 |
| Mar 30 | 66 | 7.0 | 6.7 |
| Mar 31 | 82 | 8.7 | 16.4 |
| Apr 1 | 60 | 6.1 | 3.0 |
Weekly average: 61. Below 65 again. Last night’s 82 gave me hope but tonight dropped back to 60 with only 6 hours and a dismal 3% REM. Light sleep dominated at 85.7%. The body was in bed but it wasn’t recovering properly.
The sleep history factor in training readiness is stuck at “moderate.” It won’t budge until I string together consistent nights above 65. One good night followed by a bad one is just noise.
**"REM at 3%. That's not sleep, that's lying down with your eyes closed. Your brain didn't get a chance to consolidate anything. The 82 last night was proof you can sleep. Tonight was proof you're not doing it consistently. Fix the bedtime. Same time every night. Non-negotiable."**
The numbers
- Weight: 111.1 kg (BMI 33.4)
- Fitness age: 44 (chronological: 43, achievable: 37.1)
- VO2 max: 39.0
- Training status: Productive
- Load ratio: 1.3x (optimal)
- RHR: 56 bpm (7-day avg: 60)
- Body battery: 21 (peaked at 80)
- Race predictions: 5K 28:52 / Half marathon 2:33:51
The RHR dropped to 56 today. Seven-day average is 60. That’s moving in the right direction. HRV weekly average is 47, which Garmin rates as “good.” The cardiovascular system is responding. Now the sleep and the weight need to catch up.
What’s next
Tomorrow is rest. Properly rest. No negotiating with myself about “just a short walk.” Body battery is at 21 and recovery time is 42 hours. Thursday or Friday: a base run, 4-5 km, zone 2. Saturday: squash or another run depending on how the week’s load looks.
Day 36 of 300. Squash. 775 calories. Training status: productive. OMAD day four. Drinking water and letting the body do its work.
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