Training myself to run farther with Strava's API and an IoT dog feeder of M&Ms

That's awesome! Do their recent API changes impact things like this?

Good job hijacking your own pavlovian responses to run more. Personally, the low-tech solution of a plunger stuck to my forehead with a klondike bar dangling from the end has always worked for me.

Related but if you're wanting to get into running (and have the environment for it) - I HIGHLY recommend favoring trail running over running streets/sidewalks. It's far better for your joints, it'll make you work harder since it'll absorb some of your energy, and it'll improve your proprioception.

Something like that seems like it would require extensive in-house testing before I actually used it for real.

>I knew I had to get a food dispenser that I could control with Python, so I sought out to find the shittiest, most cheaply made looking IOT dog food dispenser on Amazon. My rationale was that it would have the worst security around whatever protocol it used to trigger the feeding, so I could easily capture and replay the feed command.

Turns out it was unnecessary but I like the idea of actively looking for the worst of something.

Also, having just recently set a repeating reminder to rotate the mattress, yes:

>I now know that what being an adult really means is that most of your time is taken up by an ever-growing list of compulsory maintenance tasks that constitute the meager amount of control you exert over your own life.

> Personally, the low-tech solution of a plunger stuck to my forehead with a klondike bar dangling from the end has always worked for me.

Or you could borrow someone's labrador retriever and have the dog pull you. They like to go real far and real fast... and you get to practice hard turns.

> I HIGHLY recommend favoring trail running over running streets/sidewalks

As a triathlete - I would add something: for me it's more a case of running on soil, over a hard surface. Trail running may take you to a stony path, which is as bad as pavement/concrete.

But in the end it's training your running form to be the best it can be for running, that matters. Running uphill helps to naturally train a good form, even if it's significantly harder.