My work has a number of older Cisco 7965 VOIP Unified Communications phones, which are being disposed of.  I thought I’d grab one and see if I could make it work.  These phones are intended to be used with a Cisco Unified Call Manager & using Cisco’s proprietary SCCP protocol.  But it’s possible to re-flash them with a SIP-based firmware and configure them without UCM.

A warning for those who are setting up PoE gear (like I’m researching).  The TP-Link TL-POE10R (a low-cost voltage switchable PoE splitter) has a fairly major issue.  It’s not galvanically isolated.

In late March, I decided to change over my exercise regime to use the Maffetone Method - a low heart rate training regime intended to increase aerobic capacity.  Essentially, you ensure that all your exercise stays within a specific heart rate range, and never break out of that range - even if you have to walk to stay in it. The theory is that as your aerobic capacity increases, the intensity of activity you can sustain and stay within that heart range will also increase (ie, you get faster and faster at the same heart rate).

Well, I did it.  I’ve hit my target weight, 80kgs, for a total loss of 25kgs.  Since November (I wasn’t using Strava in September/October, unfortunately), I’ve ran 161.3km and rode 1,493km.  Of course, even though I’ve hit my goal weight, this doesn’t mean I’m “done”, not by a long shot.  The objective was to get healthy and fit, and part of that was to reach an acceptable goal weight.  I still have body fat to drop while maintaining weight - from 20.6% now to 16% ideally.  I still also have goals to meet - my midrange goal now is to run the City to Bay run in September.  And I still have the goal of staying fit.

Since I’m doing a lot more running and cycling now than ever before, and I’m a bit sick of killing my phone’s battery running Strava, I decided I wanted to get an all-in-one device that can do running, cycling, and swimming metrics.  If I could wear it as a day-to-day watch with activity tracking, all the better.

At the beginning of September, 2014, I hit a crossroads.  I was 105kg, unfit as hell, and worsening.  I decided that I wasn’t going to keep going down that route.  I had to improve my fitness and drop the weight - for myself and for my family.  A lifestyle change and a bunch of remedial work was required to fix up decades of sloth.