All Blog Posts

🏃‍♀️ Want to Run Injury-Free? Science Says Strengthen Your Hips and Core
May 4, 2025
A new 2024 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine shows that a simple hip and core strengthening routine can significantly reduce running-related injuries in beginner runners. In a 24-week trial, those who did pre-run strength work for their hips and core experienced 34% fewer injuries and 52% fewer serious overuse injuries compared to those who only stretched. Meanwhile, ankle and foot exercises didn’t help — and actually led to more acute injuries. The takeaway? For injury prevention, hip and core strength beats stretching. Add it to your warm-up to run stronger and stay pain-free.
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What Actually Prevents Injuries for Runners and Cyclists? (Backed by Real Science)
May 2, 2025
Most runners and cyclists are told to stretch, cool down, or cross-train to avoid injuries—but what actually works? Based on randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses, the answer is clear: static stretching doesn’t help, but dynamic warm-ups and strength training do. Warm-ups with movement reduce injury risk, while regular strength training—especially for your core, hips, and legs—has been shown to cut injuries by up to 66%. Cool-downs and casual cross-training offer no proven protection. This post breaks down the science and offers practical advice to help you train smarter—and stay injury-free for the long haul.
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How I Got My Puzzle to Post Itself Every Day
May 1, 2025
After building my daily word puzzle game, I kept forgetting to post it. I wanted the puzzle to appear each morning without me doing anything. So I gave my website an “alarm clock” — something called a cron job — that runs every day at 5:00 AM. It picks a word, builds a puzzle, and posts it automatically. I set up a secret page, then asked my hosting provider to visit it daily. With some help from ChatGPT to wire things together, the whole system now runs itself. It feels like I planted a tiny digital tree that grows a new leaf each day.
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How I Built a Word Game with ChatGPT
April 22, 2025
One Off is a word game I built after asking ChatGPT to invent something new. It came up with the idea: take one word, and find all the real English words that are just one letter different. I loved it — and with ChatGPT’s help, I built the whole thing. It helped me think through the design, fix problems, and even set up the puzzle system that checks every guess. I didn’t just use it for answers — it felt like building something with a creative partner. One Off wouldn’t exist without that back-and-forth. Here's how we made it.
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How I Built My Own Version of the NYT Connections Puzzle — And What I Learned
April 21, 2025
I recreated the New York Times Connections game as a custom word puzzle on my own website. I wanted to be able to make my own puzzles, choose the word categories, and let people play online just like the original game. This blog post explains how I built it — how I set up a system behind the scenes to manage each puzzle, how the game works when you play it, and how it all fits together visually. I also added features like colored categories, animations, and a way to track progress as you solve each group.
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From Idea to Reality: Building a Blog About Everyday ChatGPT Use (With ChatGPT’s Help)
April 20, 2025
I built this blog to share how I use ChatGPT to make everyday life easier — from writing and web development to learning and problem solving. Using tools like Payload and Next.js, I created a fast, flexible site where I can post real, practical examples of AI in action.
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