Nick Thompson discusses how he balances the spiritual and analytical sides of running, using tools like Garmin watches, power meters, and a custom GPT for personalized training advice—while warning against digital burnout from overtracking. He experiments with stress-inducing training techniques and emphasizes the importance of coaching for consistency. On the tech side, motion smoothing on TVs is criticized for creating an artificial look, with filmmaker mode recommended to preserve cinematic intent. Picture quality priorities vary by use: movies benefit from color accuracy and contrast, while gaming demands high refresh rates. Budget-friendly brands like TCL shine during holiday sales, and external streamers often outperform built-in smart systems. Art-focused TVs like Samsung’s The Frame sacrifice image quality for aesthetics. Finally, affordable earbuds from EarFun and Nothing’s CMF Buds 2 Plus deliver strong noise cancellation and battery life, challenging premium brands in value.