Health Archives - Air Dreams

Been over a year since I wrote “How Little Data changed my life”. Added a few more achievements since then to my journey down the Little Data path. I completed my first 10k race in September of last year in well under an hour much to my surprise. I then of course immediately set my eyes on doing a half marathon. Seemed quite daunting but with the confidence in using data to measure my progress I set that as my new objective for Spring of 2015. Unfortunately I hit a wall with the dreaded IT band pains after a few months into my training program.

Back to some regular treatment at physio and slowly back on the training plan for a Sub 2:15 half marathon. For good measure I did two 5k races and two 10k races right around the Half Marathon in April. Amazing what a difference a year makes. I did a new PR in the 5k and in the Yonge St 10k this year the weekend before my half marathon.

The half marathon was hard. During the initial downhill I had about 10 minutes to stare at the huge hill that I had to climb. Mentally it was tough because there was still a lot of miles yet to do. I thought of my family again as I got to the bottom of the downhill and willed myself to suck it up and sprint up the hill. The faster it was done the sooner the hill would be over and I knew the rest was a long downhill cruise more or less. My training set me up well and I did my first half in about 2:01 and change. Completely slaughtered my goal of under 2:15.

My first Half Marathon done in just over 2:01.

The many races did take a bit of a toll and found myself sidelined for a bit after with some bad pack pain. Quickly got through that and now back on the Little Data program again. I’m now doing a sub 4:00 marathon plan for the Scotia Waterfront Marathon in the fall. I’m going to see how the plan goes and decide later if I in fact sign up for the full or the half. For this once upon a time fat boy, I’d really like to tick the I did a marathon box.

My Little Data has guided me well and still keeps me motivated. More than anything though I love the cheer from my little girl, “Run Fast Daddy!” as she sprints down the hall in front of me and the encouragement when her and my wife cheered me on close to the finish line of my PR 10K this year. My daughters eyes lit up when she saw me running towards her, my arms waving frantically overhead. “Daddy! Daddy!” she screamed all smiles as I ran past them both.

That look of joy is something that is immeasurable and priceless.

In my work life I am driven by data around the businesses I have responsibility for. Whether it’s revenue, traffic, clicks, dollars saved, data is a big part of how I understand things. It gives me the ability in a digital world to follow trends, track objectives, experiment with new ideas to improve metrics and know whether myself and my team are making things better or worse.

Late last year after a visit to the doctor’s office for a checkup that was long over due, I discovered my cholesterol was through the roof. High enough that even determining risk factors for heart conditions was not possible. My thoughts immediately turned to my beautiful family and especially my daughter who just turned two in April. After getting to my forties and fairly certain I was not going to have a family, I met the one. I knew it from the moment I met her. We have been married for three years now. We had a perfect, beautiful, fun and smart little girl that neither of us thought we would have. I can’t imagine not being there for as long as I possibly can. Doing everything it takes to be there for them and also to enjoy every moment with the people I love.

So I immediately started taking stock of my lifestyle. Diet needed to change. Activity levels were at an all time low brought on by my long commutes in a car to work, long hours and running out of hours in the day. Getting my diet back on track was fairly easy and my weight dropped quickly. Then as 2014 started I decided I also needed to get my fitness levels back on track or I would be eating salad and grilled chicken for ever. I started slowly by working out on a stationary bike every other day. I committed myself to getting up at 6AM every day to get a few extra hours. I also wanted to support my wife in getting some time in the mornings too for her own goals. So on days I wasn’t working out, I still got up at 6AM and hung out with my daughter. The gym was monotonous. It was something that had to be done, but not something that I was excited about.

In February we took a much needed break together to sunny Florida. While there I committed myself to still staying active. The gym was about 2-3 km from where we were staying. I walked the first day to go see what they had in the gym. I used an app for that! My first Little Data. It told me how far I walked, calories, speed, route. I had a first taste of Little Life Data KPI’s. The next day as my personality is want to do, I wanted to improve my life KPI’s. I went for a run. Sort of. Ran two minutes, gasped, ran when I stopped gasping and repeated for 5km or so. But my numbers were better! My brother-in-law then said he would come with me the next day. Well now I had to do it again. I was sore from the day before, but went out again, smartphone in hand running my KPI collector apps and some tunes to keep me distracted. Data said I did slightly better again.

Since then I have run almost 500km, burned 48,000 calories, lost 20lbs (40lbs since the journey began last year). I can now run over 10km at a not bad pace and log about 25km per week on the road. Each day I see in numbers that I am running faster, farther and becoming stronger. I feel antsy if I don’t run because I wonder if my KPI’s will go backwards. I need to see the graph and the numbers get better! I enjoy the feeling after especially the long runs. There is also a certain meditative state to keeping moving for an hour or more and willing yourself not to stop. I look at my watch and it tells me my heart rate at the time which I now know what that means for my ability to keep the pace up or if I can push a bit more. It also instantly tells me how fast I’m going and how much farther I have to run to get to my goal for the day. The Personal Records keep improving every few weeks.

I get home and plug-in my watch and look at my dashboards updated for the day. I see the data of friends who inspire me to keep improving as well. It’s my new daily habit that I believe is now going be a life habit. Little Data tells me every day that I’m doing better. Instant feedback.