Tag: data

health

Sleep

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How much sleep do we need to thrive the next day?

How much is too much sleep?

How much is too little sleep?

How disruptive is my sleep?

How easy is it to fall asleep?

Sleep is overrated. I want to sleep right now, but I can’t sleep. I need sleep but can’t fall asleep. It’s a vicious cycle. It comes in waves. I exhausted myself physically today, to ensure a deep sleep. Such is not the case for me. 

My dogs are asleep. One is faintly snoring. One is smacking her lips slightly in her sleep as if she is dreaming about her most favorite treat. Ah how I wish I was in such a dreamlike state. I just can’t sleep tonight. Now my next day performance will be off kilter.

My whoop is tracking my sleep these days. Light sleep. REM sleep. Sleep needed. Sleep attained. So much data. it can be easily overwhelming but if you focus on quality sleep that’s really what matters. Finding that balance will lead to better days ahead. Not just for you but those around you.

When people are sleep deprived sometimes they snap. You know the negative snapping. Sleeping is just as important in overall health as nutrition is. They go hand and hand. Too much sugar may impact your sleep. Eating too late in the evening. Alcohol can impact your sleep. So many possibilities.

Are you paying attention to your sleep? As you age are you paying attention to your partner’s sleep? Snoring? Broken sleep? Hard to fall asleep? It’s alway great to monitor your sleep for a period of time to ensure balance and overall health. Give it a try.

fitness and nutrition

WHOOP Intro

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It took me a while but I finally took the plunge and invested in a WHOOP fitness tracking device. Not sure how this will work out but it is officially on my fitness craze list for 2023. In this post I will document the process of starting it up and maybe what I learn initially. Thereafter I will post anything of relevance down the road once it adapts to me. This should be a fun blog to reread down the road.

Step one: taking the plunge with the order. Pretty easy process but I needed to snag a code from a friend to get a little discount. They got one too as a bonus. Hint. Hint. Find a friend or send me a message if you need a code. 

Step two: the wait. They shipped pretty quick so it was here in no time at all, but I seemed to want it yesterday. As if UPS should have been on standby to just know I was going to need a WHOOP delivered. That is the instant gratification girl in me. Zero patience for the newest toy in my toy box.

It’s like Christmas Day agin. The unboxing began. To my surprise it didn’t have an initial charge. The wait continued, I had to figure out the charging process. In my mind I couldn’t grasp how I would sleep with it if the device had to charge. I won’t ruin the surprise but it’s doable.

Then how to situate on my wrist was the next challenge. It seemed weighted at first. It really wasn’t but I perceived it was. Weird I know, but in comparison to the Apple Watch it felt heavy.  Then I had to balance it alternately to my Apple Watch on my other wrist that has been with me for years. It was a process to feel like it was invisible for the first 48 hours. I’m good now.

Sleeping with it. This was a little weird day one. I was also conscious it was there. I wanted to sleep well yet my mind raced a bit. This was annoying because the device needs to calibrate with your sleep four days to establish a baseline. Guess I’m not being helpful! Day two was an odd sleep night at my house creating another benchmark of wake sessions. Next day the same. So far I learned my sleep has a long way to go to improve.

Again learning if you don’t monitor something, it’s basically out of mind. Sleep just isn’t something I’ve monitored before since I’m asleep. Well now the guesswork is out of the way. WHOOP there it is. Recorded for me in an app. Bite sized pieces of information to digest. This girl couldn’t be more happy to review this new data. My data. All about me. My sleepless nights. My wake wake bathroom sessions. The to do list dancing in my head while I try to fall back asleep.

Deep sleep.

Not so deep sleep.

How long it takes me to go to sleep.

Disruptions.

Geez my heart rate just seems so incidental with all the other jazz going on. Whoop. Whoop. Such a funny device name. Yet whoop there it is keeps playing on repeat in my mind. Can’t wait to see where this journey takes me.

Benchmarking. This process will continue and evolve over time. The device is processing away.lots and lots of data. Hopefully I can sort out my movements, my rest and my recovery to improve my overall health. We shall see.

Biking, tennis and CrossFit have been logged. A two-a-day workout. A strenuous workout. A recovery bike ride. Hopefully the movement on the front end will become consistent over the year and the trends or information I’m tracking will give me the statistical data that can fine tune my performance thus combating my aging process and love of fitness. Did I really just acknowledge I’m aging?

Just another tool I’m putting into the mix for now. Bracelets are on hold for now while the wrist real estate is used up with electronic devices tracking my every move. I’ll keep you posted on my likes or dislikes down the road. For now I’m in the honeymoon phase. Whoop

fitness and nutrition

Year 6: The Open

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I was adamant I wasn’t officially participating in the CrossFit Open this year. The main reason for this decision is: I wasn’t feeling like I was in the same shape I was a few years back. Making me think I wouldn’t be happy with my results. I thought about it a good bit. I answered NO, when asked if I was participating many times.

Then I decided to log into my Open app. It showed my participation history and I had already invested five years in tracking my performance. Why not make it six years? Why not see how many years I can physically participate vs focusing on what number I am on the leaderboard?

This year I am 50. I hit a new age band. I had competed in RX the past few years but I have shifted to scaled workouts in most of my recent events. I also focus on going the distance or continuing to move through a grueling wod vs pausing. Slow and steady is my pace these days. It has taken me some time to adjust, but I have come to terms with being a scaled athlete. However, I strive to be the best version of scaled I can be. Thus I will see how I fare as a masters athlete in year six of my CrossFit Open history.

Another fitness benchmark. A couple of weeks of focus and self-motivation. A snapshot of my abilities at that point in time. A worldwide leaderboard allowing me to compare my peers worldwide. Why pass up the opportunity to get better?

Once my decision was solidified I decided to write this post. At the same time I glanced back at what I wrote last year about my Open participation. To my surprise I was on the fence about signing up but I did it. Just as I am doing again this year. Funny how my blog posts serve me purpose time and time again when I want to reflect on a subject. 

My vault is online. Cataloged for many to read. It is by no means all-inclusive memoirs however, the content is genuine. I write with feelings and undoubtedly express emotions to others in a very public way. I’m sure some will read this and the feelings are relatable. Others may lose interest and click away. It’s okay either way. 

As I want to end my evening with a dessert, I instead wrote this blog. In good conscience I will attempt to eat better for the coming days to prepare a tiny bit. Wish me luck. That translates to no dessert. Even if it was my favorite Kind bar frozen treat.

challenges, fitness and nutrition

The Open

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This is year #5 for me in The CrossFit Open. Pretty crazy for me to look back and reflect on where I started in the sport I love to where I am today. So many memories. So many relationships built. So many milestones hit. So many adventures. All part of my athlete journey.

A couple months ago the Open didn’t seem like something I would participate this year. It seemed like another disappointment with all the Corona cancellations around my athletic competitions. Then I paused for a minute. I slowed down to appreciate where I’ve been, where to want to get to, and how much I like data. The Open is a data point for me. An accountability pinpoint in time.

Maybe I weigh more this year. Maybe I lift less weight. Maybe I’m not counting my macros right now. Maybe I’m at a different gym. The variables shouldn’t matter. It’s Me vs. Me in the Open. 2021 is a recovery year for me. A rebuild of the foundation that got some cracks in 2020. I’m looking to see how deep the cracks are or how superficial they are. The only way I will know is to push my limits and see how I fare. The Open will help me gauge my comeback results of 2021.

As I look back at some pictures from the 2020 Open, I see some faces have faded in my gym world. As I look back to 2019, I see where some new friendships blossomed and each and every one of them is still intact. A group of strong females between 45-55 years old grinding away. Daily, weekly, monthly we almost in the work. Why not celebrate our commitment, consistency, and courage in the Open? 

2018 and 2017 were a bit of a blur for me as I didn’t do as good of a job documenting all my ups / downs but that’s where the leaderboard comes in. I can see where I stacked up to others worldwide. I can see how far I have come. As I write in this blog I may inspire another to sign up for the open. Or maybe sign up for a gym membership. 

This year I have a job to sign up two newbies to CrossFit to attempt the Open: one in their teens. One in their twenties. Both have journeys in their infancy. I’m looking forward to watching them shine in their own special way. Motivate. Inspire. Repeat. 

I have hope that when I write about my fitness highs, lows and everything in between that I have an audience. The audience may change from year to year and that’s okay by me. I love to inspire all ages. All types of people. The more I impact the more I write. The more I challenge myself to do more year over year.

Thank you for being part of my fitness journey. I’m on the road to fab at 50. You have a front road seat in the journey. You will see my fitness. My friends. My family. My competition. My exhaustion. My will. My pride. My ego. My personality. My triumph. 

Bringing my best: March 2021

Why not join me? The Open is open to all ages and this year you can even compete at home. Options are available to test your fitness.

challenges

Pretend It’s Normal

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It’s not quite the end of 2020 and there are about ten thousand phrases I’d like to forget with the new year.

Here are just a few, besides the obvious social distancing:

Abundance of caution – “Out of an abundance of caution, we’ve postponed another event you’ve already planned for / paid for / trained for / committed to indefinitely.”

A little different – “Thanksgiving / the holidays / Disney World / The Peachtree Road Race will look a little different this year, but…”

A year like no other…the list goes on. I want it to stop.

But the one that is like a dagger to my lungs is just the word “normal” in almost any context. Yes, “new normal” is annoying because it implies that this is going to drag on and on forever. But just the word normal is even worse. Especially in my work environment.

“We want it to be like a normal school experience.”

Say what you will about science and politics. What we are going through is not normal. I’m hopeful it’s a once-in-my-lifetime occurrence. Walking around in masks, keeping 6 feet apart, sanitizing a million times a day, kids unable to move as they please or need to, feeling suspicious every time someone sneezes…none of this is normal. Dear bosses…Evaluating how or what I am doing based on “normal” standards is also silly. Thankfully, our state lawmakers came to their senses and made the high-stakes tests high school students take at year end irrelevant to their grades. Take it all as just data, not as a way to penalize kids for situations they didn’t create or choose.

People are doing the best they can. And now more than ever that can be a messy, unpredictable, incomprehensible jumble. Forgive it all. Accept it. This goes for my attitude toward myself, too. Keep going. Lift others up when you can. That’s all I can do.

So when you say you want it to be more normal…I want work (and grocery shopping and traveling and everything else for that matter) to be more like a “normal” experience, too. I wish none of this were happening or that I could wave my magic wand and have it be over. Voila! Normal!

Not that easy. Hopefully we are on the way to a better normal in the near future. But for now, can we please just treat this like the anything-but-normal experience it is?

What pandemic words and phrases make you ragey these days?