Health

A (not) moving moment

And so it was that my 242 day move streak–as recorded by the Activity app on my Apple Watch–ended, thanks to my desire to rest and recover from a nasty cold. Apple doesn’t have a mulligan option in their activity app, so you’re either hardcore or a complete loser. I am now a loser again, with my current move streak at 0 days.

Alas.

On the other hand, the end of the streak freed me up from having to worry about it, allowing me to rest again today. In fact, I didn’t even go outside! This could be a bad thing if I was feeling healthier, as the ease with which a streak can be broken does not help in egging people on to keep streaks alive. A conundrum, for sure, and one that Zac Hall discussed recently on 9to5Mac–Feature Request: Apple Watch Activity rest days, tolerance levels, and an honor system.

In the meantime, I’m still congested but feeling a bit perkier. I’ll go outside tomorrow, even as the remnants of a typhoon continue to knock down trees all over the Lower Mainland. I probably won’t run again until Tuesday, though, and by then it will be dark before I’m even done, so maybe I won’t run on Tuesday after all.

In fact, maybe I’ll just buy some short bread, sit around and gain back that 20 pounds I lost over the last year, all thanks to Apple’s refusal to accommodate off-days in their Activity app. Thanks for making me fat again, Apple! Also, no one charges $1549 for a laptop with a Core m3 processor in it except you. Sorry, that one just kind of slipped out.

I can’t smell (but my throat feels better)

I am officially on Day 4 of Being Sick and two-thirds through the holiday weekend. Today I feel much like the stuffed turkeys that will be consumed tomorrow.

What started as a slight scratchiness on Thursday evolved into “Why is there a tiny chainsaw constantly running in my throat?” by the evening. Blessedly, that diminished by late Friday. Taking its place was a general feeling of being run down, as well as increasing  congestion in my sinuses. That appears to be peaking tonight as my nose has been plugged up all day and I can’t smell anything right now. I am sitting here with a nice cup of Chai tea and I gave the teabag a good sniff before dropping it in the cup. Nothing. Not even the slightest bit of aroma. Drinking it I can detect something but it’s weird to have a sense just switch off like that.

I’ve been imbibing Nyquil in the evening and so far it’s been pretty effective in helping me sleep, just like the TV commercials say.

I’m up later tonight as well, so perhaps I am on the odorless mend now. However, if the usual pattern holds true, the cold will next visit my chest, to be followed by days of racking coughs (i am coughing as I type this, somewhat politely, but with a feeling of doom hanging over me that the polite coughs will give way to the “blow paper off the desk” coughing soon enough).

All in all, being sick still sucks, which is hardly a revolutionary thought. It’s resulted in me going to bed early, I’ve missed two runs (the idea of running is so off-putting right now I can’t even articulate it. I’d probably get a few hundred meters in, collapse and be eaten by a bear/bobcat/python) and I’ve tried to compensate for my general state of misery through eating. Even that simple pleasure has been diminished now that I can barely taste or smell anything. So yes, sucks.

By coincidence the next stat holiday, Remembrance Day, falls on a Friday, making it another three-day weekend. I would like to make a request to not be sick that weekend. Thanks in advance, arbitrary forces of nature!

I have a good butt

Today I learned what the acronym FIT means.

My doctor referred to a recent test I took as “poop on a stick” and that is literally what it is–you apply a small bit of your poop to a stick, seal it in a container and the medical lab people examine it for nefarious and unwanted things. My doctor advised me when I got the results to not be alarmed if they were positive, as the test apparently generates a lot of false positives.

Today I got a letter from the medical lab regarding my Fecal Imunochemical Test and I quote:

The result of your recent Fecal Imunochemical Test (FIT) was normal.
NEXT STEPS: No further action is required at this time.

I am pleased that my butt is normal.

That is all.

I am officially a slave to technology (but it’s okay)

Two and a half years ago I got a Fitbit One. It’s one of only two trackers Fitbit makes that doesn’t strap to your wrist. I keep mine in the watch pocket of my jeans (or just in the regular pocket of my shorts when the summer weather is actually summer-like). This had the effect of making me treat its goals casually. If I made the 10,000 step daily goal it was nice but I never felt inclined to push toward it.

About eight months ago I picked up an Apple Watch. It has an activity app that tracks three things: Move, Exercise and Standing. The stand goal is pretty simple, as the Apple site states: “The Stand ring closes when you’re up for at least one minute in 12 different hours during a day.” This is pretty easy to achieve unless you spend 15 hours of the day sleeping. Move tracks active calories, so simply walking will contribute to this, albeit not super quickly. Exercise is defined as activity that is at least at a pace of brisk walking. This is set to 30 minutes by default and is usually the first goal I hit each day because the 30 minutes don’t have to be consecutive and I pretty much walk briskly all the time, varying only in the degree of briskness.

Now that I’ve explained what the Apple Watch activity app does, I’ll explain the crucial feature that separates it from my Fitbit One: the watch is on my wrist and the activity ring is on the watch face I’ve selected, meaning I can at a glance always see how close I am to the three goals. I see the incomplete rings and they bug me, just as they’re supposed to. The visibility makes all the difference. The activity app will also occasionally make the watch chirp or tap my wrist to remind me to stand or egg me on for one of the other goals. And I obey.

Take today, for example. I normally do about a 5 km walk each day and that, combined with other moving about and generally existing, is usually enough to get me the exercise and move goals. Today, with the full effect of vacation settling in and no run scheduled, I was feeling lazy. I did some walking for about 20 minutes but that’s not enough to fill those rings. I lazed away most of the afternoon. I had dinner. I looked at the time. I looked at those incomplete rings. I got up and went for a brisk walk. I kept walking until my watch happily dinged, confirming I’d reached my move goal. Then I walked a little more before coming home just because.

I also stopped and scratched the ears of a tabby cat that lives a few blocks from my place on the way back. Bonus calories burned, rewarded with purring.

Another insidious feature of the activity app is it tracks consecutive days and rewards you for streaks. My move streak is currently 176 days. As it grows longer I get more anxious about breaking it so I keep walking, I keep moving.

One night I went out in a rainstorm at 10:30 p.m. and circled a four block area twice to reach my move goal. I did this after calculating that walking briskly in the restricted confines of the condo wouldn’t get me to the goal before midnight, thus leading to the horror of the move streak ending. Unacceptable.

And here’s the thing: I am a self-admitted slave to this technology. It works exactly as it is designed to, providing just the right level of incentive to keep me going. But it’s good because it keeps me moving, prevents me from calcifying in a chair for hours at a time and is keeping me generally aware of the importance of remaining active and specifically bugging me when I’m not. I’ve even started adjusting the move goal higher, forcing me to do more to hit it.

Now, if all of this turns out to be a sneaky way to get humanity to lay down the groundwork for SkyNET or the Matrix or something, I’ll be miffed. But I’ll be miffed and in shape.

The dirty corgi walk

I went for another long walk today and once more wore my Hokas. The weather was much warmer, edging past the mid 20s as one of those fancy high pressure ridges has formed over the area (Weather Underground has a post about “dangerous, extreme heat blanketing the west” this weekend).

After completing the 18+ km route (walking counter-clockwise around Burnaby Lake this time) I noted the following vs. the last big walk:

  • my overall pace was even faster, 8:38/km vs. 8:54/km
  • my right leg started to feel achy after only one km; once the endorphins kicked in it wasn’t too bad
  • the right ankle twinged briefly again at the 8 km mark. Very weird that it would be that predictable.
  • the right shoe was rubbing one of my toes, which didn’t happen last time. Maybe the socks made the difference? The toe was rubbed red but never got to where it started bleeding
  • I jogged a few times in brief bursts and felt okay while doing so

I actually felt a strong urge to jog several times, simply to get back sooner because the shoe rubbing on the toe was bugging me a lot. A strange and unpleasant incentive, but at least it gave me the opportunity for a few test runs (ho ho).

The heat didn’t bother me. It’s much more tolerable when walking vs. running.

Oh, and the dirty corgi? This was a little weird. I passed by a number of people, given the zippy pace I was keeping, and one couple had a dog with a docked tail. I think all dogs should have big tails that can effortlessly sweep items off a coffee table and it strikes me as a little cruel to dock tails simply because it’s tradition or whatever. Anyway, it made me start thinking about other dogs that usually get docked and the corgi immediately came to mind. A few minutes later I passed a couple with a corgi. How strangely coincidental! The corgi was unleashed (no surprise there) and was distracted by a small mud puddle that had lingered since the last rain, so I (seemingly) walked by unnoticed. After sating its curiosity, it ran up to me from behind and for reasons only it will know, jumped up to say hi. Being a corgi, it only made it as far as my left hand, which it covered in water and grit from the puddle it had waddled through. I was both amused and annoyed. I washed when I got home.

I don’t like dogs. Still.

The walk was a mixed bag. The pace means the soreness of the right leg wasn’t enough to slow me down and the little joggy bits seemed fine, but after three weeks without runs I’m still uncertain whether I should try a run now or wait a little longer.

A strange walk

Today I woke up with an immense pressure headache.

I also went to bed the previous night the same way, though the pressure was not quite as immense then.

I’ve also been stuffed up the past few days so perhaps this is a renewed mega-allergy attack for an allergy that I have yet to identify but may be associated with pollen or other spring-related junk in the air. Whatever it is, it made me feel almost dizzy just to stand up. Bending down to tie my shoes was like diving in a submarine to the depths where The Great Old Ones await.

I opted to take the day off work then self-medicated with some Advil. After letting it kick in I decided to get outside, thinking that some fresh air might help and the exercise (probably) couldn’t hurt.

I tracked the walk, which took me to Burnaby Lake, around it and then back, a total of over 18 km. My pace over the first few km was in line with recent walks, starting around 9:30/km but then something strange happened (this is the first strange part of the walk). My pace picked up and continued to pick up. Save for the final km, when I finally started feeling weary, I stayed at or under 9:00/km for an overall average pace of 8:54/km. This is my best walk in months and rather unexpected. Even stranger (part 2) was that my right leg and foot (and my left foot, for that matter) felt fine throughout. I had a brief twinge in the right ankle around the 8 km mark but it lasted only a few moments and never returned. The leg continued to feel fine post-walk. It feels fine now.

What was so different about this walk compared to the others where the leg and foot have felt cranky and sore?

I wore my running shoes. The color migrating Hokas, to be precise. And I think that was enough. The Hokas may not retain their color well but they do provide a noticeable level of support. My normal walking shoes are Scarpa light trail hiking shoes. With my orthotics inserted in them they are eminently wearable but without them my left foot will start crying about me being a mean-spirited barbarian sometimes within mere minutes of walking out wearing them. Could the shoes really make that much difference? Possibly.

I’m going to wear my new Brooks Cascadia shoes for the rest of the week and see how they compare. Hopefully the results prove interesting, just not ancient Chinese curse interesting.

The third and final strange part of the walk came near the end. I had just exited the Brunette River trail onto North Road. There was a car in the curb lane on the bridge facing south with its hazard lights on. The rear bumper showed signs of damage, presumably from a rear-end collision. There appeared to be bits of the car on the road, under the bumper. None of this is strange because, as they say, accidents happen.

The strange part is there was no sign of the other presumed vehicle in this presumed accident. And no sign of the driver. Or any drivers. Or emergency vehicles. Or anything or anyone else that might be related to this looks-lik-an-accident. Just a slightly damaged car sitting in traffic by itself.

I got out of there quick, not just because the strangeness perturbed me, but because a car sitting on a busy road as rush hour commenced seems like a good way for more accidents to happen.

Run update: Still no running, walking continues with occasional limping

This injury of the right leg is bizarre, puzzling and a tiny bit scary because it is bizarre and puzzling.

My last run was a little over two weeks ago, on May 15th. Since then I have continued my 5K walks during lunch (with one exception, on a rare soggy day) and have also walked about the same on the weekends. The pattern has typically been the same: a slower pace than before the leg was hurt, but varying from pretty close to normal to decidedly on the pokey side (though still a brisk pace for the average person).

The weird part is how the ankle is behaving. Sometimes in the morning or after sitting for an extended period, like in a meeting, it gets very stiff and sore, enough that I almost limp while walking on it. In the best case this will largely vanish after walking for just a few seconds at a normal pace. The worst case will see the pain/limping disappear after a few minutes, replaced by a general achiness.

The worst instance of the latter happened Friday at work after a one hour meeting. The ankle was astoundingly tender, I was hobbling about enough to draw concern from co-workers, then, while climbing the stairs to the second floor to check a lab, I found it hurting so much I had to stop walking and just hung on to the railing with both hands, afraid I might not be able to hold myself upright otherwise.

I checked the lab and by the time I came back down the stairs I was walking normally again, with no sign of a limp and no real pain. I even did a little jig to demonstrate to a co-worker how suddenly A-OK I was.

It is weird. I don’t understand it. But I know I don’t like it and each day it feels like I’m not getting any closer to a return to running. I may have to call in the experts. By which I mean go to the doctor.

Stupid leg.

I am a bit bummed out

Not because of my bum, but because of my right leg, which is not so much right as it is wrong.

At least I’m still getting some exercise with my daily walks at “a very brisk pace” as My Fitness Pal likes to describe them. I skipped Tuesday’s run and will skip tomorrow’s, too (Thursday). I may run Friday if the leg miraculously feels much better, but that seems quite unlikely.

At this point if someone offered me two choices:

A) $500,000 with no strings attached
B) healthy legs for the rest of my natural life

I would seriously consider option B. In fact, I would choose option B. $500,000 would buy a lot of ice cream to console myself with, but my waistline, general fitness and overall mental well-being would be better-served by legs that behaved themselves.

If option A was $1,000,000 I’d at least consider taking it and think about buying a bike. Bikes are good exercise, as long as you stay away from cars and large trucks that can knock you out of your shoes.

Mostly I am really anxious to get jogging again.

The Sunday no-run

After 40% hemming and 60% hawing I finally decided to not run today. After doing some thinking and various amounts of walking, my self-diagnosis is I’m bipolar. Just kidding.

I am reasonably confident that the right leg is sore due to muscles being stretched and not due to any kind of injury with the bone (a bone injury would be very bad). The reasons for thinking this are I can walk at a brisk pace despite the soreness and it does not get worse the farther I travel. It’s quite tolerable. Also, the pain seems to have diminished over the last day or so. I wouldn’t be comfortable running again just yet but I’m hoping the worst is over. I’ll see how the leg feels on Tuesday and if it doesn’t feel bad I may try a slower run on the river trail. I’m also fine with sitting out the full week. I’ll just do sit-ups or something (I won’t do sit-ups).

It still bugs me that I am pretty much injury-prone at this point. Was it the twenty years of not exercising at all? Is it because I mysteriously decided to stop stretching before and after running? Karma? Ancient curse? Klutz gene? I may never know. But I’ll work through it. My sexy* figure demands it.

 

* sexiness may be in the eye of the beholder

No run: The Walk

I was going to run tonight but then my leg exploded.

This is a slight exaggeration.

On Sunday’s run the muscle that went kablooey in my upper right leg last August started to ache a bit. Concerning, but yesterday (Monday) it felt a lot better so I was no longer as concerned and I planned to run on my normal schedule tonight.

Very early this morning the same muscle felt a little more sore instead of a little less sore, as expected. At first I shrugged it off as sleeping in a weird position and stretching it or something. The run was still on.

Just before getting up I stretched my legs, as one often does before rising. This resulted in a sensation in this upper right leg muscle that can be compared to (pick one or pick all):

  • 500 matches inside the muscle all being lit simultaneously
  • Satan suddenly possessing the muscle and attempting the Linda Blair head spin with it
  • a machine specifically designed to create pain suddenly teleporting into the muscle and activating

You get the idea.

I’m not sure how the simple act of stretching caused such an explosive burst of pain, but it did. I took two Alleve and tried resting (I passed on work since the incredible pain would probably prove distracting) but there was no position that went from “yes, this hurts” to “no, this doesn’t hurt” or even “yes, this still hurts but is tolerable.” So I got up and padded around, sat, had tea, got up, sat down again and so on. A few hours later the Alleve finally had some effect or the muscle relaxed sufficiently to become an ache.

It remains a dull ache tonight.

I decided a run would be unwise, plus it looked like rain, so I probably saved both my leg and my nipples*.

However, I felt a walk would be okay so I headed out and walked the river trail, touching the gate at the far end before returning. The weather was a light drizzle for about the first two-thirds. It changed to, well, steady rain for the last third, meaning I got drenched.

Still, it was nice to get out.

The Apple Watch proved flaky again, as it has before in inclement weather (or when I’m wearing a jacket, I’m not entirely sure what the trigger is). It tracked my run up to 7:20 p.m. then stopped on its own. I got inside at 7:24 p.m. so it didn’t miss much, but still, the only way to stop a fitness activity is to:

a) swipe through several screens until you get to the one where you tap the End button
b) force touch (press hard) on the activity screen until you get the same screen with the End button

Notice both of these require you to tap a specific, small button on a specific screen. There is, to my knowledge, no other way to make the app stop. And yet it did.

There’s a way to lock the screen. The next time I’m out and the weather turns bad I may try it to see if it prevents this from happening. I’d prefer it to just not happen, though. I don’t mind AI in the watch but I’d rather it not be rogue AI.

 

* don’t ask

I miss having a bike (a little)

As happens from time to time, I was thinking. In this instance I was thinking about how I used to have a bicycle and in a small way I yearn to have one again.

On the plus side, a bike lets you get exercise without beating up your shins and feet like running does.

On the negative side, bikes require a lot more maintenance than running shoes and despite being a lot larger, are more prone to being stolen (as my last bike–and several before it–was).

On the plus side again, you can cover a lot more ground on a bike, zipping and gliding along.

Negatively, you can crash at high speed or get hit by a bus. I hardly ever crash when jogging. It’s really only happened once (stupid dog).

On a bike you ought to wear a helmet and no one ever describes helmets as “hugely sexy-looking and comfortable.” I wear a jaunty cap when I run and it adds a dash of flair, unless it rains, then it looks like some limp white blob died on my head.

Mainly, though, if I got a bicycle, I’d become one of them–the people I loathe at Burnaby Lake. Which people? These people:

Cyclists gonna cycle
No text description needed.

Run with the noses

This most recent virus/hellcold has been especially annoying.

It first took hold a few weeks ago and I was suitably ill and knocked out of commission for a few days. Breathing became a chore rather than something that just kind of happens without a lot of thought needed. After a week or so I got better.

Then last weekend I started to feel the hellcold trying to get hold of me again. I firmly told it, “No, go and bother someone else, some jerk or something.” And it seemed to work, as the rest of the week I again returned to a state of normalcy.

Until today. It is now making attempt #3. The primary victim again is my nose, which ran like an Olympic marathoner on the commute home from work. This is not pretty when you have no tissue on your person. Tonight, anticipating another round of Nose Acts Like a Dam, I have taken a decongestant and am drinking some nice hot tea. I have approximately 50 hours of meetings tomorrow so I am hoping that my body will be generous and kick hellcold to the curb again. It has my blessing to do so for the remainder of the year, in fact.

Other than that, I was also tired and it rained. I will not be writing poetry about this day. Actually, I write terrible poetry, so it may be appropriate to do so. But I’m going to bed instead. I’ll dream of terrible poetry, where no one gets hurt by it.