If you have known me or been reading my writings for long then you know I like stories. I want to know poeple’s stories and I like to understand the story behind an event or an occasion. It is story that makes us who we are and what we are.
If you know the above about me then you also might know that I like numbers too. Not like an accountant would like numbers, but how an athlete likes numbers. Everything I do, of an atheletic nature, is recorded in numbers. Sometimes I get really detailed in the numbers and sometimes I go the simple route, but never do I ignore the numbers completely. Because the numbers tell the story, or a part of the story.
Like most tangible data there is a way to interpret what is before you in a positive or negative way even though the numbers simply are what they are. One should be careful in interpreting numbers because you can make them say just about anything you want them to say. I’ll show you.
I always get a small calendar for the new year to keep on my dresser. I look for a specific size and shape of calendar that will allow me to record daily weight and daily workout activities. There is always a blank square either at the beginning or ending of the month where I can record measurements. I have kept this type of calendar for at least the past 3 maybe 4 years. But last year, about a third of the way through the year, I stopped writing stuff down. That meant I stopped doing workouts in a meaningful way. That needed to change. In my quest for this year’s calendar, in order to get back on track, I found a cycling daily log. It looked really cool, has fun tips and tricks and quotes from professional cyclists and will serve the purpose of what my usual calendar did, so I bought it instead. I tell you all of this because this cycling log has a place at the bottom of each week where you can record your weekly total time and distance. Then at the top of the next week you carry forward your previous time and distance. Therefore, you keep a running log of your yearly time and distance.
It is not cycling season yet, so I am not out on the road covering distances and long hours on the bike, so this line isn’t relevant – yet. However, I decided to use it anyway. I have recorded, using a Renee shorthand so it all fits, my total workout minutes then the breakdown of total swim time, run time, trainer time, miscellaneous workout time, swim laps, and run miles. On the page, this is raw data. Looking at these totals one full month into the year, this is a story it could tell . . .
I have set a goal to lose 15 pounds over the course of the year. I have also set measurement goals, but those aren’t relevant to this story. 15 pounds in a full year is a very reasonable goal because an aggressive workout and diet plan could have me at that goal in about 3-4 months if I wanted to starve myself or kill myself working out. That would be unhealthy and not lasting. So, I’m swimming and I’m getting on the trainer and I’m doing stupid 5K runs in 37 degree weather and here I am 5 weeks into this thing with 406 minutes of training, 164 laps of swimming, and 5.34 miles of running and only 2.5 pounds of lost weight. 2.5 pounds. If I had written this blog post 2 days ago I would have said zero pounds of lost weight, I just happened to be on the light side this morning.
One story I could tell from this is that I have wasted 7 hours in 5 weeks for practically no gain toward my goal. What is the point of going on with this ridiculousness? Why get up early on Tuesday and Thursday to swim? Why spend my lunch hour squeezing in a 25 minute swim, shower and grab a sandwich to eat at my desk (I hate eating at my desk) workout? Why suffer through the boredom and monotony of a trainer workout? Why even try to catch a semi-decent day to go to the park for a run? Why bother if 406 minutes of working out does nothing for me?
Well, I’ve run the numbers and I have found that busting my hump, paying attention to my meals, and sacrificing sweet tea and real coca-cola is a futile endeavor, so I am now stopping with this charade and giving up on all my 2014 goals as of now. Good story numbers. Thanks for clearing that up and freeing me up to pursue other things, like Girl Scout cookies and couch time.
What do you think of my story? Is that the real story? Did I ask the right questions? Did I analyze the data properly? Did I apply the results to the right goals?
I think not. I think numbers have to tell their own story, not the story I want them to tell.
In those 164 laps, I started off doing sets of 3 because I would have to stop and catch my breath before continuing on or I wouldn’t get a full workout in, which was 20 minutes. Yesterday morning, I did a solid 20 laps in 30 minutes where I took one longer pause between laps 15 and 16 to breath a little deeper than the other laps but not quite long enough to consider it a rest break. Sure, it hurt to sit up straight the rest of the day, but I’m breathing better. My lungs are stronger. I do not have a personal pulmonary function test device at home so I can’t run the numbers on that, but I can take a deep breath and tell you – my lungs are stronger. And while it hurts to sit up straighter after that kind of workout, it doesn’t hurt when I sit up straighter in my car during my commute each day. My back isn’t as sore when I lay down at night. I don’t have to stretch it out slowly from tight muscles after slouching all day. I sit up, I stand up, I carry myself more upright because I have stronger muscles to handle the load.
During those 406 minutes I was working out, I wasn’t lying on my couch, putting food in my mouth, or feeling sorry for myself. I was focused on pedal strokes, swim strokes, breathing correctly, praying, dreaming, analyzing, weighing faith and doubt, wrestling and winning in the self assurance, self confidence arena. 7 hours of discipline in 5 weeks, not bad, but could definitely be better.
This story tells me I am laying a foundation that is still not firm and could still crumble, so I need to be diligent and not get lazy or unfocused. A foundation that in 5 more weeks will feel stronger and more secure, so that in 5 more weeks out on the road, on the bike, I will fly and when I fly on the bike the weight can’t hold on. So, 2.5 pounds today that was zero two days ago and may be zero again in two more days, will eventually be the 15 I want it to be if I let the numbers tell the story they want to tell. What are the numbers measuring? What else is going on that the numbers cannot not tell, but the numbers are supporting?
I love a good story, but good stories leave some of the details to the imagination because to tell them all would bog the story down in tedium. A good numbers story does the same thing, it cannot tell you all there is to know, so you cannot go on just the numbers alone.
Now I know the story’s beginning, I can fashion the next chapter a little bit better.
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