Sleep clinic results and power naps

I had my follow-up appointment at the Toronto Sleep Institute earlier this week, where Dr. Shaw discussed the results of my overnight sleep study visit.

Basic summary: There's no obvious physiological reason explaining why my sleep feels so fragmented.

Apparently it took me 14 minutes to fall asleep, which is normal. And surprising, really, considering I was wired up from head to foot.

I got more REM sleep and slow-wave sleep than is the norm but somewhat less total sleep time (5.7 hrs real sleep out of 7 hours). I don't have sleep apnea or unusual PLM (Periodic Limb Movements). I'm told that I sometimes snore when I'm on my back, but that it's intermittent and "mild in intensity."



These days, I generally cope with tiredness during the day by:

(1) Going outside and doing something active. Time-consuming if I've already been out earlier in the day and have tons of work, and doesn't always help with the tiredness.

(2) Taking a 20 minute power nap.

I used to feel immensely guilty doing the latter during my workday, especially since I know those with office jobs don't have this option, but I always find that it improves my productivity and alertness for the rest of the day.



In addition trying to get to bed earlier (I seem to wake up around 6:30 am no matter what), I'm also going to ramp up my exercise somewhat. Right now I go out and do some walking on hilly terrain (with an occasional run, depends on how my knees handle it) about five times a week. I need to aim for EVERY day again.

I've nearly made it to Cleveland, OH in my virtual walk, by the way! I'm sure I'd be going faster if I could accurately all the walking I do elsewhere (trails at the cottage, etc.), but right now I'm just recording the km/miles I walk specifically for exercise and when I remember to take my fancypants pedometer.

Though I recently bought a pedometer app for my iPhone which seems to do exactly the same thing as my fancypants pedometer, so I may eventually be selling the latter.



I also use my iPhone for waking me from my power naps; setting the clock alarm app to wake me with harp music. Have I mentioned how much I -love- my iPhone?

If you're interested in finding out more about power naps, here are some useful resources:

Power Nap Resources:

Lifehacker: A Guide To Power Napping

10 Benefits Of Power Napping

New Scientist: Power Naps Boost Work Performance

Dumb Little Man: How To Boost Your Afternoon Energy With A Power Nap

KnowHR: Power Naps Are Good For Your Employees

USAToday: Companies Try To Help Workers Sleep More





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Escape Pod and an audio podcast survey

Thanks for all your feedback about vanity sizing; I'm going to post a round-up in an upcoming Blathering.

Virtual Walk Update

So I've walked from Toronto to Thorold my Virtual Con Walk so far; I've found that tracking my route on Google Maps has been a great motivator and a lot of fun.

My friend Luisa was the one who suggested I visit Thorold (it's her hometown) since it's on my route and I could check out the Welland Canal. The Welland Canal is part of the St. Lawrence Seaway, and enables ships to avoid Niagara Falls by going along the Niagara Escarpment instead.



Thorold locks, Welland Canal - Photo by Danny McL.


I've been listening to a lot of spoken audio podcasts during my walks. So far my favourite is Escape Pod, a science fiction podcast magazine that Jeff told me about.

I've been trying a number of different audio podcasts, but I've found that many have too much "noise" - chit chat without real content. Some people may enjoy that sort of thing, but I just get impatient.




Anyway, I've found that I've enjoyed nearly every one of the stories on Escape Pod. Some make me cry, some are thought-provoking...pretty much each one is engrossing enough to make me walk for longer than I otherwise might.

You don't need to have an MP3 player to listen to these stories; you can just go to the story page and listen to the streaming audio right on the site.

Some of my favourites:

Save Me Plz by David Barr Kirtley.
End Game by Nancy Kress.
Friction by Will McIntosh.
The Sweet, Sad Love Song Of Fred and Wilma by Nick Dichario and Mike Resnick.

Escape Pod is also a paying market for writers (see submission guidelines) and survives on advertising as well as donations; I made a Paypal donation today. I've also just subscribed to Pseudopod (horror fiction podcast) and Podcastle (fantasy fiction podcast).

What about the rest of you? What audio podcasts do you regularly listen to these days?





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These shoes are made for walking...

Some years ago I did the Walk To Rivendell Challenge, where you log your real-life walking distance every day and plot your course across a map of Middle Earth. Yeah, I'm a nerd. But a FIT nerd, eh? :-D

Well, I've decided to join Vixy and Brooke (the instigator) on their virtual walk around the world, visiting all the filk conventions. I can use my new fancypants pedometer to help me track distance, and then use Google maps to set up a route.

I'm starting from my P.O. Box in north Toronto (I'm not posting my real address, sorry) and walking to FilKONtario first, then am going counter-clockwise around Brooke's map (to OVFF in Columbus, OH after that). Maybe I'll even make virtual visits along the way, if anyone along the route is interested in offering virtual crash space. :-) Offering virtual crash space in no way commits you to offering REAL crash space at any point in the future, nor do you have to give me your real address -- just the city and prov/state will do.

Thanks, Brooke, for inspiring me! It sure makes tracking my walking progress much more interesting. I'll likely be doing a bit of running as well, but my right knee is acting up a bit so I'm leery about doing running for now - I'm doing longer walks instead. Walked nearly 7 km (about 4.5 miles) yesterday, woohoo!

I'm setting up my virtual route along real-life roads instead of a direct route wherever possible, though I may sometimes opt to take detours if they look interesting on the map. I figure this will be a good way to familiarize myself with some geography as well. :-)

Anyway, right now I'm about to take the exit for Highway 401...



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