Fear the Crab

I managed to finish the Great Aloha Run without collapsing into a fluid pile of twitching muscles and blistered feet. The official time recorded was 1:51:37, which averages into a 13:43 mile. I placed 9453 overall out of over 27,000+ entrants, 5528/10903 in my gender group, and 644/1125 in my age bracket.
Continued ~

Maile signed us up for the Great Aloha Run, scheduled for Presidents’ Day. I have never run any type of long-distance race, so I classify the GAR almost the same as a marathon. A marathon of 8 miles, yes, so while it’s not quite at the level of a Honolulu Marathon, I think ten steps into either would leave me collapsed on the pavement wishing for unconsciousness.

The sponsors of the GAR hold free training sessions every Sunday starting this week, where I am supposed to learn how to prepare for running and condition myself to maintain the course. Each session has a run of distances from 1-2 miles in the early weeks, gradually increasing to the full 8 right before the GAR itself. If I can dedicate myself to showing up every Sunday morning, I’m pretty certain I’ll handle the event.

Of course, on Monday I had just returned to a routine of weights and exercise, and a set of squats for the first time in months has left my legs in a state of perpetual burn and stiffness. This is a classic case of delayed onset muscle soreness that hopefully will go away as I keep up the pace.

Yesterday I went to the local high school and ran (technically jogged) 4 laps around the track, which I am led to believe is one mile. I was winded, but I wasn’t fully exhausted, so I gained some confidence that I can really do this.

Then maybe I can consider the Honolulu Marathon.

I seem to have forgotten to update the events following my overnight sleep study. After a consultation with the doctor, we decided to try a “take home” sleep test using a Watch PAT device.

Watch PAT

Continued ~

The sleep study wasn’t very restful. I know a part of it has to do with sleeping in a strange place with all kinds of equipment hanging on my face, but I believe it had less to do with that than with the constant interruptions by the technicians. And the sleeping pill didn’t seem to do shit.

I didn’t have a clock to judge how many hours would pass, but I know on three occasions the techs came into the room to adjust the sensors. I was awake enough to realize what was going on, but I wasn’t quite at that level of coherency to try and ask why they were doing this. The techs would peel off the adhesive that held the sensors to my cheeks and neck, and either replace or reattach them again. Hopefully they unclogged my pores with all that facial treatment.

Continued ~

I just returned from a family vacation to Las Vegas. Stayed for four nights from Tuesday to Saturday. I do intend to document my adventures in the desert, but I’m going to post them on the corresponding day instead of all at once. Consider it like a one-week delay between events.

Meanwhile, tonight is the sleep study appointment. I’m very interested in knowing the results, and hopefully I’ll be sleepy enough to provide the doctors and techs with enough data to diagnose whatever it is I’m affected by. I have the expensive sleeping pill to help me pass out, and I think I will bring an extra blanket just in case the room is too cold, or the pillows are too flat.

On the heels of my visit to the doctor for my suspected sleep apnea, I had to attend a mandatory “sleep class” at the hospital. My attendance had to be documented in order to proceed to the actual study, so that I assume the hospital can aver with reasonable confidence that I know what I’m getting into.

For a class, there wasn’t much to learn, nothing that I didn’t already know from my own internet research. I already knew how sleep apnea was caused, that any number of people can be affected by it regardless of their overall health and physique, and that a number of its symptoms can lead to very serious health risks. The class was scheduled for an hour and half, but the actual presentation only took 30 minutes; the rest of the time was for general questions or one-on-one conversations with the physician who gave the lecture.

In a way it was good that the class was so short. With a two-hour window between the end of my work day and the start of that class, I thought I could go home to freshen up and eat dinner. It turned out that traffic that day was Horrendous, so bad that I was forced to detour off my commute so that I could be at the hospital on time.

Since I qualified for a sleep study, I scheduled my appointment for the evening of June 1, which is a day after my little vacation (though I technically do attend work that day). I plan to take the next day off from work, just so I don’t have to rush around in order to be in on time.

When I think back on it, though, there are a couple of things I learned at that class. I discovered what the study will monitor as far as my vitals, such as brain waves, oxygen intake, blood pressure, and anything else they deem important enough to hook up electrodes and other gizmos to my body. I also learned that this granularity of data will be evaluated in 30-second increments, in order to give me the results with some level of accuracy. And if I do stop breathing during the study, the tech is going to wake me up and strap a CPAP machine to my head; likely to see what happens to me with it on.

I didn’t lift today because I visited the doctor to see about a sleep study.  I believe I do suffer from some of the symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea. Among the typical signs of loud snoring and not breathing, I’ve experienced bouts of waking up in a sweat, headaches in the morning, problems with memory and concentration, and drowsiness during the daytime, particularly whilst driving.

I never really considered the latter as possible results of sleep apnea. I’ve always figured it was just because of a long day’s work, or the monotony of rush-hour traffic. In fact, I used to attribute my lapses of memory to just getting old or having too many details to memorize.

Perhaps it isn’t related at all, but it’s still good to check out. I don’t know when the clinic will call me to schedule a sleep date, but hopefully it will be on a weekend so I don’t have to miss work. And since I’m not very good at sleeping right away in strange and unfamiliar environments, the doctor prescribed a sleeping pill that I should take shortly before my appointment.

That single piece of sleeping agent cost me over $9.00. Even the pharmacist was a bit surprised that I was paying that much for one dang pill.

Ab Crunches
Cardio

The boutique called Maile and told her that they got her dress. So she’s rather excited, to say the least. The dress ended up being a bit cheaper than Maile anticipated, though it still punches the wallet at $1,500.00.

Speaking of punching the wallet, the quote from the florist was $8,000.00 for everything. Bridal bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages for the mothers and grandmothers, archway for the ceremony decorated with flowers, stanchions, drapery, cake decorations, lei for the emcee, and centerpieces for 20 tables. Now, $8k is a lot of money, and much of that is for the archway (which we’re renting for $1,200) and the centerpieces (which we’re buying for $3,000).

We’re going to see if we can knock that number down to a respectable $3,000.00. For starters, the groom and groomsmen don’t need flowers, the cake doesn’t really need decorating, and the mothers can get by without corsages. We can also provide our own materials such as the vases for the centerpieces and linens for drapery, and get leis from elsewhere.

We will also see what the florist can do given our budget. The florist’s vision has little to no green, meaning there wouldn’t be any stems anywhere, and yet the size of the arrangements means more flowers. The types of flowers are more towards the expensive end, too. So we’ll see what we can do.

Today I joined Maile on her diet. Now I am a willing participant in the Medifast plan, since I could stand to lose some weight. I figure, since we both managed to kick the smoking habit, the two of us can maintain this diet without cheating.

Plagued by stomach cramps throughout the night. I must have eaten something bad. As a result I am very tired at work, and have resorted to catnapping inbetween webcomics and email.

Happy news is that I got paid again today. This happiness is tempered by the fact that I need to replenish the accounts I tapped to make the holiday presents happen. I should be thankful that a full-time job leaves me less time for spontaneous spendage.

My xmas loot consisted of money, clothes, and video games. Time to make merry! I got the Zelda for the GameCube and Dawn of War: Dark Crusades for the PC. They be orgasmic! Except I found out the Zelda for the GC is mirror-imaged from the Wii version. Everything, including the map, is swapped. Only the text remains the same, but it’s got me wondering if Link was a lefty to begin with. Who got the switch?

Do not take my ponderings to be an indication of dislike. I love the new Zelda game. I love the puzzle-solving (however simple it might appear to be) and I love the story. I also love the fact that I spend every minute of gameplay wondering if Midna is going to betray me. I have not beaten the game yet, so spare me the gory details until I discover the evisceral truth for myself.

I don’t know. There’s just something about the way Midna treats you that makes you think there’s a knife ready for the space between your C-4 and C-5. The little fairy from before would just annoy you, but you knew it wouldn’t lead you into the lava pits.

Dawn of War: Dark Crusades is turning out to be a fun game. I didn’t like the single-player campaigns from the first two (starting out with less than the full complement of units was rather unappealing), especially since they forced you to play as a particular army. I spent more time playing the 1-time skirmishes, which while fulfilling the instant gratification category, never really gave a sense of accomplishment.

Thankfully DoW:DC satisfies my lust for achievement with its campaign mode. Now I can choose any of the selectable armies, start with the full complement of troops and buildings available, and can determine my own course of success. Plus, earning wargear for my leader and an honor guard of veteran units gives a sense of progression, a reward beyond the increased landgrab. I’ve already taken over the planet with the Necrons, and have started a new campaign with the Space Marines.

My brother stopped by to spend a couple of weeks with the family. He returns to California today.

I just spent the whole day moving things. By moving I mean moving boxes of stuff into other boxes of storage. Then moving storage boxes to a big storage box across town. I ache.

Last night I had trouble sleeping. It was too hot. Now I pay for it. Especially tired from watching Maile’s fish swim around in their tank.

Supposed to do more reading on info tech and the socio-economic implications. Figure I’ll do that tomorrow.