Progress Report: October
I’m going take a stab at rebooting the monthly progress posts I used to do back when I was diligently tracking several goals through 2019 and 2020. Each month I’d look at how I was tracking against plan for fixed targets like “run 650 miles”.
This time we’re gonna try something different. I’ll include my workout activities, because I still want to note my monthly quantities even if not tracking against a fixed number, books I’m reading, and other media I’ve been consuming, inspired by Julian Lehr’s regular “media consumption” updates.
October was a pretty normal month. The only notable differences from standard pattern of life were my first airline flight since the start of the pandemic (to DC for a company event) and I capped off the month with a visit to the Mayo Clinic for my regular cancer screening scans (MRIs and CTs — all clear!). Ending a month with good news is always energizing for the next one.
Health
Running
Since the summer started I got into a more regular cadence than I had earlier in the year. The move really did a number on my habit patterns, not in a good way for exercise. But now I’m back to it more or less, with better mileage each week.
| Activities | Miles | Time | Calories | Avg HR | Avg Pace |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 28.06 | 4h 9m | 3080 | 156 | 8:57/mi |
The last week with traveling was a bust, but this is much better than my February/March performance.
Sleep & Screen Time
I’ve been tracking my daily screen time and sleep data all year, which I’ll write up a post on sometime soon. Here were the numbers for October.
Nightly sleep for October
(Guess which week we got the puppy…)
- Sleep: 6.88 average hours per night
- Screen Time: 5 hours 6 minutes per day
Media
Books
There is No Antimemetics Division, qntm
░░░░▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ 20-100%
Dune, Frank Herbert
░░░░░░░░░░░▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ 59-100%
Preludes and Nocturnes, The Sandman, Vol. 1, Neil Gaiman
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ 0-100%
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William L. Shirer
░░░░░▓░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 25-31%
The Nature of Technology, W. Brian Arthur
▓▓░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 0-10%
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72, Hunter S. Thompson
░▓▓░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 5-17%
Systemantics, John Gall
▓▓▓░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 0-15%
Knowledge and Decisions, Thomas Sowell
░░░░░░░▓▓░░░░░░░░░░░ 38-49%
Podcasts
- 37 shows, 41 hr 31 min
- Most listened: The Remnant, The Fifth Column
8 hours of driving to and from Jacksonville jumped this one up.
TV
- Ted Lasso, 9 episodes
- Foundation, 4 episodes
- Succession, 3 episodes
And a healthy amount of playoff baseball.