The Power of Personal Metrics

The current issue of WIRED magazine features a very interesting article about Living by Numbers which in many ways is an approach to improving your life. For years researchers and data analyst have been mining through data to help us understand the root cause of life’s health problems. According to various medical organizations 50% of our health related problems are the result of our own doing. If we’d just eat right, control the portion of food we eat, and exercise regularly a large majority of our health issues would go away. Overweight and obesity are major contributors to many preventable causes of death. On average, higher body weights are associated with higher death rates. The number of overweight children, adolescents, and adults has risen over the past four decades. Total costs (medical cost and lost productivity) attributable to obesity alone amounted to an estimated $99 billion in 1995.
With the multitude of tools and applications available at our fingertips there really is no reason we can’t analyze our personal metrics. Over one million runners have discovered Nike+ and the power of managing their personal information. Giving them the ability to set goals, track results, and share with other runners is part of the reason this is such a success. My son is currently using the iPod Nano with Nike+ and openly admits that he’s addicted. In fact, the day Lance Armstrong did a voice-over when he finished his run telling him that he set a new personal best was very impressive and just added to his level of commitment. He plans to give the iPod to me when he upgrades – I can’t wait! Another tool that the world is very familiar with is Facebook. The problem is we’re not harnessing the information at an individual level just yet, but I’m sure that’s coming. The other challenge is many of these applications are like “individual islands of info” and they don’t play well together. Success will come when integration between various applications is as simple as connecting them one time. A new player that wants to capture life moments is This Moment which looks to integrate moments of your life in pictures, videos, and how the moment made you feel. The last part, how it made you feel, is very interesting when you think about the potential of adding in things like sleep, exercise, and other items such as basic health info – heart rate, blood pressure, etc. If we’re willing to take that step and then share with our respective doctors think of the possibilities. It’s like letting our doctor join us as our health coach! I don’t know about you, but why wouldn’t you want a professional looking at your data to help you along the way?
If you share in my excitement take a few steps and get started measuring your personal metrics today!
All the best,
Bob

Saturday, April 25, 2009 was the St. Andrew's prom. Josh and Lucy had fun with a quick photo before the big event. An evening of dancing and fun with his friends into the wee hours. Needless to say, I'm a little tired from the lack of sleep last night.

Nick had a wonderful time meeting with friends before the dance and then dancing with his date.

Xobni - Outlook tool

Wow this is really cool. Xobni consolidates a lot of the social networking tools into your Outlook and summarize it in a nice window box. It's totally worth checking out @ www.xobni.com

Blown Away at First St.Andrew's Track Meet

3/2/2009

The 2009 Track & Field season opened Saturday with St. Andrew’s hosting the annual “Triangle Track Meet” (St. Andrew’s, St. Stephen’s and Saint. Mary’s Hall) – the first high school meet ever held at SAS. The Boys squad christened the St. Andrew’s Dell Track and the new season in “high wind advisory” weather with a strong win (SAS – 65, SSES – 35, SMH – 13). The Girls team ran hard but fell to a talented St. Stephen’s team. The team of Whitney Langston (’09), Megan Bentzin (’11), Hallie Gluk (’10), and Ellie Moody (’10) took 1st place in an exciting distance medley relay race.

Scoring for the Varsity Boys came from many team members. Josh Blount(’09) led the way with 20 points (4 wins), Brooks Schaefer (’09) with 16 points (3 wins, 1 3rd), captain John McNamara (’09) with 15 points (3 wins), and Roberto Diaz (’11) with 14 points (2 wins, a 2nd and a 3rd). The high winds tortured the distance runners, but produced some impressive runs in the sprints. Kyle Hunt (’10) clocked a blazing 10.98 in the 100m just losing to DJ Johnson of SSES. It’s only the first meet of the season, but with many members of the 2008 SPC Cross Country Championship team and a strong group of sprinters, as well as the addition of senior Jake Boxberger to strengthen the field events (Jake took 2nd in the shot put), the Varsity Boys look like a team to watch at the SPC Championships in May.

Despite the difficult conditions it was an enjoyable meet, and runners, coaches and spectators from all teams complimented the School on how well the meet was run – a testament to the talented crew of volunteers from the ranks of parents, faculty, staff and students, and a result of the commitment of Head Coach Gilbert Tuhabonye and the efforts of Deb Feo and Jeff McCrary that helped make this meet so successful.

Way to go CRU!

Trick or Treat!

Sunrise at Shelby Farms the largest urban park in America.

The park even has Bison to really give it a unique feel.

Campus mascot the Lynx



Campus art