Thanks to my cool mother-in-law, I am now the proud owner of a new iPod Touch. It wasn’t a birthday present, but a thank-you for setting up her new computer. I was happy to do it, and I was even happier to get the Touch so serendipitously.
For my birthday, my brother Tim gave me a gift certificate for Big Peach Running Company in order to get some new running shoes. The New Balance pair I bought in Pigeon Forge suck: the sole insert in my left shoe decided to migrate toward the heel, making the shoes uncomfortable and useless. Thanks, New Balance. So, I needed some new running shoes. Big Peach is cool, because they put me on a treadmill and filmed me running for about 30 seconds in order to analyze my gait. While we reviewed the tape, we compared it to several other runners in order to pick the right shoe for me. After trying on several pairs of shoes, I picked some Nikes as my favorites. I was surprised, too. Actually, a pair of Brooks came in a close second; however, I’m glad I went with the Nikes.
What do my shoes have to do with my new iPod? Well, enter Nike+. I’ve known about this for a couple of years, but was never able to take advantage of it — either I didn’t have the right iPod, or I was wearing another manufacturer’s shoes. Finally, the stars have aligned, thanks to Tim, Cheryl, and my lovely wife.
I made my first calibration walk/run today, just to try out the system. I gotta, I’m pretty impressed. When I was finished, iTunes automatically uploaded my stats to Nike’s slick web site (a Flash-powered site that cannot be viewed on the iPod Touch, however), so I could create an account. I assume the site will keep track of my runs on a daily basis. I’m gonna be a machine — a likely result of being trained by machines.
Finally, I coupled with this new set-up with a program called Couch to 5K (link to iTunes Store). While I’m not exactly getting off the couch, the program does seem to use some of the work-out techniques that I have recently been attempting myself, namely intervals. C5K spans nine weeks, with three workouts per week, and claims by the end I’ll be running 5K without stopping. I think that’s a pretty good goal for the first part of my 40th year.
Who knows, maybe I can begin finally running some of the local 5Ks. Oh, and here’s my little Nike dude. Does he look like me?
UPDATE: I also joined
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