Running with the Pack Podcast

Today was just my second day with the Nike+ system and after I was done running 4 miles, I got the normal “workout complete” message, but then Lance Armstrong’s voice came on and said something along the lines of “Congratulations, that was your longest run ever”. I don’t idolize Lance or anything, but I thought it was a nice touch. It’s good to recognize a new personal record because, frankly, I’m only competing with myself. A few limitations of the system:

• I can’t enter historical data about myself. My actual longest-ever run was about 16 miles, back in the mid 1990′s. I might get there again some day, now that I can afford good shoes and can work out the time needed to do a 3-hour workout. But I can’t enter that personal record into the system or anything like my old high school times. Maybe that’s a good thing.
• Warm-up and cool-down periods will mess up my data. I typically walk several laps to cool down — or I may just walk the whole time if I’ve injured something. The calories will still count, but the average-time calculations will mess up my overall averages while running. This doesn’t seem like a big deal, but one of my goals is to have several workouts under a 8:20 average mile, which would be killed with a cool-down time included. I may have to let this one go. I’m more interested in distance and calories anyway.
• I can’t enter alternate forms of exercise. If I swim 20 laps one day, I can’t enter that workout data into my charts. Same goes for working out on exercise machines. A treadmill may work (I’m not sure and would be interested if anyone has tried it), but probably not a stair climber or elliptical machine.

When all is said and done though, it’s a great system and I’m very happy with it. Now, I need to go pick a power song.

Okay, I’m not the fastest guy in the world. I just started running again after a long break, but this isn’t bad. I just love having this information now. When I run indoors, I don’t have to count laps anymore and the nice coach-voice is encouraging. I’m actually looking forward to using it again.

I finally decided on the Nike+iPod system to track my running and I order all of the pieces. First, the Nike+ sensor, then a refurbished iPod Nano from the Apple Store, and finally an armband/sensor pouch. The armband is designed to fit the Nano with the sensor’s receiver plugged in. The sensor pouch attaches to any shoe so I can wear the shoes that I want — not just the Nike+ ones. Nothing against Nike. I just have a pair of shoes and want the freedom to use them or another brand based on what fits the way that I run.

Everything came in the mail. I was excited to open the Nano, load up some songs, and plug everything together. Unfortunately, I opened the Nano package, tried to turn it on, and nothing! The screen didn’t even flicker. I plugged it in for a charge, nothing. Did the reset according to the Apple support site, nothing. I called service and went through their steps, nothing. So I don’t know if they bothered testing the unit after it was “refurbished”, but I was pretty disappointed. They sent me a return package, I shipped it in, and today, I should receive the replacement. It came yesterday, but I was at work, so hopefully they’ll try to deliver it today. I should call DHL to check my options.

Yeah, that would be nice. I’m hardly an undergrad with the need to find cheap booze and wet t-shirts, but every now and then, you need to take a break … in spring … hence spring break. I’ve been to Amsterdam three times. Each one has been a trip to remember.

September 2001: my first trip for work reasons. I went to talk to the Open University of the Netherlands about their distance education programs. The weather was great. It would rain in short bursts throughout the day, but inevitably followed by a rainbow. There’s something nice about seeing rainbows all day. It feels like paradise. Of course, I returned to the U.S. on September 11 and they ended up routing our plane to Nova Scotia. We sat on the runway in that plane from about 11 AM to midnight while we were all on the plane trying to get cell phone service and find out what was going on. Planes were falling from the sky as far as we knew. Anyway, we ended up in a sports arena in Halifax overnight with the Red Cross providing some help.

November 2001: Yep, just a month and a half after the first trip, I went again, with Andrew this time. It was a very interesting Thanksgiving, which they don’t celebrate in the Netherlands of course. We enjoyed all of the streets stringed with lights and Christmas decorations. We also discovered all of the H&M stores and Holland Casino. Really, this trip was about discovering the hidden parts of the city. It’s harder than you would think because all of the building fronts are historical — without neon signs advertising that this mansion-looking thing is actually a mini-mall. We found a nice chocolate shop with herb-flavored chocolates: tea, basil, etc… Very good stuff.

May 2004: The flowers in The Netherlands peak in April, but it was still nice to go around the city and see them everywhere. We spent some time in the Bloomenmarket (Flower Market) and found a bunch of cafes where people of all ages hang out with the constant companionship of techno music. Did I mention paradise before?

Its more expensive to go there now because the dollar hasn’t done very well against the euro for the past couple of years. It used to be than one dollar was about 1.2 euros, but the exchange rates have switched since then. So this year, we’re going to try to pool our money together with some friends and get a place to share. If that doesn’t work out, we’re still going to take the time off, but it might be something simple. Maybe we should save Amsterdam for the summer.

I started running again. I’ve been running on and off since I was a pudgy 12 year old (taking after my older sister, who was a track and cross-country star in high school). I was never very good, but I do it anyway. So now I’m in my late-mid-30′s and I’m running again. This time, it was after being inspired by the story of an ultra-marathoner in Wired. One of his tips is “get a cool watch”. What? Running plus gadgets? Sign me up!

So first, I looked at GPS watches like those from Garmin. The model 301 had the features I wanted (heart rate, USB interface, etc…), but it’s pretty ugly. I was still considering it, but then a friend of mine told me about the problems he has with his GPS when indoors. They really need line-of-sight to the sky to work well. So my outside runs shouldn’t be a problem, but I live in State College, PA. It rains here a lot (year-round) plus the winters can make running outside a problem, but I have access to two indoor tracks. So I can still run, but a GPS based system won’t work indoors. I would only be able to track data on my outside runs.

In the end, I opted for the Nike+iPod system. That system uses a sensor that you attach to your shoe, which transmits data to a receiver that is attached to an iPod Nano. The whole setup (including a refurbished iPod Nano and a third party armband) came out to around $160. That’s about the same as the Garmin watch, plus I get to play music and hear audio updates with the same gadget. In my searches, I also found that there is a WordPress plugin for the Nike+iPod system, so I should be able to post my data here. There is no heartrate monitor and the system doesn’t automatically integrate with map data, but I am willing to sacrifice those features to get a system that will work indoors.
I ordered the pieces separately, but should receive everything by the end of the month. Afterwards, I’ll start posting my data here and write a post or two about the system itself.

I have to say that I was totally blown away when I saw the iPhone that Apple is going to release this summer. I’ve heard the rumors before of course and thought there was a good chance that I would get one, but I was expecting something with maybe a touch screen and probably a slide-out keyboard. I even said before the announcement that even if it is a non-smartphone, I would still get one because I trust Apple to do cool things. But really, this is a whole new class of cool. The capabilities of the iPhone are nothing that you can’t string together from other devices, but leave it to Apple to take a stand on their seamless integration.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2oMmCyiJZA]

The one really new thing is the multi-touch interface — I saw a desktop demo of such an interface before and it wowed me. I can’t wait until the time if/when Apple starts making laptops or a tablet that do the same thing. No more pointing and clicking…it feels more like you are interacting with the object itself. Apple and Nintendo (with the Wii) are on a similar trajectory here. And kudos to both companies for doing it right.