the second phase

So those of you who know me know that I’m trying to get into shape.  I started off with dieting and changing my way of eating.  Not just a ‘fad’ diet, but actually changing my lifestyle.  Then I started playing soccer ( mind you, I’m still dieting and I’m still playing soccer ).  But it wasn’t enough.  The soccer games are only once ( and now two ) times a week and we hardly every do any practice.  I needed something more.

So I started to run.  Run, run, run and run some more.

But it gets boring.  I mean, for 30 minutes you are sitting there with nothing but thoughts in your head like ‘Did I start the washing machine before I left?’ or ‘How gay is The Tiger?’.  In any case, after awhile the running, while good for me, was getting really dull.  So I went and bought an iPod Shuffle.  Yes, that’s right, my first Apple product.  I wanted some music while I got my shin splints.  I had yet to open the package ( I was back at work ) and while browsing the Apple sit, customizing what will be my next Apple product ( Hellooooooooo Mac Pro! ), I came upon the iPod Nano and Nike+.  “Hrm”, I said to myself.  “Self, I think I should go get that instead.”  And so I did.

For those of you who don’t know what Nike+ is, it basically takes an iPod Nano, puts a receiver on it and gives you a little sensor that you stick in your shoe.  Then when you run, the sensor sends data back to your iPod, while it’s playing music and all that jazz, and records like a pedometer, basically getting your speed, distance and time and calculating stuff like calories and average pace.  Then when you get home, you can upload it to the Nike+ website where they chart all your runs.  It’s pretty darn spiffy.

I just went and tested and it works like it’s supposed to.  Very simple interface and I didn’t have to calibrate the sensor at all ( at least, it was close enough to the real distance that I didn’t really mind ).  The one thing I did wish it could do would to be to export your run data to some other format so that I can include it on my own website, like here, so that everyone can laugh at how slowly I run.  Some of the other cool things on the Nike+ site include setting goals for yourself in terms of distance, time and speed or calories burned.  You can also challenge other people to different types of races.  All in all, it’s a pretty cool tool and cheap ( if you already have a iPod Nano ) and a huge motivational tune to help get and stay in shape.

Anyways, I’m going to go figure out some way to post my run info on this site in the future and then go off and run some more.  Hope everyone is having a good weekend.