The Nike+ sensor, safely hidden away in my shoe

If you haven’t noticed already through the post I’ve made or the new section on the right sidebar with the numbers, I’ve been running. Tonight (well, last night), was my third official run, and it’s been a blast.

However, something that’s really helped (besides running with Rachel), was this little gadget I picked up while at the mall the other day. I had to pick up some running shoes if I wanted to get into the hang of it and I already had an iPod nano which I got for free with a Mac for their back-to-school program, so I decided to go for the Nike + iPod dealie. Installation was a snap– put the little sensor in the shoe, plug the transmitter into the bottom of the iPod, put said iPod in the armband, and run.

My first run was without any music whatsoever. That run passed as follows:

• Ran for 3 minutes.
• Walked for 3 minutes.
• Ran for 3 1/2 minutes.
• Walked for 5 minutes.
• Ran for 5 minutes.
• Walked for 5 minutes.
• Ran for 10 minutes.

While it was indeed impressive for me, I think the most impressive part in the end was my improvement after I had the iPod gear on me. Here was my next run:

• Ran for 15 minutes (1.75 miles).
• Walked for 3 minutes.
• Ran for 15 minutes (1.7 miles).

Neat.

Once you’re done with your run, you plug your iPod in like you always would, and it automatically uploads the run data to the Nike+ website. Then, it gives you cool graphs, showing you how fast you ran and when. You can also add and join challenges with other people to try and race (or work together) to some goal you set. I’ll make a challenge for which to invite people to if there are people reading this who are interested. Leave a comment with your Nike+ username, and I’ll add you into it. I’m not really expecting anybody to bite, though.

This stuff makes a nerd like me more excited to run. Hell, I even have my run data embedded in the sidebar now.

Originally I thought that Rachel and I should get separate receivers/sensors, but then I thought of the ingenious plan to tether us together while running by using a splitter. That way, we could each listen to the same music and get super pumped up by the same stuff. So, a splitter hangs down from my armband, and two cords come out from there, one heading to me, and one crossing the space between us and into her ears. It works surprisingly well.

But, we’ve decided to run at night. We’d be… quite the site in daylight.

My running path.

It’s something I thought I’d never do. I talked about it frequently and the iPod + Nike thing was catching my eye, but I just never had the willpower to actually get out of my chair, put on a pair of sneakers and shorts, and go running.

But, thanks to the help (read: peer-pressured convincing) of a pretty little lady, I did it. I ran and walked and ran and walked for a grand total of 2.6 miles. Doesn’t sound like much, but when you’re… athletically challenged, it means quite a bit.

What would I say in the end? It was fun. The last time I had run more than a block was probably four years ago in Sophomore high school gym class. With that as my last memory, I wasn’t too excited in the beginning, but after I had gotten a hang of it, I had a good time– it helped to have a friend with me. Aches and pains suddenly appeared on my body within the first 20 minutes or so, but even that felt good. It was nice to know my muscles were still alive (but for how much longer, we don’t know).

Whatever the case, it feels all the more excellent lying in bed to go to sleep whilest typing away on the laptop. I think I may try this again sometime soon.