Espiens, France 23-07-2009
My last run was two days ago. I am about to head out the door in a few minutes for the next which is meant to be longer and faster than the last according to my training schedule.
I ran so slow on a short run two days ago. I chose to run the day after a long run (they come once a week) even though it would normally be a rest day. It was hot. But I think the real reason for the excruciatingly slow pace is that Joanna arrived the night before. Her arrivals are usually a good enough excuse for me to open one bottle too many of Buzet.
The run did not start well. I dropped my ipod before leaving the house and apparently broke the nike+ receiver. Luckily I had a spare.
The technology that can be involved in recreational running these days is astounding. In addition to the high performance shoes and dry-wick shirts that prevent obscene injuries like bleeding nipples, here are a few pieces of tech that are involved in my running:
The nike+ receiver and transmitter. The receiver plugs into the bottom of my ipod and the transmitter fits into the shoe. Together the devices can measure distance and pace. I’ve read that it works by measuring the amount of time one foot spends on the ground which somehow approximates speed. Combining that with the clock in the iPod will give me distance. I can set the iPod for a certain distance or time and then select a playlist of music. But the nicest (or nastiest) feature is the pleasant and encouraging voice that comes on to tell me that I’ve completed so many kilometers or have so many to go. Nicest when I am through the halfway point; nastiest when there is more than half of the run remaining and I am struggling already. Everyday is different.
The Nike+ website. After each run the iPod syncs the data to a public website that records all my runs and stats. Since I started using the Nike+ device on October 22 last year I have run exactly 780.6 km at an average pace of 5:46/km. On the site I can compare my stats to other runners and join into a ‘Challenges’ that runners post. Right now I am ‘competing’ in two challenges. The first was to run 500km in 6 months starting last Feb 1. There are 8 people in that challenge from the US, Brazil, France and Japan. The guy in Japan runs so far almost everyday that he finished the challenge in about 2 months. I just finished the 500K last week (4th one to finish).
NYT Training Schedule and Log. Here I found a training program that suits me. I can download the schedule to my google calendar that then syncs to my HTC G1 phone. Its great to have on-hand the schedule of up coming runs. The runs include some nice variety: easy runs, pace boosters, fartleks and long runs etc The site also has a log to enter my runs.
Tangerine! BPM analyzer. This little piece of software analyzes all the songs in iTunes and tags them with their Beats Per Minute (BPM). 140 BPM or greater are fast enough for me. Its sometimes surprising what songs fall into this BPM range. All the usual suspects are there: The Clash, Barenaked Ladies, just about any ska band… but some odd ones pop up. Like Frank Sinatra’s ‘Luck be a Lady’ which is a surprisingly good song to run to, no matter how cheesy the lyrics are.
Orthopedic Inserts by Dr. Wade. I have a slight tendency towards pronation in my gait which torques my knee. I found that my knees were quite sore for a day or so after any run past 10k. I met an eccentric American chiropractor in Saigon who practices a bit of sports medicine. He spent some time with Pygmies in Africa. Its seems being short and walking barefoot on uneven ground all of your life leads to exceptionally good posture and bone alignment. So I guess Wade had to find another place to work. Judging by the traffic in his office, the Vietnamese have many more posture problems than the pygmies. The inserts have completely eradicated the knee problems.
Glucosamine-Chondroitin Tablets. These were also recommended by Dr. Wade. A natural supplement made from bovine bone or shellfish shells that is thought to play some action in joint functioning. It also helps avoid knee pain.
Gu. An aptly named product. Little packets of sticky gooey syrup packed with carbohydrates, sugars and vitamins that keep me going on longer runs. I don’t think I could manage anything past 15km without these.
If Pheidippides had all this gear perhaps he would not have died of exhaustion after running the first Marathon.
