Nike + Training

I mentioned in a previous blog that I registered for the Fleet Feet 10-mile run out of Soldier Field on May 29th. As a refresher, I signed up for this to get a friend motivated, but I'm not really a runner. I have been training with P90X, Insanity, and a combination of other home fitness training programs including some of my own extreme interval concoctions, so I am definitely fit. I recently purchased the Nike plus accessory to help me with my running training, and luckily, we do have a treadmill so I can get in some indoor running in this harsh cold winter we're having.

Today was my first run, and I used the new Nike plus stuff with my ipod. Let me give you a review:

I don't currently own the Nike plus running shoes, which have a compartment under the insole where you put the small transmitter, but I did pick up a tiny nylon sleeve that hooks onto your shoelaces at the top of the shoe, and it worked great. I also picked up an armband to strap my ipod nano to my forearm, and then hooked the receiver piece to the ipod, and it synched up just fine. The system allows for tracking of your pace, distance, time, etc, and there are different modes, but today I decided to do a 60 minute run. Every 5 minutes my music volume would decrease so that the "trainer's" voice would let me know how much time had elapsed, and halfway through it began telling me how much time was left. Also, you can press the middle button to get your other info like pace, distance, etc, which is cool, and you can even set a "power song" (I don't need to explain this!) and all I have to do is hold down the center button and it comes on. For my training, I started at 6 miles per hour and every 5 minutes I would increase the speed by 1/2 mile per hour, and I did this with the treadmill level for the first 30 minutes. I also was able to track my heart rate with my (separate) heart rate monitor, and this helped let me know where I was at as far as my optimal zone was concerned. Halfway through the run I slowed down to a walk to sip some water, then decided to increase the grade and start the gradual speed increase from 6 mph all over again. For the last 5 mins, I put my power song on and did a downward-ladder type of interval, running at a steep grade at 10 mph for a minute, then about a 60 sec break, followed by a 45 sec, then finishing up with a 30 sec interval. What an awesome running workout. The nike plus told me I paced an 8:28 minute mile, (cool), and I ran 7.21 miles in the 61 minutes, which was great, and told me I burned 802 calories!!

What's really cool is that I synched up my ipod with my computer and it loaded the data to the nike plus site, where I learned I could see my run graphically, set goals and milestones, set custom programs, take on running challenges, and more! Oh wow, I'm really geeked now about this running thing. Click on the title to this blog to check out the nike plus site, and if you're on there, look for me. I'm new, but my screen name is mnicks31. Hope this encourages some runners and some "tryin'-to-be" runners like me! Thanks for reading everyone, and have a great day!