Running and Nike+

Running. I have always hated it, but always wanted to do it.

I’m the person in kung fu who gets red faced after five minutes, who has to kneel and catch her breath after 40. At my kempo school, they used to ask if they should call the ambulance before or after class. In short, I have low blood-pressure and no endurance. The idea of running a mile terrifies me, let alone running 5 kilometers or, fates forfend, something as horrific as a half-marathon.

I’ve tried running before — a day here or there, in between months of no running. It’s never stuck. Recently, I’ve been amazed at the success of a pair of friends who’ve been using the Nike+ system. They were wonderful enough to lend me their old setup: an iPod Nano, a sensor that attaches to it, and a sensor that attaches to your shoe. (If you’ve got an iPhone, it’s even simpler and better than that, I hear.)

So far, I like it a lot. (The more you can make real-world activities like videogames, the happier I am.) With Nike+, I can track my miles, my speed, my distance and upload them to the Nike+ website every day. I can set goals and work-out plans. I can participate in “Challenges,” where your miles are tallied with the virtual team you join. Some of the more popular challenges are Men vs. Women, State vs. State, etc. The ones I joined involve World of Warcraft races and classes, and NHL teams. (Go dwarves, hunters, and the Kings!)

Of course, I’m not actually running yet. The “coach” program I’m using on the Nike+ site is called “Walk to Run,” and I’m still walking. Getting my body used to the motion, building the habit of getting out every day, etc. It’s that White Belt Mentality that’s so important when starting a new activity, and so easy to overlook. We’re always looking for shortcuts, even when the surest path to success is one step at a time.

It’s only been three days, but my desire to add more data to the website is strong. I want to watch my distance creep up, my time creep down. I want to help the Dwarves beat the Gnomes. I want to make this fun, not work.

On the other hand, I have no blog tag for “running,” and it feels premature to make one. So for now, this little entry falls under “Life Stuff.” Hopefully someday, it’ll fall under “Adventure.”