Let's get physical

On paper I consider myself a pretty active person with interests in Tennis, Golf, Squash, Swimming, Hiking, Bike riding, and when the stars align I even try my hand (and feet) at Surfing. Unfortunately between these exciting outdoor activities I’m typically bound to a desk during work hours and enjoy couch based video games as well us far too much unnecessary food between meals.

Between actively exercising and following a more disciplined diet to neglecting physical activities and making very poor snaking choices, I estimate over the past five or more years I’ve let my weight yo-yo by as much as 25 kg and have never been able to reach my ideal weight. The good news is I’m back into a weight loss mindset; the bad news is my latest spree has put me in close to or possibly the worst shape of my life.

I do despise how cliché my change in mind set aligns with the rest of society. It’s a pretty common occurrence to let one self go a little in the winter months with less sunlight for motivation and more hearty meals as hurdles. Nevertheless with my now annual pier to pub swim less than three months away on top of my decision to compete in the next BRW Cooperate Triathlon in February 2010 there is no time like the present to get ‘back’ in shape.

So like any gadget obsessed self proclaimed nerd I completed my Nike plus set! The love child of Apple and Nike and outside of the obvious attempts to sell their own wares, Nike plus tries to provide you with a set of tools and utilities that encourage you to run, and run more often. Nike plus isn’t new by any stretch of the imagination and I estimate without doing too much research that it is at least three years old and could even be five.

What is Nike plus? Well I’m glad you asked! At a very basic level it is the pairing of your running shoes to a computer in order to record basic workout stats each time you go for a run. Uploading the workout data to the web then lets you monitor your workouts over time and in theory you will see your own improvement and can then even train for certain distances etc. Add a sprinkle of social networking to the mix and you can compare workouts with friends, place challenges to like minded runners and even track your overall distance ‘ran’.

The real genius behind the system is for a decade or more runner where already carrying the computer, listening to their favourite tunes while on a run in the form of an iPod. All Nike did was make a range of shoes that you could hide a tiny radio transmitter in and Apple added some software to the iPod to record the radio signal from the shoe. Then with the help of iTunes you could elect to upload your workouts to the Nike plus web application and presto you have an advanced running aid; available all over the world.

It has taken me over eighteen months to collect all the bits and pieced needed to utilise the system, but yesterday I got my first taste of the whole experience. A few too many beers the night before had me leaving my car at a good mate’s place for the night, and the next day it came time to collect it. After the customary hour of procrastinating – since I’d decided to run there – I was all set with iPhone, sensor and Nike+ shoes. 18 minutes and 39 seconds later I had navigated the 2.48 Km distance and cursed every single sausage roll and packet of chips consumed in the last 12 months.

The real magic occurred hours later, upon getting ready for bed that evening I decided to charge my iPhone by plugging it into the USB cable connected to my Computer. The customary iPhone synchronisation process was kicked off, but before long I was prompted on whether or not I wanted to upload my workouts to the web. Curiously I agreed and before long I was navigating the Nike plus web application and exploring what it had to offer. It took me a little while to work out which links where plain unadulterated ‘advertising’ and which links actually provided ways to analyse my run. At the end of my exploration I’d subscripted to a 12 week training routine to get me from “walk to run” and taken note that I’m scheduled for a 15 minute, 1Km walk tomorrow (well today).

I’m not so disillusioned to think that this one utility is the savour to all my physical conditioning problems. I understand that this tool is just as useful as a gym membership and just as pointless if unused. All the same I’m happy to try it out and with luck it will help me with my least favourite discipline (running) and hopefully force me in to some ongoing good habits ...