Run Forrest RUN!!!!!

Ever since I got back from Berlin, which is about 3-4 months now, i've started going running to keep my fitness up. I live quite close to the Phoenix Park in Dublin which is ideal for running in. There's lots of hills and slopes, curvy paths and an endless variety of routes to keep me entertained. I had always ran in ordinary runners just but found that no matter how much stretching I did, I still woke the next day with splitting pains in my lower leg. They got better over time but it was still painful. So I decided to invest in a pair of proper running shoes and I had always wanted to try the Nike+ system that works with an iPod Nano.



So I went into my local Nike Store and began looking around only to find that one of the guys in my class in college worked in the shop. Now, not only did he work in the shop but he also trained new staff in the types of shoes and the theory behind them. I was amazed not only how much he knew about the shoes but also the science involved. What i always thought was a decorative piece of plastic or rubber could actually be crucial to keeping your foot in one piece. I ended up sitting there for about half an hour while we chose the perfect pair of shoes. Apparently I run on the outside of my foot, so a shoe with an exposed air bubble on the outside is preferable and something with a strong under arch support is essential. The most interesting thing was that when he asked me what shoes I was running in at the moment and I answered, he immediately grimaced and asked me are my shins not killing me!?!? There was the answer to what had been bugging me all this time!! the shoes I had were raising my heels too high and causing my shin muscles to flex in an odd way which was why they were so sore. It just amazed me that without telling him about the muscle pain that it was that easy to answer.

So after I got the shoes (30% off, thanks Rowan!!) he threw in the Nike+ kit for free (thanks again). This is the fun part!! The kit consists of an accelerometer that fits into a specially designed slot under the under-sole of one of your shoes,
and a receiver module thingy that plugs into your iPod Nano. The iPod then records that data which is sent wirelessly from your shoe to the iPod!!. Genius!! So this way you can get up to date information on how fast you're running, how long you've been running for and what pace your running at and how many calories you're burning, while your running and listening to music!! After your run is over, you plug in your iPod and your run information is sent to the Nike+ website where its presented in graph form showing a detailed summary of your run. You can then set goals to achieve, challenge other people around the world to a race, get online coaching and loads of other fun stuff.



Having something like this will keep me much more motivated than I usually would. When I ran before I had no real drive to beat my last run or progress onto harder runs but now that I can see how far and fast I'm running it will give me something to aim at!! So here goes....