The Virtual Runner Running Blog » nike+

Running Logs

The Virtual Runner — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:50:28 +0000

I plugged my Nike+ in to the bottom of my iPod so I could get the running history from it and….nothing. No saved runs! What the hell? Piece of crap!

Thankfully I have kept a separate written log of my runs this month, however that means I have no runs to upload to the Nikeplus site. I reiterate… Piece of crap!

Anyway, this is the current situation:-

Distance covered so far in run across Canada: 1665.93km (1035.21 miles)
Distance covered so far this year: 542.21km (336.91 miles)
Distance covered since I started running: 3047.30km (1893.50 miles)

This year I am currently averaging 5.9km (3.7 miles) a day.

Last year at this date I was averaging 4.32km (2.68 miles) a day.

I’ve been neglecting my running log lately but I’m happy to say that I’ve finally updated it. I’ve used Google Earth to map out my virtual run across Canada and I’ve updated my current location map so you can see where I am.

As for the virtual run across Canada, I’m starting to wish I had taken a more direct route. Oh well, it’s all about the journey isn’t it?

I’m getting a cold (typical) but I’m still going for an easy run tomorrow in my new Adidas running shoes.

Catchup

The Virtual Runner — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:17:00 +0000

It’s been an eventful November to say the least! Here is just an overview of what has been happening in order of importance.

My son turned two!
I tried out my new Adidas trainers and my new Shoepouch.
Barack Obama became the first African-American President of the USA.
In the UK, the Monetary Policy Committee dropped the Bank of England base rate by 1.50%, reducing the overall rate to 3.00%!

My son’s birthday was great and he suffered toy/family overload. He didn’t know what to play with first and didn’t want anyone touching his stuff. He was a bit naughty but not too bad. Overall, our son is very well behaved. However, now that he is “doooooo” we await the onset of the “terrible twos” which are renowned worldwide for taking your sweet innocent 1 year old and turning him/her in to a little monster. Bring it on.

My new trainers are great so far. I’ve done about 50 km in them already and they seem to be holding out and the cushioning is quite good. There is still stiffness in my left achilles after a hard or long run but that is something I’ll have to sort out.

I’m not going to go on about the election in the US or the change in the interest rates here in the UK. You can read about those yourself on almost any worthwile news site.

That’s it for today, short and sweet!

Adidas Supernova Sequence

The Virtual Runner — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:12:00 +0000

I did say that I would go in to the shoe shop expecting to buy one type of trainers and probably come out with a completely different pair.

Here is a brief overview of the trainers:

Adidas Supernova Control Sequence Running Shoe. A brand new stability shoe from Adidas with luxury cushioning.

3D Formotion – to ease the transition between the toe off and landing
No Seam Fit Technology – for an amazingly comfortable fit
GeoFit Lining – for an anatomical and very comfortable fit
LiteStrike 55 Inlay – for lightweight comfort and soft feel
adiPrene – in rear foot for shock absorption
adiPrene+ – for dynamic forefoot propulsion
Torsion System – for independent movement between the fore and rear foot

A great stability shoe which provides great pronation support aswell as having luxury top of the range cushioning to help take the strain no matter how many miles you do.

I tried on a pair of Asics Kayano trainers and they were just too hard. There wasn’t enough cushioning for my taste. The same went for the Asics 2130 trainers so Asics was out of the running within 10 mins of my 1 hour+ visit to the shop.

I tried on varous Brooks and New Balance trainers but in the end I went for the Adidas Supernova Sequence trainers. They just seems to offer the cushioning I was looking for and they are still “stability” trainers which will hopefully offer the support I need in the arches.

It was an added bonus that the shoes were also on sale and reduced to £68 instead of £80. I would’ve easily paid up to (an probably more) £100 on new shoes but these were a bargain.
The fellow who was helping (putting up with) me at the shop said I could try them out on a treadmill and if I didn’t like them that I could take them back without any problem. On Sunday I’m going to test them out at the gym on the treadmill and see how they really feel.

So I’ve got my new shoes and hopefully these won’t cause me any pain or injury. They should also carry me nicely up until early next year when I’ll probably need another new pair of trainers.

The only thing I need to buy now is a pouch for my Nike+ sensor so I can still use it with my iPod. I’ve seen them online and they attach to the laces with the sensor held firmly inside. That way, if I really start liking non-Nike brands I can still at least make use of the their Nike+ sensor technology. That is until I want a Garmin forerunner or some other sort of GPS running technology.

Moving the blog

The Virtual Runner — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:50:00 +0000

I decided to move my blog to blogger.com because the features are far more superior to what I can do on my own site without turning it in to a complete blogging site (which isn’t what I want to do). So, with effect from today my blog/ramblings will be hosted here on blogger.com for all to see and fall asleep reading.

You can still track my progress on my virtual runs at: http://thevirtualrunner.org and this blog can be found at http://thevirtualrunner.blogspot.com

As for running, I did 11km today in exactly 1 hour. Not my fastest pace but certainly a demonstration that I am improving again after the achilles stuff.

I’ve stopped wearing my Nike+ Structure Triax 11 trainers because I think they are partly to blame for the pain. The past couple of runs I’ve worn my old Nike+ Vomero trainers and no problems yet. Obviously this is a short-term solution until I purchase a new pair of running shoes.

When I uploaded my runs to the nike+ website it told me that I had achieved over 1000 kms and that I could print a certificate! Wow, how exciting… (does anyone actually print them?). As of today, I’ve actually covered more than 1970 kms. 589 kms of that total is my distance so far on my current virtual run across Canada (Halifax to Vancouver).

I’ve given some thought to doing a full marathon at some point in the future. I’m going to try and get in to the London Marathon (done by ballot) for 2010 and if that fails I will go abroad and do the Paris Marathon, Boston Marathon or NY Marathon. I’ll decide what I’m doing closer to the time, but for now I’m doing my half-marathon next year and my series of 10k runs/races.

As for non-running related matters, my little boy will be two in about a months time and I’ve started teaching him to say that he is two and hold up two fingers. At the moment he says “ooooo” and holds up his hand and shows five fingers. Okay, clearly we have a long way to go but he’s learning.

Have a great day everyone.

See ya New Brunswick!!

The Virtual Runner — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:03:00 +0000

I’ve updated my site properly today and according to Google Earth I am past Woodstock, New Brunswick and heading on up in to Quebec very soon. That means I’m making some pretty good time on my virtual run and I hope it not only continues but gets better too!

If you’re wondering how I track my distance and route; I use my Nike+ sensor (with my iPod) to log the distances and Google Earth to map it out. First I do my log so I know my total distance to date. Then, I map out the path on the roads on Google Earth to find my exact(ish) location. Seems to work pretty good for me although the Nike+ system under-cuts my mileage most of the time.

I completed the Mortimer 10k without too many problems, however the whole last couple of kms was uphill! What a pain (literally) that was. It was good though and worth the whole £6 I paid to do it…lol. I’ll definitely do that one again next year. Now I’m just waiting for my finish time to be put up on the website. I know it was 57 mins but I don’t know the secs yet. I’ll update the site when I know.

I’ve also updated my events page and put in some planned runs/events for 2009. Take a look.
On another note, I’ve decided that I’m going to give Nike trainers (sneakers) a break. I’ve been running in Nike shoes since I started and I’m beginning to wonder if they might be part of the reason for my occassional heel and leg pain. Regardless, I’ve decided to try Asics shoes and I will buy a pair over the next month or so. This will give me time to put some miles in them before the Reading Half-Marathon so I can determine whether they are any better or not.

Weight: 225lbs (102kg)

My girlfriend/fiance and my daughter were looking at old photos the other day and they commented about how much weight I’ve lost. It was nice to hear and made me feel good. I’m looking forward to going down to about 210lbs (95kg) in time for the Reading Half-Marathon. I’m confident that I’ll be able to achieve my sub 2 hour time at that weight and with the right amount of training.