Starting the 5k Nike+ Coaching Program

As reported in my last blog entry, I had a very encouraging recovery run on Thursday. My knee injuries appear to have healed, and my legs seem ready for action. I have swung from utter pessimism to guarded optimism – I think I can get into the groove of a running program.

With that in mind, I went shopping on the Nike+ website to see if it could help me design a running program. I had looked before I had the encouraging recovery run, so I knew there was probably something that could help.

After looking around a bit, I settled on the 5k program. It seemed to match up well with my current ability, and where I think I can be when it ends in 3 months. Each program has a number of varients, this one had 4 and I chose the easiest (beginner). At the peak on November 11th, it has me running 7 miles.

The first run is scheduled for today. The distance?  Just 2 miles. Woohoo, here we go!

Runner Motivation Report: September 17, 2009 - Hope

My previous run was a lesson in humility. I felt worse on that “run” than I ever have exercising. I felt very old. But I decided there was only one way to get better, and that is to keep going out there.

Like my previous “run”, this was a bit of a test run so I didn’t bother going to the track. In fact, since my last outing was so slow, I didn’t bother wearing my Nike+ gizmo. At this pace, I can picture that thing ending up in the junk drawer already. How sad.

Nike+ Coaching

I looked into the Nike+ website “Goal” program for help. There is a program called “Walk to Run” that looked interesting. It would start you out at a little less than a mile, and then over 3 months work you up to 2 miles. (geez, is that the reality of my condition?!?)

But, I felt that my needs were a little different. That program seemed more geared to people whose limiting factor was cardio. Mine is leg strength and injury. I can do far more than just a mile or two, I just want to do it at a slow pace. I kept looking.

There was also the 5k program, but once again it is a distance building program. While it could work, it didn’t seem to address what I am looking for. I wanted a program that specifically specified walk/run intervals (walk 300 ft, run 300 ft), slowing reducing the walk times.

The Run

I left the front door and ran down the hill to start my run. The game plan: run for a few hundred feet, and walk for a few hundred feet.

To my surprise, I ran for a few hundred feet, and felt great. I continued running for a few hundred more feet, and still felt great! As I kept running, I realized that I was going to be actually running for the entire outing, and not just alternating walking and running.

The specter of Monday’s run had been weighing on me, and I had been pretty depressed about the state of affairs. Needless to say, with things looking better, it was a huge freaking huge relief.

I ended up running for something like a 4k, probably a bit less. I took it easy, but at no time did I feel pain in my knees. Because I didn’t wear my Nike+ SportBand, I don’t have any performance numbers. I was slow, but I’ll take a 30 minute run without pain as reward enough.

I am looking forward to get back out there and getting into the groove. Here’s to hoping that my body is going to do just fine on future runs. Hooah.

Sept 17 Obstacles

• Serious pessimism about my condition.

Sept 17 Solutions and Motivators

• Resolved to take it as slow as I need to.
• Took myself “off the grid” of the Nike+ system until I could actually go for a proper run. This took the pressure off of my performance.

Runner Motivation Report: September 14, 2009 - Failure

It had been two weeks since my last run. As I reported, that run left me injured and very concerned about my knees. Both of my MCLs were very tender, and I had felt a burning sensation in my left knee that made me suspect I had torn something.

I took the time off to see if I could recover. My knees were tender throughout most of that time. But after two weeks, it finally seemed things were settling down. I decided to get back out there.

I decided to just go for a test run, so didn’t bother to drive to the track. I left the house and progressed downhill. From the start, I realized the 2 week recuperation was helpful, but not a cure all.

OUCH. THIS IS GOING TO BE A LONG ROAD TO RECOVERY.

My legs felt awful, very heavy like full of concrete. My knees did give me a little pain, which didn’t leave me feeling confident. I will need to take it slow.

And that is what I did. I didn’t go for a “run”. I went for a sequence of run and walks. I would run for 150 feet, and then walk for 300 feet. Very depressing. Since I wasn’t really running, I didn’t turn on my Nike+ gizmo so I don’t have a chart. Not that it matters, my performance was terrible.

My morale is very low at this point. I have never felt worse while exercising. I feel like I am 80 years old.

Sept 14 Obstacles

• Deep concerns about the health of my knees

Sept 14 Solutions and Motivators

• I was very curious to see where my legs were at injury-wise.
• Still holding onto the idea that running will be a regular activity for me, and these are just some kinks to work out.

Runner Motivation Report: August 30, 2009

I left the house at noon today to go running, leaving a screaming kid behind for my wife. I’m so glad she supports my efforts! It was important for me to get out there, as I am falling behind already in my goal that I set for myself on Nike+.

With the run today, I have only been out 2 times, with 8 more to go before 9/19. This means I am behind on my target:

 

I should have gone out for a run several days ago to stay on schedule, on August 28th. But I did not.

Aug 28 Obstacles

• My right knee was sore from my Aug 24 run. The ligament on the inside of my knee (MCL?) was tender to the touch. This lead me to decide to give it some time.
• Work was very busy.
• I was committed to visit a sick friend in the evening.

These obstacles were enough to keep me from running. But I did make it out today:

Aug 30 Obstacles

• Right knee was still tender.
• Stella was acting up when I wanted to leave the house.

Aug 30 Solutions and and Motivators

• I knew I was behind on my goal, though I had not logged into the website to check to see how far behind I was.
• I knew it had been almost a week since my last run – not a good start to getting back out there.
• Decided to see how the knee would do, and hoped for the best
• The weather was perfect for a run. Overcast, and cool.

I did run significantly faster than my previous run. This is good.

But I should have stayed home. From the start, both knees were an issue. They both felt sore as I made my first lap. Uh oh. After about 4 laps, it got worse - I felt a warm gushy feeling in my left knee. What could that be?

For the rest of the day, my left knee hasn’t swollen up, but I can definitely feel that it is hot. I don’t know if I tore something, or just irritated it. I have a feeling I will be on the sidelines for a few weeks. I can’t ignore this problem.

This blog is about how I stay consistent in running. It is sad that I have barely gotten started, and I am already failing in that. Injury is always a possibility, but to be hampered so early is really disappointing.

I have a feeling this was caused by my tight ham strings. I was hoping that running would loosen them up, but clearly mistaken. I have learned that I have to fix this problem first before I can go running.

Nike+ Graphing: Something is Wrong Here

I am excited to use the Nike+ website as a means for staying motivated to run. I love the concept of building a virtual community of runners to keep us all motivated and in the game.

The first features I am using are:

• Uploading my runs onto the website using my Nike+ SportBand. This allows me to view stats and see how I did graphically.
• I have set a goal of running 10 times in the next 30 days. The website is tracking that for me.

However, I was surprised to find tonight that there are actually two Nike+ websites. The first being the original, and the second being a new beta site. Fine, that works. I like the beta site better, so this is a good development.

However, I saw something a bit disturbing. Based on the same data for the same run, the two websites show quite different graphs of my performance. Yikes, what is going on here guys? I like the idea of seeing how I did throughout the run, but can I rely on the results? I now have some doubts.

See for yourself. Here is my run on the original website:

Now, here is that same run on the new beta website:

Does that look like the same run to you? Something is amiss.

And, no remarks from the peanut gallery on how slow I am. I know. I am working on it. Leave it be. Talk to the shoe.

Runner Motivation Report: August 24, 2009

The goal of this blog is to track how I stay motivated to run. Historically, this has been a big problem for me in the long run. To counter this, I plan to use whatever good ideas or dirty tricks that I can find to make sure my motivation exceeds my laziness, week after week.

A key part of this is tracking the numerous obstacles that life throws my way (work schedule, family commitments, illness and injury, disinterest, bad weather, lack of energy, etc). I will try to pair these with the various solutions and motivators (guilt, website community, upcoming race, determination, etc) that allowed me to overcome those obstacles.

Aug 24 Obstacles

• Planned visit by my sister prevented me from thinking that I could sneak in a run tonight
• Right shin was feeling just a tad bit sore
• I knew I needed to run during daylight to get a good calibration of my Nike+ device, but at 7:30 kid #2 was crying and kid #1 was getting her last snack before bedtime.

Aug 24 Solutions and Motivators

• I am excited to get my Nike+ gear up and running, so motivated to get out there to run.
• My sister’s flight was cancelled, so this obstacle fell away.
• I decided to ignore my shin. I have switched to running at the track, which is super soft. Also, I know have my new Nike+ Air Moto shoes, which are well padded. I think my shin will be ok.
• My wife agreed to handle both kids. I found out later that kid #2 kept on crying. So maybe I am a bad father, or perhaps he’ll just get over it.

Calibrating your Nike+ Device to 99.8% Accuracy: Tips for Success

Two nights ago, I went for my first run with Nike+ SportBand. Because I had read that these devices need calibration, I made my first run a calibration run. I detailed my experiences in a previous blog entry.

In summary, I found the device to be off by 10%, much like other bloggers I have seen on the internet. I was worried about this – could calibration make it more accurate? I am hoping for less than 1% deviation.

It was so far off, I actually started to doubt my lap count at the track – perhaps I miscounted my laps? I was so paranoid that I brought a lap counter out to the track tonight:

Calibration, Done Right

I went back out to the track to test my device now that it has been calibrated. Great news – the calibration was a success! I ran what I think was exactly 5.0 km, as indicated by 12.5 laps of 400m. The device reported 5.01 km, a difference of 10m over a distance of 5000m.

My calibration of my Nike+ SportBand resulted in an accuracy percentage of 99.8%.

In the software world, we would call that two 9’s, which is better than almost all websites out there. I assume my little SportBand is a competitive animal, so I am sure its glad to know that.

Also, my assumption that my run was exactly 5000m cannot be held as truth – as I ran around the track it is possible I did not follow the lane exactly. Perhaps I did run 5010m, and Nike+ is 100% accurate!Well, we can never know. But suffice it to say its as accurate as it needs to be.

Calibration Tips and Tricks

Here are some tips and best practices that I would recommend for you when calibrating (or verifying the calibration of) your Nike+ device:

Control your Route

When there is a discrepancy between how far you think you ran and what Nike+ reports, you have to make a judgment call. Who was wrong? If you don’t run in a controlled environment, its impossible to say. I think a good running track is the only way to go here. Tracks are carefully measured, and so you can be confident in your distance. Also, while not strictly necessary I imagine, the track is perfectly flat and so probably provides the best reading.

Run Down the Middle

When you run at your track, run down the middle of Lane 1. As much as I can determine using the internet, the measured distance is based on running down the midpoint of the first lane (inner most).

Calibrate in Meters

I think most tracks (outdoor, at least) are measured in meters. 400m is the norm. It is therefore best to change the units of measurement on the Nike+ computer utility to Km, not Miles. I covered how to do this in a previous blog entry.

Calibrate During the Day

As I reported in my product review of the SportBand, I list as a negative the lack of a backlight. This makes reading the device in dim light impossible. I went for my first calibration run at dusk, and was unable to read the device from the start. This prevented me from keeping tabs on the accuracy as I zoomed around the track. On tonight’s run, I started earlier and so I was able to read the device for nearly the entire run. See the next tip on why this is important.

Check the Accuracy Every 100 Meters

Throughout my run tonight, I looked down at the SportBand every time I crossed a 100m mark (there are 4 on a 400m lap). This lead to a better understanding of when the device is accurate, and when it is not. While I think I have some more learning to do on this topic, it made me understand that not all of my strides are created equal when it comes to accuracy.

Relax your Stride

By calibrating every 100m, I found that different strides measured at different accuracies.

• Out of the gate, I was running more on the balls of my feet. I suppose I wasn’t relaxed. After the first lap, the device was short by about 8 meters (I was 8 meters past the 400m mark when it indicated 400m).
• When I realized I was running uptight, I relaxed and started running with a more natural heel-toe movement. To my surprise, my 100m readings suddenly became spot on. The device was ticking off 100m at nearly the exact spot relative to each marker.
• Towards the end, I sped up a little to finish strong. The device became less accurate again, this time absorbing more distance than I was actually running.

In the end, across the different strides, I ended up with a .2% discrepancy. By closely monitoring your device, you can gain insight into how your different strides are affecting the accuracy.

Finish 3 Seconds Ahead

The way you terminate a run on the SportBand, you hold the button down for 3 seconds. One wishes it would then remove the last 3 seconds of data, allowing you to depress the button just as you cross your finish line. Unfortunately, the end of the run is marked by the end of the 3 second depress of the button, not the start of it.

This means that you should depress the button 3 seconds before you expect to cross your distance marker.

Keep Calibrating

Given that stride seems to have bearing on accuracy, I speculate it is important to check accuracy on a regular basis. As Nike+ helps you to become a stronger runner, your stride will change. Recalibration seems like an important thing to do. I will post back on my recalibration experience some time down the road.