Nike+ Top Routes
My post birthday runs now come with the added benefit of heart rate monitoring.
I have been attempting to run the Hyde Park Figure 8 Top Route which is a new take on getting people to claim running routes. It uses the GPS data to ensure that you’ve run the (exact) route and qualify to be entered on the leaderboard. I was struggling with this as I thought I had been running the route, however it requires a high level of accuracy and running a ‘close and similar’ run will find you not being rewarded. Yesterday’s run resulted in me becoming the “The Local Legend”.
As for the HRM data, Monday looked good with an average of 153BPM, whilst yesterday was a less impressive 159BPM. The difference in HR definitely bears a direct relation to how I felt during my run.
The knee injury seems to have cleared up, although at the moment I’m suffering from shin splints at the beginning of my run, easing off during the run. Something to keep an eye on and possibly choose a shorter route temporarily.
Keep Running
Nike+ SportWatch GPS
I Popped over to Niketown early lunchtime to try the Nike+ SportWatch GPS out. I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit recently, as the weather has been improving and I’ve had a few runs in shorts again with my iPhone in my running shorts crackpocket. Worried that the phone will eventually fall out and I’ll end up with a shattered screen, alternatives have been the (now released) SportWatch or iPod Nano with Nike+ SportKit.
The overriding factor for getting the Nike+ SportWatch ended up being the fact that it has GPS technology, as well as being compatable with the Polar WearLink+, as I want to be able to track my pace, location and heart rate. The iPhone isn’t currently WearLink+ compatable.
After work I took it out for its first run around Hyde Park. I haven’t bought the Polar WearLink+ yet, so this run was only to check its functionality and ease of use.
As the instructions said, all you need to do is press and hold the Select button for three seconds to link the sensors. My run was solely using the GPS signal as my shoes aren’t designed for Nike+ and I don’t have a sensor pouch to attach to my shoes yet.
I took my normal 6km run route, as I’ve run it many times using my iPhone, so know the 1km markers and end to end is 6km with reasonable accuracy.
It was my first experience seeing my pace realtime as my phone has always been kept tucked away in my running shorts/tights bum pocket. What was unusually nice was to have the freedom to “just run”. Not having the Nike+ GPS iPhone app technology telling you your stats at certain milestones leaves you to get on with running. It’s a positive experience!
The run itself went well, with the SportWatch clocking 6.03km with a pace of 5’10″/km and 450cal burned.
Synching the watch is as easy as setting off to run. All you need to do, once the Nike+ Connect software has been installed, is plug in the SportWatch to your computers USB port and it syncs automatically and updates your run to nikerunning.com automatically. My run data is pretty spot on, however the elevation data is not as accurate as I’d like. This said, it is still more accurate than my phone’s. I like the split information posted below the visual run detail.
My only reservation at this point is tapping the screen to activate the backlight or mark laps. It requires quick, strong taps, as it isn’t a touch screen, so needs to be treated different to an iOS screen.
To sum up the experience, running without an iPhone in your crackpocket is a positive experience!
An explanation of concrete roads in South Africa
A recent tweet got me thinking, so I asked my dad, who is a wealth of knowledge as to the reasoning behind why some roads in South Africa were made out of concrete. This is his reply:
South Africa has a long history of laying concrete roads, since and during WW2. For example, the N2 from CT to Somerset West, built in the 1960′s.. However, within 15 years they had to cover the N2 concrete with macadam, due to a subtle reaction between the kind of sand used and the Portland cement. It started to crumble. It was a brilliant road to drive on, very quiet and fast. Concrete roads also result in better fuel consumption.
One must remember that at times SA had oil sanctions and that in any event the oil refineries only get a certain amount of tar out of a barrel of oil. There were attempts at more concrete roads in Gauteng as one thing that SA has in abundance is the raw material for cement as well as sand and stone for concrete. The life of a concrete road is longer than a tarred road – there is Roman concrete surviving to this day – but it is more expensive to lay than a macadam. However, as the cost of oil rises, concrete roads will become price competitive and fuel efficiency will become even more relevant.
Hit the ground running
So I’ve been having a stint of physiotherapy since my knee injury at the beginning of the year. There were days I felt I’d never be able to run again and times when a simple walk (let’s not even mention stairs!) would bring me to tears.
A month of visits to an NHS doctors later, I decided to opt for private physio. Steve Sharp of Virgin Active Mayfair recommended I try Krina Panchal, who operates from the club. If you ever in need of physio, Krina comes with my recommendation too. Without her help, I would probably still be stuck in the same weekly pain/no pain/pain cycle.
This morning I completed my first run of spring without incident. 5km at a time of 25:56 and pace of 5″15′/km is pretty impressive considering it’s my first run since 11 January. I never thought Hyde Park would be such a hive of activity first thing in the morning, paths filled with runners and cyclists getting their morning dose of cardio interspersed with people making their way to work.
My next steps? Well, I have a follow up physio session tomorrow afternoon to see how my knee handled todays run. There’s one further session planned after that which will check how I’m progressing after a few weeks of running, gradually increasing my distance/time.
My Nike+ GPS iPhone app has made a reappearance and when the Nike+ SportWatch GPS arrives on 1 April, I may have a look at getting it too, as it has the added benefit of being easier to run with and the Polar WearLink+ can be used in conjunction with it, which scores extra points in my view!
In addition to all the gear, I’ll be running in the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon and Run to the Beat later this year, and plan to run the Virgin London Marathon next year and some organised runs inbetween.
Feel like challenging me along the way? Challenge me to a game of Nike+ Tag! My username is thirtydegree.
New Facebook privacy settings, just a smoke screen?
This week I was prompted by Facebook to look at their new privacy settings page. At face value it’s a clear and concise presentation of all your current privacy settings. That’s about where the advantages of the new privacy page start and end.
The moment you want to interact with it in any way besides the standard settings, you’re redirected to the original privacy settings page which is where, according to reports, people were struggling in the first instance. For the user, one would expect a one stop shop area where you could adjust your privacy settings and, should you wish, you could customise a setting further by drilling down on a particular setting.
Why did Facebook only display buttons indicating what your settings were set to and not have quickly adjustable radio buttons? One can only wonder. An easily presented, everything in one place, approach would have made users feel more comfortable with their control over who and what can see your information.
Yet again, Facebook’s recommended settings are set to reveal an uncomfortable amount of data with the wider web. When will they understand that average users are only interested in sharing our information with trusted connections. This trust is not instantaneous, whilst accepting a friend request on Facebook is.
When the model aligns to resemble a more familiar way which we interact in the real world, then people may start to divulge more information. This is what Facebook wants, as information is their key in generating revenue from targeted advertising. At least in this incarnation of privacy settings, our custom settings have been maintained and listed as custom.
We can only hope that Facebook listens more to what it’s users want, so that everyone can be happy.
