Am I a Mileage Fraud?

I think I’m a little anal retentive when it comes to mileage. When I first got my new Nike+ I was sure to calibrate it. I wanted every mile to be earned. Out to the track I went. The local track is is your basic 400 meter oval and I went for the requisite 400m trip around. I was sure to warm up first because I wanted my stride to be natural. I went for a lap, pressed stop and I got an error message. I did this several times with the preset 400m distance to no avail. Finally I punched in a custom distance of 0.4 km and off I went. By now I had run about 3 miles before I finished my calibration for 400m but I got it done.

Now some 25 runs later and about a 160 plus miles later, I find myself stuck in a winter wonderland of Kelowna. The sidewalks were covered in ice and so I retreated to the treadmill. I start my Nike+ and the treadmill at roughly the same time. After the first mile on my iPod the treadmill says 0.95 miles. WTF At first I thought maybe I didn’t start them at the same time after all. So I kept going fully expecting the two mile mark to come in at the 1.95 miles (taking into account my starting error). Much to my chagrin it came in at 1.90 mile, once again a full 0.05 miles off.

Needless to say after 5 miles on the Nike+, the treadmill was reading 4.75 miles. WTF! Is all my mileage off by 5%. Am I a mileage fraud? I’m going to re-test my mileage on a track. Maybe the treadmill needs calibrating. I’m going to run 2000 meters on the track which is exactly 5 laps. I’ll see exactly what the Nike+ reads and if it is still under I’ll re-calibrate at a longer distance like 2000 meters. If it is close or over then I’ll leave it. Oh the horror of being a Mileage Fraud.

Training

It’s been a whirlwind past two weeks both personally and meteorologically. In the past two weeks we took it upon ourselves to decorate our little girls room in a weekend which I blogged about in our other blog. I think I’ve run about 50 miles in the past ten days which to some isn’t a lot but it’s good for me.

The Saturday before last weekend I ran 14. I ran in Cincinnati last Monday and Tuesday. 10 miles Monday and 3 miles Tuesday. I didn’t run Wednesday or Thursday. I ran 4 on Friday. I ran 12 on Saturday in the snow and rested on Sunday after the snow. I ran 4 today.

Funny thing is I just checked my Nike+ on my iPod and I am missing some workouts. I seem to have lost Monday’s run and Friday’s run and Saturday’s run. I am pretty sure I have synced my iPod. I hate when I sync my iPod and the iPod freezes or iTunes freezes. It is only since installing Nike+ that this has happened. I know they downloaded because they are on the Nikeplus site.

The new iPod

When Christmas came I was extremely pleased with what my wonderful wife gave me for Christmas. From my last post you knew that I had my iPod stolen from my car. Well guess what I got for Christmas. Yup you guessed a new iPod. But just not any iPod, I got the new 3rd generation Nano, which is a cut above my old Nano. For all those who have an iPod they already know how much better the new 3rd generation is. But for those who don’t . . . well let me tell you the 3rd generation has 4 Gigabytes for the same price as my old Nano’s 2 gigabytes. The screen is bigger because it plays video. I don’t know much more except it seems smaller and lighter than my old Nano. Although my old Nano was like an old friend was being taken away I feel almost guilty in saying my new friend is better. Yup I was really happy on Christmas morning.

Accessorizing my new friend does come at a cost you see the new 3rd generation is a completely different shape so any wallet or cases or other accessories made for previous generations won’t fit the new one. I think Steve Job’s does this on purpose to get kickbacks from the accessories manufacturers. I had this bomb proof case for my old Nano made by H²0 Technologies or something like that. It was clear hard plastic with a waterproof seal that totally encased the iPod so that the controls were through a weatherproof wheel cover. It was cool but it was about $75 to replace up here. The cool thing about the case was it had a belt clip, an arm band and was near waterproof. I could wear this thing in the pouring rain and not worry about damaging it. I ruined my very first iPod shuffle in the rain. So I was in the market for a cheaper replacement that could protect my new found friend.

Also around this time, actually it was during the time I was in mourning; I saw this add for a Nike+ shoe pod wallet. I light went on in my tiny little brain that I didn’t need to own a pair of Nike’s to take advantage of the Nike+ Technology. I’m sure that Phil Knight will get over it.

So now I wanted a Nike+ for my new friend. In Canada unlike in the US we get Boxing Day off. I believe there must be some long since lost historical significance to Boxing days but these days Boxing Day in Canada has come to mean Sale Day. A chance for retailers to grab the last bit of cash that consumers didn’t spend prior to Christmas. You have to really love shopping to go out into the mayhem of Boxing. . .So while Jenny was off Boxing Day shopping I asked her to look for a deal on the Nike+. If there was a deal to be found Jenny and her shopping savvy was going to find it.

The sign said 20% off everything in the store, no asterisk, no fine print. She proceeded to purchase a Nike+ kit and the clerk was almost certain that the 20% didn’t apply to the technology items. But when the sign says sale and there’s no fine print don’t mess with my wife. Needless to say I got a Nike+ kit for $32 which is 20% cheaper than anywhere else that day. I love my wife’s shopping ability. Born to shop!

My ensemble was made complete a few days later when picked up an iPod cover. Although it wasn’t nearly as waterproof as my old one it was a $50 cheaper than a waterproof case and it had a belt clip. I was still able to use the armband from my old setup so now I was styling.
Now all I had to do was go running

Robbed

Sometimes I think keep my car messy by design. I convince myself that I know where everything is that way. It’s a mess but an orderly mess. It’s my mess. So when something is disturbed in my mess I know it. Case in point, this morning, it was an early morning I had to catch a train to Vancouver. I got an early start. I opened the door to my car and all my insurance papers and the contents of my glove compartment were on the passenger seat. AARGH! I’ve been robbed again! Quickly I sort through the mess to see what is there and isn’t there. Insurance papers . . . check. Running magazines . . . check. Loose change in the door . . .gone! iPod case . . .check! iPod case! Oh No my iPod my beloved iPod how could I be so careless. I never ever leave my iPod in the car. But yesterday I came home early and ran some errands. I got a big bag of dog food, met Jenny at the grocery store, and took the kids to swimming while she went to Costco. So last night I had to unload my kids, dog food, groceries, and lap top it was pouring rain so I made it quick. No excuses I should have got my iPod (when I remembered) and locked the door. It was a costly mistake. So at this point in the morning I dropped an F bomb.

I continued to sort through my stuff to see the stuff he didn’t take. First Aid kit, emergency roadside kit, Laundry Test Kit, hard hat, Finding Nemo DVD on the floor, gloves, label maker, inverter, and safety glasses were all there. There were a few redeeming graces the robber left behind.

I would have to say I think my car was unlocked I’m guessing it was unlocked because there were no signs of forced entry. To be honest, I’m terrible for locking my car I usually remember at the most inopportune time. For example, the last time I got my car broken into I was pulling away from the train station. My car was in the train station lot and I remembered as we pulled away from the station. I called Jenny right away but it was 5:30 in the morning and it was about 7 before she called me back. It was about 7:30 before she drove by to actually lock it. But that was too late. Sunglasses, DVD player, and loose change were all gone.

The other time I got my car broken into was years ago when I had a Jeep. It was a Jeep so I practically expected to lose a few things.

I remember the first time I got something stolen from me. I must have been about nine years old. I walked out my front door to my open garage just in time to see a kid riding off on my 5 speed bicycle. I was in a daze. The kid took off down the street. I ran back inside and cried to my brother. Bryan was always a little more adept into handling situations like this. He immediately without another word got on his bike and went down the street after him. I wasn’t there when he caught him but he did catch him. I’m not entirely sure what he did to him either but he got my bike back. Situation resolved and recorded in my memory banks.

It is hard not to be cynical when things like this happen. I’m a very trusting person I believe people are inherently good in spite of events like today. One of Jenny’s biggest pet peeves is I always forget to lock the front door after I come in. What could possibly happen? Not that I would ever forget to do this before I turned in for the night, it is just those times during the day. I can remember growing up and never locking the door even at night. I can remember leaving my bike on the lawn and it would be there the next morning.

I’ll recover from this episode. I’ll probably get another iPod. And chances are I’ll forget to lock my car again. I may even get broken into. Who knows? I’m a strong believer in things happen for a reason. Call it Divine Purpose or karma whatever you wish. Maybe this was a wake up call; maybe somebody needed that iPod more than I did. Maybe the robber has a kid and maybe he’s going to give my iPod for a Christmas present without ear buds or sync cable. At this point I struggle for answers that may never come.

Still I am the father of three beautiful boys and the future father of a beautiful girl not from this land or culture. Events like this effect the whole family even if only for a moment. It weakens my spirit when things like this happen. My parents’ generation never locked the doors. My generation is the one that locks the doors. What is their generation going to be like?

iPod Inspiration

Magazine art and advertisements are there for a reason. They (the collective advertising media) want to make you think, they want to inspire you and of course buy their products. The magazine is a product in itself, the flashier the photos especially the covers the wider the appeal. You want picture yourself like the person on the cover.

One such cover that made me think every time I picked it up was the back cover of TrailRunner magazine from a few months ago. On it was Monica Scholz winner of Badwater Ultra in the women’s division. First of all there is nothing sexy or alluring about the photo, the woman is on Whitney Portal Road which I’m guessing from the blur of desolate landscape in the background is in the lower section still in Death Valley.

What I find interesting is what she is wearing. Her feet although it doesn’t say it looks like she’s wearing open toed running shoes. Which would prominently display her Injinji running socks (her sponsor)? It looks like she’s running in a skirt, a black one which sounds weird. Maybe it’s a gimmick maybe its not but it does make me think. She of course has on the white hat with flap on the back to protect the neck. She’s got on some nondescript sunglasses which once again makes me think. They aren’t Oakley’s or Bolle or some other sport sunglasses company. These thing look like something my Mom would wear. And lastly she has on her iPod shuffle (old style) complete with sport case.

I guess the reason I study photos like these is because I want to know what these Ultra folks wear to keep comfortable. They wear this stuff not because of sponsorship but because it is the most functional. Badwater is an extreme ultra in that its 135 mile which is long by ultra standards and the searing heat of the Death Valley floor make it cruel and punishing. I would think most of the garb worn for this ultra is ideal only for Badwater: the hat, the open toed shoes, even the sunglasses (who need shades in the forest).

The iPod was a bit of a mystery and I guess if I ever got a chance to interview Monica I would ask her. Why the Shuffle with its flash memory it only has at most 5 to 6 hours of battery life at best. Most people doing Badwater take over 24 hours to complete. My next question would be how often you would listen to your iPod. I don’t care about her playlists that a personal choice and highly subjective. As for myself, I take my iPod on every run whether it’s twenty minutes or three hours that thing is playing in my ears. Sure on occasion I love to hear the sounds of nature especially when I’m in the trails. I love to hear the sound of my dog’s paws and pants. But most times I can’t or don’t get to the trails and its street noise that I don’t want to hear.

So I pose the question, if you train with an iPod are you not training for iPod conditions? Your cadence and rhythm are dictated by what you listen to. Your focus or your state of mental relaxation is often controlled by your iPod. So if it is such an integral part of your being, is wearing an iPod during a race a social faux pas? I can imagine if you’re doing a short 10K or 5K and you are surrounded by happy, social runners then it might be considered rude. But let’s get a reality check here. How much conversation really goes on during a road race? Unless you’re ‘aping’ someone and going stride for stride rarely are you within ear shod of other runners. Even the guy you are pacing off of isn’t going to want to talk except maybe to give you a quick verb and adverb for not taking the pace. (true story)

So in the end you either have to do what you want. I’ve got a race this weekend, a half marathon. Last year it was quite a conundrum the night before the race. The clothing part was easy it was cold race morning so I wore a jacket and toque but the iPod. I didn’t want to seem rude so I put it away. Only at the start line did I see a growing percentage of runners wearing theirs. So this year I’m going to wear my iPod. I going to load it full of upbeat music for before and during the race and maybe even throw in a short podcast. After race I’ll put it away and be social.