It dawned on me today that I needed to put together one thing I love with one thing I dislike to make the dislike more palettable. I’m talking about technology and running. I really don’t like running. I’ve been inspired from time to time to give it a try, but never had a goal or compelling reason to keep going… until now.
This fall, I test for my Karate Black Belt. This is the culmination of a three year program. Part of that is an intense 10 week candidate training course leading up to the test. Among the requirements is running two miles in under 25 minutes. OK, some of ou runners are saying “pshaw”, but remember that EVERYONE needs to do this – old, young, healthy, and … challenged.
As I get older, I find myself seeking these challenges and recognizing gaps and focusing on them. In this case, it’s my dislike for running and knowing that I have a goal to attain. FWIW, I’ve set my personal goal for 2 miles in under 20 minutes. To find my starting point I decided to run with the current group of black belt candidates the past few Saturdays. My first attempt was not so good. I ran 1.25 miles and submitted to defeat. I was extremely sore for the next few days, but was eager to give it another go with the advice of another student who was a triathalete. She said “Run 2 minutes, walk 1.”
I was all ready to give this new strategy a try, however Liisa asked me to run with her. How can a Dad say no to that. It turns out that she inspired me and I inspired her. We both completed and shaved a minute off her time, but completing well under the 25 minute mark.
That leads me to my next motivator… combining technology with running. I took the advice of the triathelete and bought some REAL running shoes, not the worn out (albeit comfortable) walking shoes I had. To make it even better, I got the Nike+ shoes and the iPod chip to let me track my progress in a high tech way.
From a non-tech standpoint, this strategy by Nike and Apple is brilliant. Like most other things from Apple, it’s simple. It works with the popular music player and keeping track of your progress is seamless through iTunes. From Nike’s standpoint it means I’m very likely to continue purchasing their shoes since they have that built-in pocket for the chip under the sole.
Now I’m inspired! This stuff is cool. Stay tuned…
