Saturday, February 10, 2007

It Keeps You Running


It keeps you runnin, yeah it keeps you runnin
It keeps you runnin, yeah it keeps you runnin
It keeps you runnin, yeah it keeps you runnin
It keeps you runnin, yeah it keeps you runnin

Yep, The Doobie Brothers is the group who sang this song. Another good one for "those were the days" nostalgic moments that pop into our heads every now and again. And this song is on my ipod's playlist that I listen to when I go for a walk/run. I mostly walk but I run when I feel like it. Again, there are no rules. I don't have a coach yelling at me to get moving or run faster. I only have Lance Armstrong's (he's hot, in case you didn't know) voice in my ipod telling me my distance, time, current pace and how much farther I need to go to reach my goal. I received the Nike+ ipod kit for Christmas and it has become my new favorite gadget. It is good for keeping track of your mileage etc... and since it is an Apple product it is easy to use as well, and did I mention cool? You sync it to your itunes and 'voila' the information is right there. The fun comes into play because it allows you to challenge a friend, who may become an enemy if they keep winning, to a race. You can choose distance, time, whatever you want to do. Lot's of options for those who like a lot of choices, like me. So, I decide to challenge a friend of mine who lives in Michigan to see who can complete 100 miles first. I did this after learning she gave her husband a Nano for Christmas, thinking he wouldn't mind if she borrowed it for walking. Little did I know she would delete all his music from it and give him some old thing she had been using that didn't have the cool factor of an ipod nano. I really didn't know if she would accept this challenge because, after all, she lives in cold & snowy Michigan and I, on the other hand, live in wet Washington state. The loser buys the winner (and the poor spouse who is now using a non-cool ipod wannabe) to a big and juicy burger and a beer. True to the competitor she is, she quickly accepted and proceeded to kick my butt. True to the nice person I am, I didn't want to put her on the spot and make her feel like she had to walk around Lake Michigan or anything, so I decided to keep my walks around 2-3 miles at a time. This was in early January, FYI, and Seattle was experiencing a cold snap with snow that lasted a good week or more. Unheard of for this part of the country. And, Michigan, yes the "Great Lakes" state, was experiencing temps in the 50's! Do you think she gave me a break or felt sorry for me trying to walk on ice covered streets and sidewalks that nobody shovels because we never get snow and we don't want to disturb it and make it ugly? No. She put on her walkin' shoes and walked. And walked some more. Every morning I would check our standings on the Nike+ website, under Challenges. It shows the leader on the top with a figure running across the screen while adding the most recent mileage to the the graph. My jaw would literally drop and I would have to set my coffee cup down so I could grasp the situation a little more clearly. Then I'd pick up the phone and call Jo. "Can you believe she walked 6 miles? Geez. I bet she attached the sensor to her dogs collar and sent him out for a run." That was my first thought. My second thought was "who is this wench?" Well, if that didn't get the competitive juices flowing. I had some serious walking ahead of me so I donned some hiking boots and walked on the ice, slipping and sliding my way towards my goal of kicking her bootie. Once the ice melted and I could slip into my running shoes, I cranked up the volume and started adding more mileage to my daily walks. Gone were the leisurely 2-3 mile strolls, looking at the scenery and daydreaming about warmer weather and what I was going to eat when I got home. I was on a mission and I found myself walking 5 miles a day. She was walking 6 or 7. Geez. Well the gods were with me and the cold front that left Seattle was now hovering over Michigan and staying put. Yes, thank you Mother Nature! I had no mercy and was quickly gaining on her and getting a certain amount of satisfaction from it as well. My muscles were aching, my legs were cramped and the "fun challenge" was taking on another meaning altogether, but every time I uploaded my miles and watched my little runner gain ground, it pushed me even more. Do you think snow and freezing temperatures could deter my competitive friend from walking? No. She walked at the malls, she walked at Costco and she walked on the treadmill. All were within the legal bounds of this challenge. My strategy was putting a scare into her though and the many miles I was walking was eating at her. One day I logged 10 miles and was sure I would overtake her and win sometime within the next two days. I was smiling the entire day and night thinking I had her. The next morning when I logged on I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Her little running wench on the Nike+ website had reached the 100 mile mark! She had logged over 12 miles the last 24 hours and left me in the dust.

So much for this "fun" gadget. I think I'll finish my sock.

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