The Runner Within

So, I just today decided to register for the Nike+ Women’s Half Marathon. At some point, I’d like to run the full marathon for Nike in San Francisco, but this year it was sold out with lightning speed and is at a time when I couldn’t make it anyway. But, Nike is making it possible for 20,000 women (or men even) to run a half marathon using their Nike+ sensors during any time on October 21, 2007. All you do is run/walk the mileage and then upload it to Nike+ by October 28, 2007, and you are considered a finisher. So, basically, it’s a virtual race. This seems like the perfect thing for my first half-marathon. It will be a couple weeks after my Race for the Taste 10k and about a month before the Space Coast Marathon, but it seems like a good race for me to get at least one half marathon distance under my belt. Plus, I’d get a keychain for my effort, so, yeah… cool! Anyway, so if any ladies are interested in this, they should check it out, because it seems like a great way to run a half marathon virtually (if you have and ipod nano and nike+ sensor, which I do).

In other news, I’ve been cleared to run, so I really need to get back into it. It’s hard when you’ve been out for a while and you know you’ve lost cardio ability. Blarg! I will get running again though.

So, I wanted to post one last time before I hunker down and study my property book. I have a few playlists that I use when I run, so I thought I would post my general playlist to solicit comments. I also have one for oldies, dance music, strictly They Might Be Giants, and even some of the nike ones. Anyway, they are by no means perfected… and I’ll probably be adding and deleting songs fairly regularly. Anyway, here is what I have for now. The ones that are hyperlinks lead to iTunes. If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m a huge Apple fan, and I’m writing this on a mac, and I like my mac. So, anyway… here it is:

• Fly Me Away — Goldfrapp
• Doctor Jones — Aqua
• Higher Ground — Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Ooh La La — Goldfrapp
• Get Over It — Ok Go
• Suddenly I See — KT Tunstall
• Goodnight Goodnight — Hot Hot Heat
• Social — Squirt Gun
• Build Me Up Buttercup — The Goops
• Virtual Insanity — Jamiroquai
• Till the End of Time — DeVotchka
• Take Me Out — Franz Ferdinand
• Fever For the Flava — Hot Action Cop (This song… and entire album are like a guilty pleasure! :D)
• Here it Goes Again — Ok Go
• The Distance — Cake (probably on every runner’s playlist)
• Are You Gonna Be My Girl — Jet
• Hey Jealousy — Gin Blossoms
• Feel Good Inc. — Gorillaz
• A Million Ways — Ok Go
• You’re so Damn Hot — Ok Go
• I Was Wrong — Social Distortion
• Ants Marching — Dave Matthews Band
• Do You Want To — Franz Ferdinand

If anyone has any suggestions for additions, I’m always game to hear them!

Well, I wanted to add that I’m pretty excited to have received all my equipment to use my new iPod Nano with the Nike+ sensor. I don’t own Nike shoes, as I have a very nice pair of Asics Gel-Nimbus VIII shoes, which are excellent quality and pretty much the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever owned. So, I purchased a pouch made by Marware, which can attach to any running shoe and make it compatible with the Nike+ sensor. I have only had a brief opportunity to try it out since receiving it yesterday, but I plan to go for a nice run tomorrow (or later today as it were). I used to run with no music at all, but when I’m on a treadmill, I find it to be too monotonous without music. So, since I was going to invest in a Nano anyway, I chose to also pick up the Nike+ sensor, so that I could track my distance easily, even when outside. Supposedly, the sensor has a 90% accuracy out of the box which improves when you calibrate it. I will have to do some testing at some point to see how true that is, but, until I get it calibrated, I’ll just be using it as is. Still, I think it will be a welcome addition. I’ve also picked up some new tunes to get me through my runs, so maybe I’ll post my running playlists one of these days. I totally snagged the Pirates of Penzance for marathon day. Although, I really want the version with the movie cast. If that can’t take my mind off of the pain, nothing can!