I have decided that I need to lose weight before the wedding next year. However, I often get bored of most things that weight loss requires (i.e. exercise and eating better). I don't mind exercise if it is hidden as something else. I was in better shape when playing rugby, but I am not allowed to do that anymore (a hit to the head after the orbital blow out fracture could mean that I lose vision in my right eye.)
After reading an article in last month's Wired, I was inspired by the data-driven (geeky) approach to exercise lead by Nike Plus. However, deeper investigation into Nike Plus (yes, I could get it to work with non-Nike shoes, but no, it will not work on my current iPhone 3G) caused me to give up on that particular tech.
After a trip to the New Balance Factory Outlet in Lawrence, Mass (during a quick visit to the States), I picked up some cheap but comfortable NB 1223's and some new shorts. I then got RunKeeper for the iPhone. This is a cool app that tracks our GPS location and time and then saves it to the RunKeeper website to show your overall route, pace, elevation and calories burned. To keep the iPhone with me while running, I got the Incase Sports Armband.
After kitting up and downloading RunKeeper, I was ready to start planning what I was going to do. My previous attempts at running failed through boredom or pain. This time, I decided to stick with a plan (i.e. a training program) that would build me up to be an actual runner. I decided on the goal that I want to be able to run in the Last Friday 5K at the end of September. To do that, I will need a program from zero to 5k in about 10 weeks. The one I found is the "Couch-to-5k" over on Cool Running.
Lucky for me, RunKeeper just came out with a new version of it's Pro iPhone app that let's me schedule training programs into the phone. I have started programming each work out in the training plan into the phone. While running, and listening to music, a voice comes on over the head phones telling me what to do (i.e. run vs. walk).
I just completed my first run (week 1, workout 1) of the program. Despite a small mistake on my part (need to turn off WiFi to get the best GPS signal), it looks like my system is ready to go. I basically left the house with the app running and did what it told me to do. The results from this first run can be found on the public part of the RunKeeper site.
Now it is just a matter of me sticking to the plan for the next few weeks and getting into the 5k race. After that, I guess it will be time to set another goal (10k race?)
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