Syzdekistan

In November 2006, I was getting the urge to run and to finish a marathon. To make mileage tracking easier, I decided to buy an iPod nano (second generation) and the Nike+iPod running kit. The running kit consists of a small transmitter designed to be inserted into a Nike running shoe and a small receiver that plugs into the Nano. The shoe unit has an accelerometer that transmits when your foot is stationary and planted on the ground. The receiver and the iPod calculate your speed, pace, time and distance. Before a run, you can enter the length of your workout, the distance, or the calories that you want to burn and the iPod will periodically tell you your progress and when you reach your goal. It’s nice to stop messing around with maps and to be able to run and meet your goals.

The main problem was that I couldn’t run very far or fast. Between December and March I averaged about two runs a week around the neighborhood. My goal was to be able to jog continuously for 30 minutes. I ran mainly at night. Running in the Las Vegas winter wasn’t bad if it wasn’t windy. I did run a few times in below freezing temperatures and I had to dodge icy gutters and walks with frozen sprinkler water). However, most of the time temps were in the 40s and running with a light pair of sweats was quite comfortable. It was dark and quiet and I enjoyed the silent streets of my neighborhood. I also really enjoyed all of the Christmas lights in their silent splendor.

As nice as Christmas lights are, I wasn’t making a whole lot of progress. The Non-Runner’s Marathon Trainer has a running plan for going from not being able to run at all to jogging for 30 minutes in one month but I was running less than half of what the plan said. In November I decided that I would try to run the San Francisco Marathon in late July which would mean that I would have to start training seriously at the beginning of April. Serious training meant being able to jog at least 30 minutes. Finally, in the last week of March, my training started to pay off. On my second to last 30 minute jog, I only slow to walk about 5 times and each time I walked only a few steps before jogging again. On my last 30 minute jog on March 29, I easily jogged without slowing to walk once. On the Nike website, my notes simply said: “No walking!”

I was ready to start training. The marathon was in 16 weeks.