Week Four Going Great

Ok, I have to admit that I was a little scared of week four. When I was making my podcast for the week I realized that we had three minute and then five minute runs with the walk period between each getting shorter and shorter. I was not sure I would be able to maintain the full 5 minute run. But, to my surprise, I did it! This week is also the first time running that I really started concentrating on my form. Earlier runs have resulted in soreness in the shins and knees, usually one or the other. This week I picked up a copy of Chi Running to pick up some pointers on my form. Whether you are into chi or not (and I am not particularly) it is a very good text on understanding what your body is doing, or trying to do during running. I must say, that after running the most over the past few weeks, I felt the best following a few of the insights from the book.

Nikeplus problems, but still real cool
Many of you may know that I am using the ipod-nikeplus geekery in my running. What it does it helps record distance, speed etc., and then puts it all in a database that is fairly easily accessible through a web browser. It has some other cool features like being able to challenge other nikeplus runners to distances or times. And it also allows the setting of goals. Another feature is that you can see how your running compares with other runners in the US, UK and Canada. The above graphic shows how my time in running per week compares to other US males 40-44.

This week however, there was a problem with the system and all my running information, challenges and goals vanished. I write nike support and they said a system problem did occur, but they fixed it and today I got all my information back. Whew! iTunes, the Podcast and a Humble Thank You I must thank everyone who has been so generous in subscribing to my podcast through itunes. Last week the podcast made number 25 in the health category, and this week it has moved up to 20th! This is incredible considering the strong competition in the health category, including djsteveboy's excellent fitpod casts. What's more, the podcast is highlighted in the "new and Notable" section of the itunes store, and even greater feat and one only because of the kindness of subscribers. I want to take a moment and thank everyone for helping make the Couch to 5K podcast a growing success!

Thursday, August 10, 2006

How I rank against other runners for time ran during the week