Exercise Log Blog

I got a lot of questions about the Running Speakers, so I went to the home office of Jeff Streeter, the inventor, for a late evening interview last Friday.  He took time to show us the speakers, but there’s more than that.

He talked to us about the speakers and even what motivated him to get started.  It’s fun to hear his story about what prompted him to come up with the running speakers.

I’ll leave the rest of the story to the video, so click play and enjoy!  I think you’ll really enjoy the comment about my wife listening to them while doing the dishes.

 

 Late evening interview with Jeff Streeter [24:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

My interview with the inventor of the running speakers will be tonight at his home office.  I’ve gotten a few questions submitted for the interview, but remember that you can submit more questions if you have them.  Here’s the survey:

http://www.maintainfit.com/runningspeakers_questions.html

One of the questions so far have to do with how heavy, bothersome they are to wear.  I have to admit that I was really worried about that too, since I can’t even stand wearing a watch when I run, let alone a backpack.  I was so surprised that I didn’t even notice that the running speakers were on.  I’m not sure if the music was a distraction too, but it didn’t bother me.

I should also mention that the speakers have been around for a while.  The conversation I’ll be having tonight is about his vision and desire to make them truly useful for runners.  He’ll tell a little bit of his story and how he built the first prototype.

I’ll try to be quick and get the video up for you to look at.  Keep your eye on the blog…

When I first tried on the running speakers, I noticed that there wasn’t any way to attach my iPod.  I tried a couple of things, like this picture with it being held on with clothespins.  Ultimately I came up with a few ideas as I was running and listening to my music.

Well, the follow up for this story is that I just got of the phone with the inventor and discussed a small diagram I had sent him with my idea for a universal strap that would let me attach my MP3 player to the harness and have an all-in-one running music gadget.

Well, he actually liked my idea and is looking at incorporating the change into the harness before mass producing them.  I mentioned the idea of doing an interview with him and he said he sure would, but needs to make sure he can work it into his schedule.  I’ll call him tomorrow and see what his schedule looks like later this week.

Jeremy should have some video for us to look at with him using it on his bike today or tomorrow, so keep checking the blog.

And, in the meantime, keep running!

What brand of running shoes do you run in?

The first morning of my life that I ran over a mile, all I had to run in was an old pair of Adidas cross trainers.  Shortly after that first run I found a running partner and we quickly built up some miles.

Well, after a couple months of running, I had developed awful shin splints.  They were so bad in fact that I thought I would have to quit running.  I went to a massage therapist and a tried a few other things, but nothing seemed to work.

One day I finally told my running partner that I would have to stop running.  I explained that I had horrible shin splints and that they were just getting worse with each run.

As you can guess I was extremely disappointed.  I had really come to enjoy running and how I felt each time I went running.

I didn’t want to quit running forever!

My running partner told me to go and buy up a pair of real running shoes and give them a try before I gave up running.  I asked him if he really thought that a pair of shoes could make that big of a difference and he said “absolutely”.

So I went to the mall and picked up the cheapest pair of Nike running shoes I could find.  I think they were $50 or so. I met him that evening for a quick 3 1/2 mile run, and you won’t believe what happened.

After those 3 1/2 miles my shin splints were gone! GONE!

So motivated by that experience I tracked down and expert in running shoes and convinced him to do a teleconference for Maintain Fit.  But it gets even better than that.

You see he actually ran professionally for the Nike team for a number of years all over the world and now he owns an uptown specialty running store in Boise ID.  His name is Rich Harris.

When I mentioned to him that I wanted to do a teleconference he agreed pretty quick.  So I pushed my luck and asked him if he would be willing to let me come to his store and make a video about running shoes.

And…

He let me come to his store and make the video.  It turned out to be 27 minutes and we cover a ton of stuff.  We talked about how you can choose the shoe that’s best for you, and how many miles you can expect to get out of a shoe. There’s a lot more in there too.

To see the full video and be invited to join the teleconference go to this URL between Friday, May 30th at 9:00 PM EST and Monday evening, June 2nd.   The first 15 people to register will actually get a high quality DVD mailed to their home address.

Running Shoe Video and Teleconference with Rich Harris

 

 Running Shoe Video Teaser: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

With the usual collection of delicious holiday treats, including chocolate, sugar cookies, eggnog and the like, I wound up feeling a bit down on Christmas morning. After opening presents with the children and fixing a nice french toast breakfast, I asked my wife if she wouldn’t mind me going for a quick run. She agreed.

I thought that if I could just run for a few minutes it would help out. I remember hearing when I was younger that in order to get aerobic benefits from an exercise I would need to maintain an elevated heart rate for at least 18 minutes. With this in mind I started up the treadmill and ended up running 2.25 miles in just 20 minutes! I was thrilled. It did help me feel better and it also reduced my appetite for sugar and sweets, which helped me stay on track for the rest of the day. The kids were busy playing with their new toys and didn’t even notice that I was gone. When I came back in my wife said it was her turn and went for a quick run too.

In short, it really isn’t that hard to slip out for a quick run, even on a holiday with family around. Even a short run can make a big difference when it comes to how you feel during the holiday season. Give it a try. If you just can’t tear yourself away, you might just try parking further away from your holiday destinations when shopping or going out with friends and family during the holidays. For many people there is still a week of holiday cheer ahead (until new years), so get out for a walk or run, then come let us know how it went.

Happy Holidays!

The Boise Turkey Trot relay is the first relay race I had ever run, and it was a lot of fun.  There’s a bit of a story about how I got invited to run in the relay race, so I wanted to post it.

I was sitting at my desk yesterday when my phone rang and a familiar voice (albeit one I had not heard in a while) announced himself. After the typical small talk he told me about the Boise Turkey Trot relay race he and three friends had registered to run the next day. Apparently one of his friends had injured his back and he wondered if I could fill in. I said I would.

The race involved a two mile course around the beautiful Ann Morrison park near down town Boise. Each team member would run the same two mile course and would predict his finishing time before the race began. Awards were given in a unique way. Rather than giving the prize (four large turkeys) to the team with the fastest time, the team that came closest to their predicted total time was the winner.

We drove to the park in the rain and found a group huddled under portable heaters with hot chocolate and coffee being served. Everyone was dressed up warm while waiting to run. The rain drizzled down throughout the race, but the temperature wasn’t too cold (about 50F). I found my friend and met the other two runners in our team. I also got a cup of hot chocolate for my daughter.

Based on my what my treadmill has been telling me I figured I would run the two miles that would be my part of the Turkey Trot Relay in about 19 minutes. As it turns out I ran at a comfortable pace and finished in 16:24 (so much for treadmill readouts). We apparently ran in a different order than what we told them and so the results website shows them assigned to the wrong person (I ran the second leg). Not bad for having less than 24 hours to plan for it.

I got a great pair of socks with turkeys on them and had a fun activity with my family. Our overall time was only off by 2:19 from our estimate and the fastest runner on our team finished in 14:38. It was a fun race, one that I’ll probably do again.

This short podcast talks about Google maps’ distance measurement tool. I’ve recently found that this little piece of technology helps me get more out of each run, since I can plan ahead and know my course and distance. Leave your feedback and let me know what you think of the podcast.

Google Maps

 

 Google Distance measurement tool: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tonight I posted my first run in the new website since it went live. I’ve been so busy launching the new site that I didn’t have time to run very much. The run was beautiful! I live on the outskirts of Boise near farms and horse ranches. I ran a three mile route that had a perfect view of a brilliant sunset and went past a golf course and a sod farm and a couple of horse ranches.

I sent the first e-mail out today announcing the new Maintain Fit website. The technology I used to send the e-mail is an open source application written in PHP. If you don’t know what PHP is, don’t worry too much. One frustration was that in the final import of my mail list from the website accounts, the First and Last Names were left off. As it turns out everyone got and e-mail entitled “Dear First Name Last Name,” (that is, if it wasn’t sent to the junk folder). Sorry about that! I have identified the problem and corrected it for future e-mails.

I’m sure interested in hearing what you all think about the new site. I’m sure the next batch of changes based on your feedback will be much improved.

http://www.phplist.com/