Official MacRumors Nike+ March 2008 Challenges

[ziwi]

Another month has started and we completed the first set of challenges for the year.

Run For Your Birth Month Challenge:
Won by August with 822.54 miles , then a close second in June with 702.4 miles followed by April, February and May.
Only one winter month (from my perspective) represented in the top 5.

Good running.
We continue to plod on in the 25,000 mile challenge and we are making some great progress. Too bad no one really knows what it is - I think that is all part of the allure of the Nike+ site - keep us in suspense until we can get 3 more digits to show...I lack the patience to see where we are at, but some have tallied the stats on that one - I choose to wait for the graphic - another challenge built within itself.

For March, I put out 2 Challenges for the group:
1. The Running shoe challenge - you essentially run for the brand of shoe you wear.
2. The iLife app challenge - run for your favorite iLife app (I added iTunes, even though it is not in the iLife package - so you can drop and re-up if you want iTunes)

As always, all are welcome to participate in any of the challenges - just PM me or ask in thread. We need your miles for the 25,000 mile challenge and we have different levels of challenges for runners of all abilities from 500 in a year to 2000.

Thanks for running and participating and hopefully making it fun for everyone.

 

[748s]

Ziwi,
Thanks for organising these challenges.

 

[QCassidy352]

thanks ziwi, these look like more fun challenges.

 

[twoodcc]

great job ziwi with the new ideas! i love it!

thanks for everything you've done for these challenges.

 

[ziwi]

I also started a milestone thread in the section so folks could 'brag' and post the links to their milestones, be sure to add to it.

 

[Applespider]

Indeed... you are being most creative with these challenges.

After a couple of successful (i.e. non-painful) Body Pump classes in the last week, I'm strapping on my ankle support and going for my first run since I sprained it. Fingers crossed - one way or another Jan and Feb have been virtual washouts for me Nike+ wise!

 

[twoodcc]

Indeed... you are being most creative with these challenges.

After a couple of successful (i.e. non-painful) Body Pump classes in the last week, I'm strapping on my ankle support and going for my first run since I sprained it. Fingers crossed - one way or another Jan and Feb have been virtual washouts for me Nike+ wise!

glad to hear that you're going out for a run. hope it goes well for you

 

[JimmyDreams]

Hi everyone....

I haven't ran in almost 2 months due to a knee injury. Short version: injured tendons and/or ligaments in my left knee so I stopped running. Thought it'd get better on its own. Never did. Started using a knee brace and icy-hot for about a week. Today is the best day so far at about 95% health. I'm gonna give it about another 5 days of no pain and then I'll start running on it SLOWLY to see if I can get back on track. With any luck, whatever I did to it won't happen again!!

Oh, and I gained about 5-7 pounds during my non-running period.

 

[twoodcc]

Hi everyone....

I haven't ran in almost 2 months due to a knee injury. Short version: injured tendons and/or ligaments in my left knee so I stopped running. Thought it'd get better on its own. Never did. Started using a knee brace and icy-hot for about a week. Today is the best day so far at about 95% health. I'm gonna give it about another 5 days of no pain and then I'll start running on it SLOWLY to see if I can get back on track. With any luck, whatever I did to it won't happen again!!

Oh, and I gained about 5-7 pounds during my non-running period.

hey Jimmy,

i hate to tell you this, but i doubt you're problem will "magically disappear". i mean, it is possible, but not likely.

my advice is to start stretching more, and stretch almost everything: hamstrings, quads, IT-band, calf, and anything else you can think of. you might want to get a running "stick" to help with your muscles also. if you need help with these, just let us know.

and i hope you get better.

 

[TravisReynolds]

this looks interesting, like soemthign I would like to do. I'm a wrestler so i run A LOT, but what do you win? pride?

 

[twoodcc]

this looks interesting, like soemthign I would like to do. I'm a wrestler so i run A LOT, but what do you win? pride?

join us! it really is fun.

yeah, mainly pride. even though i did get a free armband for being one of the first to do 1,000 miles. but still, it's fun even though you don't really win "real" stuff. you get trophies on your profile thing and stuff.

try it out. it's only $30 if you already have a nano

 

[JimmyDreams]

hey Jimmy,

i hate to tell you this, but i doubt you're problem will "magically disappear". i mean, it is possible, but not likely.

my advice is to start stretching more, and stretch almost everything: hamstrings, quads, IT-band, calf, and anything else you can think of. you might want to get a running "stick" to help with your muscles also. if you need help with these, just let us know.

and i hope you get better.

I have started stretching more, and it's helping a lot. I also went to Roadrunner Sports today and got a new pair of shoes. They have a setup there that analyzes your walking and running gait, measures your level of pronation etc. and then they fit you with various shoes that help give the proper support. Gimmicky? I don't know. But I DID get a new pair of running shoes that feel much better than my old ones, so it's possible not having the right shoes helped increase my risk of injury.

Either that or a 43 year old overweight and out of shape person is simply more prone to injury....NAHHHHHHH...it's gotta be the shoes!!!

Thanks for the advice!!

 

[Applespider]

glad to hear that you're going out for a run. hope it goes well for you

Did 4 miles and felt good - although ankle felt a little tired on the last uphill stretch. Still doing more low-impact at the gym but should be able to get to get back to normal from this weekend.

 

[twoodcc]

I have started stretching more, and it's helping a lot. I also went to Roadrunner Sports today and got a new pair of shoes. They have a setup there that analyzes your walking and running gait, measures your level of pronation etc. and then they fit you with various shoes that help give the proper support. Gimmicky? I don't know. But I DID get a new pair of running shoes that feel much better than my old ones, so it's possible not having the right shoes helped increase my risk of injury.

Either that or a 43 year old overweight and out of shape person is simply more prone to injury....NAHHHHHHH...it's gotta be the shoes!!!

Thanks for the advice!!

well that sounds good. just keep stretching as much as you can. the shoes should help also. maybe look at the "running stick" if you get a chance. it will help as well.

this is coming from someone that's had several injuries, including what you described.

hope you continue to get better

Did 4 miles and felt good - although ankle felt a little tired on the last uphill stretch. Still doing more low-impact at the gym but should be able to get to get back to normal from this weekend.

sounds like you're on the right track! just continue what your doing, and be careful!

 

[Applespider]

Did my first 10k today since hadn't been out for a few days and felt good at my usual 'turn for home' point. Went round the park four times rather than my usual two. Ankle felt OK although did tire on the last circuit - feels ok now though. I'm ravenous now though!

 

[twoodcc]

Did my first 10k today since hadn't been out for a few days and felt good at my usual 'turn for home' point. Went round the park four times rather than my usual two. Ankle felt OK although did tire on the last circuit - feels ok now though. I'm ravenous now though!

great news! yeah, it'll be tired b/c you haven't been using your ankle as much lately. give it time, it'll get there

 

[QCassidy352]

Either that or a 43 year old overweight and out of shape person is simply more prone to injury....NAHHHHHHH...it's gotta be the shoes!!!

Thanks for the advice!!

Shoes do make an enormous difference with regard to injuries. Of course it's not the only factor, but if you have the wrong shoes, that's gonna make any underlying tendency to get injured a lot worse. So go to a real running store and get a salesperson who really knows how to fit you for proper shoes!

 

[Applespider]

My colleagues at work have just encouraged me to sign up for a half marathon in October around the London parks.

I guess it's only twice as far as I ran on Sunday and with six months to prepare for it, it's only adding a mile each month. However, any advice on training or preparation would be gratefully received. I'd like to do it in 2 hours or slightly under.

 

[KevAllen83]

It's a shame I've been missing out on these challenges for the past 10 days or so... had some good runs last week and over the weekend.

Ziwi, can you toss me on again for this month for the challenges?
username @ gmail . com

And out of curiousity, what's your normal running schedule? I notice in the 500 mile club, you're whoopin most of us. I usually run 5-6 days a week, but normally just have enough time for about 3-4 miles a day.

 

[Applespider]

It's a shame I've been missing out on these challenges for the past 10 days or so... had some good runs last week and over the weekend.

The good news is that if you've been logging the runs on Nike+, then your mileage since the challenge started but before you joined should still count.

 

[twoodcc]

My colleagues at work have just encouraged me to sign up for a half marathon in October around the London parks.

I guess it's only twice as far as I ran on Sunday and with six months to prepare for it, it's only adding a mile each month. However, any advice on training or preparation would be gratefully received. I'd like to do it in 2 hours or slightly under.

i'm glad you're going for it! my g/f just ran her second half marathon. you can do it without going for a 13 mile run every week. but you do need to build up a long run once a week. it would be nice to at least run 11 or 12 miles at least once before the race. but you've got plenty of time to get there

It's a shame I've been missing out on these challenges for the past 10 days or so... had some good runs last week and over the weekend.

Ziwi, can you toss me on again for this month for the challenges?
username @ gmail . com

And out of curiousity, what's your normal running schedule? I notice in the 500 mile club, you're whoopin most of us. I usually run 5-6 days a week, but normally just have enough time for about 3-4 miles a day.

glad you finally found us. welcome to the club

 

[QCassidy352]

I'm getting the low battery warning on my nike sensor, so I guess I need a new kit. I'm reluctant to spend another $30 on a product that I find so inaccurate as to be useless for training purposes, but I guess I'll do it for the sake of these challenges. :-/

btw - is anyone out there actually satisfied with the accuracy of their nike+? The conditions for saying yes are:
- you run at different paces (e.g. tempo runs, speedwork, races, easy days - all as opposed to running the same pace every day)
- you know the distances you run are either a) reliable over the same route at different paces, or b) confirmed by something like google maps, a GPS, a car, etc.

I'd be very interested to know the answer because after looking around online, I find that most users seem "very satisfied" with the accuracy of their sensors. My theory is that these people either run at the same pace all the time or just have no idea of the actual distances that they run. Thanks!

 

[twoodcc]

I'm getting the low battery warning on my nike sensor, so I guess I need a new kit. I'm reluctant to spend another $30 on a product that I find so inaccurate as to be useless for training purposes, but I guess I'll do it for the sake of these challenges. :-/

btw - is anyone out there actually satisfied with the accuracy of their nike+? The conditions for saying yes are:
- you run at different paces (e.g. tempo runs, speedwork, races, easy days - all as opposed to running the same pace every day)
- you know the distances you run are either a) reliable over the same route at different paces, or b) confirmed by something like google maps, a GPS, a car, etc.

I'd be very interested to know the answer because after looking around online, I find that most users seem "very satisfied" with the accuracy of their sensors. My theory is that these people either run at the same pace all the time or just have no idea of the actual distances that they run. Thanks!

hey, i think you can order a replacement sensor for $19. so it won't be quite as bad as $30.

i know what you mean. please, believe me, 90% or more on nike+ have no idea how far they are running. i'm not going to lie, my nike+ is no where close to accurate. probably about like yours. i don't run the same pace everyday, and i don't use it when i do workouts with the team. (slows me down)

if you want something accurate, you have to get a garmin. and even that can lose it's signal depending on where you run.

also, i keep a separate running log from nike+, that i know is more accurate. i just do nike+ for a) these challenges, and b) on regular runs i like to listen to music. i also like to see how much i've done since nike+ started, including some walking.

 

[QCassidy352]

if you want something accurate, you have to get a garmin. and even that can lose it's signal depending on where you run.

also, i keep a separate running log from nike+, that i know is more accurate. i just do nike+ for a) these challenges, and b) on regular runs i like to listen to music. i also like to see how much i've done since nike+ started, including some walking.

ah, that's what kills me - as I've posted before, in 2000, (8 years ago!) I bought a foot sensor/watch system from nike that worked on the same technology as the nike+ and was dead accurate. I took it on measured courses and it would never be off by more than .01 per mile, and usually it was exact, at any pace. Now, this cost a fair bit more than the $30 the nike+ costs... but it was 8 years ago! I know they could do it today if they wanted, but I'm guessing that 90% of nike+ users don't know or don't care how inaccurate it is.

I too keep a separate, more accurate log. I've kept paper running logs since I started high school.

Nike+ is fun, don't get me wrong, but I'm a little miffed at having to spend more money for a product that simply does not work as advertised.

 

[sreedy]

Ziwi, can you add me to the new challenges please.

Thanks

Yeah I have the accuracy issue too, I run the same route 3 times a week. Once slower with my Wife, once with speed intervals ans once at full pace. It's measured at 5.4km, 4.6km and 4.8km each time, based on MapmyRun I think 4.8km is the most accurate, so fine for my normally running pace, but it looks to me like it pays to be slow