Music+Technology+Exercise

By Matt [Shadowplay]

Today I embarked on what I hope is a long and fruitful journey. A journey that combines two of my great loves, Music and Technology, with something I tend to avoid at all costs, Exercise.

It’s an idea I’ve been toying with for about a month or so and today I finally pulled the pin and purchased an iPod Nano along with a Nike+ kit.

For the uninitiated, an iPod is a little device the size of a deck of cards and you can fit your entire CD collection inside it. How all those CDs fit into there is beyond me, let’s just call it magic.

Oh … you’re familiar with the iPod. Oops, silly me.

The Nike+ kit consists of a receiver which connects to your iPod Nano, and a sensor which goes in your shoe. Or if you’re like me and don’t have Nike+ running shoes, the sensor goes inside a little pouch that attaches to your shoelaces. The sensor tracks your run, then sends the data to your iPod Nano (or iPod Touch or iPhone 3GS).

Once your run is finished you just connect your iPod to your computer and the data is uploaded to nikeplus.com – pretty cool! This way you can record the data for every run and track your progress over time.

Music+Technology+Exercise – here we go!

So, with the iPod loaded with fresh motivational Green Day tunes I set off to run a circuit in our neighbourhood that I would have sworn was only 500m but in the end turned out to be 50km! Or that’s what it felt like. According to the readout on the iPod display it was closer to 2km but we all know how buggy this new technology can be.

Now, before the congratulatory backslapping begins and you ask me to tackle the running leg of the triathlon you’re doing next weekend, I have a confession to make. I may or may not have only run 30%-ish of the way. And I may or may not have been able feel my limbs by the end. And my vision was blurry. Fortunately there was a St Bernard at the halfway point.

Anyway, I’d be lying to myself and to you if I even suggested that the walking to running ratio was any better than 3 to 1. But, it’s a start.

As I sprinted the final 100 metres (ok, 50 metres) to my doorstep with the breakdown of Green Day’s “Homecoming” pounding in my ears, visions of Rocky reaching the top step of the Philadelphia Museum of Art admittedly filled my head. And yes, before you ask, I did raise my arms above my head in a victory celebration. And yes, I did spin spin around in a circle, but only once. Ok, maybe twice, but then I felt dizzy and had to stop.

I’m not sure whether the feeling of euphoria I’m experiencing is the heady mix of solitude, music and technology, or of it is the lack of blood reaching my brain as my heart seeks to fuel long under-utilised limbs. Either way, I think I’m hooked.

That is, if I can still walk tomorrow.

~Matt.

Stats from my first ‘run’

This will fill up over time …

… and so will this.

Some iPhone photos of the gear