Rate this:

For Christmas I asked my brothers to get together and get me an iPod Nano. The reason why I asked for a Nano was because I knew that they were small enough for me to carry my music with me when I workout. I have another MP3 player that much bigger and not produced by Apple®. I love that MP3 player and it’s great for when I’m traveling, but it’s too big for a workout. The thing that is great about the new generation of the Nano is that it’s small and has a clip on the back of it so I can attach it to me and easily carry it with me as I move from cardio to strength training when I’m at the gym. I have to admit that I am NOT and Apple® convert. If there is something that Apple® puts out that I like I try to find a non-Apple equivalent. The reason why I mention this is so that you know that 1.) I did not do a whole lot of research on my Christmas request and 2.) I am more biased against Apple® and not just gushing.

The big surprise for me when I turned on my Nano was the pedometer. I didn’t know that this was an app that was included with the Nano. Like I said I had requested the Nano because of its size, the pedometer was a bonus since my main intention for having the Nano was to workout with. After going to the Apple® site and finding out more about the pedometer and it’s affiliation with Nike I decided that it was a sign!

Right now I am paying $40+ a month for a gym membership and even though I start out motivated and intending to go at least  times a week it usually winds up that I go several times in the beginning of the month after my gym membership price is automatically deducted from my checking account and don’t go again until the next time I notice my membership fee being deducted from my checking account. So the built in pedometer and Sport kit and shoes that you can purchase additionally is something that I think will be a great motivator for me.

My biggest problem in staying motivated is that I get bored easily. After several days of working out consistently I don’t have any reason to keep my progress up because there isn’t anyone motivating me. It’s just me making myself feel guilty for not keep up the good work and to be honest I’m easy to ignore. The neat thing about the Nike+/Nike+Active program is that you can upload your steps to the web site and see how you have fared on several goals that have been set up. For instance the newest web site for Nike+Active you convert your steps into NikeFuel, which as far as I can tell is the calories burned, and it will show you how far you have made it across a major city in the world. Since I just started the day after Christmas I have made it just outside the Statue of Liberty. In fact I only have NikeFuel points left before I make it to the Statue of Liberty. I was planning on taking a day off tomorrow, but I think that I may just go to the gym tomorrow after work and try to make my way to the Statue of Liberty.

The other thing that I discovered was some great workout podcasts. Like I mentioned before I shunned all things Apple® and so I was not aware of the freed podcasts that were available through iTunes. One of the podcasts that I have discovered is Podrunner. It’s produced by Dj Steve and he categorizes his tracks in BPM or beats per minute. I decided to start the intervals podcast. The first one is called First Day to 5K. Supposedly you will be able to go from being a novice to being able to run a 5K in nine weeks. Each week has a podcast that you workout to three times a week. As of today I have worked out twice to the first podcast. I have to admit that being totally new to the Podrunner podcast it took me a minute to get my speed to match, but today I think I have it worked out. I’m sure it would be easier if I were road running as opposed to a treadmill, but it’s working so far. Maybe after I get into the higher levels and it gets warmer I’ll take it outside. For now I’m gonna stay on the treadmill.

I’ve decided it would be fun to blog about my progress in my blog. Right now I don’t have anything else interesting going on and hopefully it will help me to not only stay motivated in my workout and my goal to achive a 5K, but it will motivate me to update my blog.

I think one of the things I’ll do taking an idea from Bridget Jones Diary is to let you know my steps and/or distance that I have achieved during the day and the calories I’ve burned. Also if I complete a goal on Nike+Active I’ll let you know that as well. So here are the first set of stats.

Soundtrack	Podrunner – First Day to 5K – Level 1
Workout Medium	Treadmill
Steps Taken	3,839
Distance	38’26″
Calories Burned	132

Advertisement