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Running for Geeks
ptorrone writes "It's certainly possible to geek out while you run and there are in fact running geeks. I started a new resource for geeks who like to jog, or who like me, are training to run a marathon. This month's features: Getting the right shoes and socks using technology, the Garmin Forerunner 201 GPS watch (also using the XML files for mapping), using the iPod/iTunes, with audiobooks as a training aid and lastly videos and photos of the 'Geek Gym' as well as the portable version for checking email, RSS feeds and IRC on the go as well as at home while exercising." If you're having trouble getting motivated, there are people who can help.
Basically on topic in regards to XML files from GPSs.
You can map (easily) your GPS tracks via GPS Visualizer. Just upload the XML from your GPS and set the maps up the way you want. It's pretty good for small areas (and can be for even large ones if you fool w/it correctly.
I routinely use the site for mapping out geocaches that I am planning on doing. It does require SVG so you might want to nab that if your browser doesn't already support it.
Learn to Run before you do so. To my painful chagrin I learned muscles will develop (from a non-runner) to the needed capacity to run 10K within a couple months, but tendons take years. If you've never run before, start short, keep it to less than 2 miles for the first year.
I tore something called T-bands in both my legs the first time I ran 10K. I had the runners high (endophins) and didn't feel a thing until hours later.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I tried to exercise at what I thought was a reasonable speed, but I would inevitably get winded, give up and lose initiative. But then my girlfriend got me a monitor for my birthday and after using it I realized that my heart rate was WAY too high. Use of the monitor validated that even at slow speeds I was getting heart-healthy exercise. It also allows me to see my progress as my cardiovascular system improves and I am able to exercise harder and longer and still stay in my ideal zone. It's a great tool.
Running was a big part of my life- but a mixture of fatherhood, getting into I.T. and gaining weight got me out of the groove.
In february I went on the Hacker's Diet and got running again. The running has gotten much better as I have lost weight. The biggest help tech has been was replacing my radio with an mp3 player. I picked up a Nomad MuVo NX and it is awesome. No commercials, no sucky songs and it is a quarter of the size of my old radio.
The loneliness of the long distance runner is much nicer with my tunes.
I am currently working on developing a full featured 'running log' for the palm os. Once I get it past the initial design stage I intend to GPL it and put is up on source forge. Any other geek runners interested? Is there something already out there I've missed (that is open)?
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
...is to order them from Zappos.com :) Shameless plug, I know... but how else are you going to buy shoes from geeks?
:)
The system runs on FreeBSD, Linux, Apache, MySQL and is written in perl. The warehouse of over half a million shoes is completely computer sorted by unique barcodes on each box and shelf. The whole system for which was designed and implemented inhouse by our small team (thee coders, at the time). We offer free shipping and free return shipping so there's no risk, and we respond faster than any other online retailer.
Okay. I'll shut up now.
Sorry -- it seemed on topic and I love my job
Logic is not Divine.
Indeed. However I've been fairly active for years, but not as a runner. Tennis, mountain biking, road biking, swimming and many long hikes (including Yosemite's Half Dome), but running is high impact. My physician , a runner, indicated many beginning runners will encounter the same problems I had, because they try to go too far, too soon. As I mentioned, I had the runners high and felt no pain while slowly tearing up my legs. Hours later I could hardly walk and had to stop everything for 3 months. I started running again, but only short distances, but my knee was too much of a problem to keep doing it and mountain biking during the same period.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I began just like you did and made rapid progress, but then plateaued. Here's what works for me now -
a.Skip every other day. The muscles need atleast 24 hours to repair. By working them every day, you are overtaxing them. You will plateau, it is a certainity - ask any fitness specialist or your doctor.
b. When you do run/bike/workout, up the intensity and/or duration. Rather than 30 minutes, shoot for 1 hour, then 2.
c. Best to invest in an elliptical .Since your feet don't touch the ground on an elliptical, you don't bust your knees. At the same time you build rock-hard legs. Plus, you get to vary the intensity on an elliptical by changing the resistance & the incline - very effective.
d. Audio books are a great way to learn something while chugging away on an elliptical. I have loaded up on about 50 hours of philosophy - Locke, Kant, Hume, Hobbes, Machiavelli, Marx, and yes, the usual suspects - Socrates, Plato & Aristotle. As geeks, we are constantly upgrading "tech skills" ( Perl, Java, C++, C# etc. ) while neglecting "life-skills". A sound foundation in philosophy comes in handy like nothing else. Even if you don't care for the subject, you learn things like argumentation, dialectic, persuasion theories, burden of rejoinder...essential skills for making your point when you talk to anybody.
Best elliptical scores so far, at different levels -
3 hours, 19 miles, 2400 calories
1 hour, 7 miles, 950 calories
0.5 hour, 450 calories
Good luck, and watch that caffeine !
They can outsource me, but can they outrun me?:)
Women lose bone mass at a greater rate than men, so weight training is especially crucial. Typically, after age 35, women lose 1.2% per year, whereas men lose 0.2% per year. For optimal bone remodeling to occur, significant resistance must be used. Ideally, this means progressing beyond the light weights used in group fitness classes.
Additionally, the increase in lean mass associated with weight training strongly correlates with a faster metabolism. This means that women will burn more calories twenty-four hours a day, not just during or immediately following the exercise sessions. If you consider that a pound of fat contains roughly 3,500 kcals, exercise alone is not the most efficient mechanism to reduce that fat. However, generating significant metabolically active tissue (muscle) will cause an increase in the basal metabolic rate, thus burning off those excess calories more efficiently!
Source: http://www.deepsquatter.com/strength/archives/lady lift3.htm
People say I'm crazy, I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes...
The advantages of running:
- Running gets you a higher amount of aerobic benefit in a shorter period of time
- You can do it in smaller area
- running shoes are way more affordable than a good bike
- running does not require a helmet
- you can run anywhere
- if you go on vacation- just bring your shoes and you are good to go
Disadvantages:- you have to be very careful to avoid injury
- the high impact is too much for some people
I think it is good for people to do something- I don't care what it is as long as they like it. I have never found running to be boring. I love it and find biking to be boring.It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?