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.

Comments

Don't forget...

[WaterTroll]

...to strength train. Jogging is great for cardiovascular endurance but strength training has several other health benefits. You don't have to be a heavy bodybuilder or powerlifter to benefit. Even twice a week is excellent. Many people believe that jogging burns calories. It does but very little compared to a regular, fairly moderate weight training, as your body's overall metabolism shoots up during the process of rebuilding the muscle fiber (please don't nail me on the precise medical wording, ok!). It greatly prevents ostereoperosis(sp?), among many other benefits, and also is effective in eliminating the risks (newly found research, check CNN) involved with the non-genetic diabetes type. You can't exactly mix the extremes of both weight lifting and cardiovascular endurance very well, but moderate amount of both for someone concerned about their own health and well-being is an excellent lifestyle choice. Exercise like jogging releases neurotrophins and promotes healthy neuron function/growth (if someone could elaborate on that specifically i'd appreciate it)

Running geek

[jfengel]

The great thing about running is that it requires so little preparation. No tires to pump, no pool to drive to, no weights to buy. Just you and your shoes.

I come home and can be out the door, ready to run, in five minutes.

I permit myself one bit of tech: a walkman. In the current case, and actual Walkman-brand walkman, but I'm going to replace it with an MP3-type player. Since I only listen to books on tape, which sound just fine at 32 Kbps, you can fit an awful lot of stuff on an inexpensive player. Perfect for three-hour-long LSD runs. (LSD=Long Slow Distance).

Re:Can't Run, but Can Bike

[ackthpt]

used to bike, but then an accident broke the brake handle and I haven't gotten around to fixing it. (let's just say then when biking on a city street, watch for people opening their driver side door)

A healthy dose of paranoia while cycling or running is called for. I try to pass parked cars at a distance greater than a door should take. Not much help where bike lates are 3 feet wide and people park in them (then drivers honk and bitch about you being in the road, even though cyclists have the same rights and responsibilites as automobile drivers.)

Re:Lo Tech Version

[Hiro Antagonist]

Thank you! Shoes are important, but you don't need the rest of the schwag.

Running shoes can get expensive, and are worth what you pay for them -- my quarterly Mizunos run about $80 a pair, and if I run in cheaper shoes, I get shinsplints and knee-pain from hell. Other people, like my boss, are lucky -- he can run in anything without having leg problems, and he's ten years older than I am. But shoes are worth spending money on, just to protect your joints.

As a note for beginners, make sure that you go to a *running* store to purchase your shoes -- not a Big 5 or a Foot Locker. The guys and gals at places like Sacramento's Fleet Feet are all runners themselves, and keep up on the latest in training techniques and technology, whereas the guys at Foot Locker are usually high-school students making minimum wage. A running store will suggest shoes, watch your form, and help you select form-correcting footwear.

So, shoes are important. But don't go out and buy hundred-dollar running outfits, and an iPod, and a heartrate-tracking watch, and all kinds of other crap that looks cool. All you need is a good pair of shoes, some old sweats, and some self-discipline. When you start running, it'll be hard, and you won't get far, but your endurance and distance will slowly creep up on you, and one day you'll realize that someone replaced your gut with a washboard, and that you can run four or five miles without dropping dead afterwards...hell, you'll feel refreshed.