I’ve been doing a very slow ramp up to running, doing some 20 minute runs with my new Nike+ setup (which I love, and strapping an iPod Nano to the arm is lightweight). But oh, am I out of running shape! I’m lucky if I can go 1.5 miles without starting some walk breaks.

I’m also doing some bike riding to toss in the mix, part of a challenge for tracking miles some friends are doing at DailyMile. There certainly are more exercise tracking sites than the last time I was in training, and I am using the Daily Mile widget to be my overall training tracker (left side) in addition to the Nike+ widget too (juts running).

Another new tool I am really liking is RunKeeper for the iPhone which uses its GPS to track activity on a map, record lap speeds (every mile) and even generate a topography profile. I used it for a bike excursion today from the RimTop trail Head (30 miles east of Payson just as you crest the Rim, first pull off on the Rim Road). What a wacky loop I did today:

First of all I took the narrow track on the Rim’s edge, which was really rocky and called for more walking, but I did get some great view off the Rim of Thunderstorms rolling in the distance. A whole group of kids and adults in a group kept warning me of the hard trail ahead… and they were right, so I doubled back to the main road, and went out to the Miitary Sinkhole viewpoint. From here, I decided to follow the trail signs north and pick up the General Gook Trail back towards my start point. I was following trail blazes, and kept criss crossing a gravel road/path, and at one point, it felt like I was going way off to the north, so I started back the opposite way, and darned if I did not recognize that I had already come out the road, and I was going way back to where I had already been!

I decided to bush whack towards the pave RIm Road using my internal compass, which I might have been doubting) but I could hear the traffic on the road. So I ended up crusing back on the paved road.

And what a laugh I got when I saw my tracked run! I was literally 1/4 mile from my start point when I turned away and went in the opposite direction!

Oh well, got a good 90 minutes of heart pumping going. And the forest was lovely on the back roads.

Did you know... "Olympic Gold Medla swimmer Gary Hall, Jr was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 1999" (from "Gary Hall, Jr Bio")
See more diabetic facts...

cc licensed flickr photo shared by cogdogblog

Jack the UPS guy is making some regular rounds here as I have ordered these new running shoes, a pair Nike Equalon +3 and equipped for Nike+ as soon as the sensor arrives from another retailer (I ordered all the stuff on Amazon.com). A bit risky buying shoes w/o trying them on, but I did go through Nike’s Shoe Finder and just trying them on, they sure are comfy.

Also on the way is an armband to hold my iPod Touch which will grab all my running data from the sensor, and some new earbuds.

So I have new shoes, and one less excuse remains to start up again.

I’m going to crank the I Hate Running Machine up again. It’s been 18 months since my last run (the PF Changs Rock and Roll Marathon in January 2008).

I’d had spurts and stops of running, none more than a week at a time. I have started kayaking, which is fun and good upper body work- here’s where I’ve been:

View Alan’s Kayak Spots in a larger map

and I am getting my mountain bike back into working order this weekend.

But… my health numbers have not been the greatest over the stretch (poor eating, lots of travel, etc) and my A1C numbers have been above where they should be. I need to lose that thing I keep bumping into when I bend over to reach something (e.g. my gut). And lately I have been seeing a few floaters in my left eye (I had a big round of laser treatment in 1993 for diabetic retinopathy).

A running routine, when had one, was the best stretch of fitness I ever had.

Yet, I never really found the elusive high feeling, and I marvel at people who look so damned happy and cheerful as the run (past me). Whatever.

I have been getting emails from Coach Dave about Team Diabetes and I’m thinking its time to join back up, and aim for the half marathon on January 17, 2010.

And in reading the current issue of Wired about the Nike Experiment (Nike+), I just purchased online a new pair of Nike shoes and the sensor, so I can do the Nike+ full data capture and training programs that will work with my iPod Touch.

Revving up. Maybe some power of suggestion. I Love Running. I Love Running. I Love Running. I Love Running. I Love Running. I Love Running. I Love Running. I Love Running. I Love Running. I Love Running. I Love Running. I Love Running. I Love Running. I Love Running. I Love Running. I Love Running. I Love Running. I Love Running.