The Race for Brands to Match Nike's Vaporfly | WSJ

In the wake of record-breaking times from runners wearing Nike’s Vaporfly shoes, and new regulations from the sport’s governing body, brands are racing to roll out new shoes ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

Photo: Craig Ruttle/AP Photo

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Tuesday's Swim Report - So Video Didn't Kill The Swim Star Nor Radio Star

Lane 1 - Sky News posts "Magnussen helped Coutts bounce back.  In a further sign of a revival of team spirit within Australian swimming, Alicia Coutts has revealed James Magnussen played a key role in helping her recover from world championships relay heartbreak.  'I was just in the warm-down pool swimming down and he just said, You did a great job tonight, you should be proud of yourself and don't dwell on it and let it get to you for your finals tomorrow night',' Coutts said.  'It was really nice of him to say that to me."

Lane 2 - Expresso Sport posts "FINA World Championships.  The weekend is upon us and we take a look at our best medal hope for the FINA World Champs, Chad Le Clos! With the South Africa still yet to register a medal in the pools, all eyes will be on the team as they jump straight into the deep end!"

Lane 3 - Yahoo 7 News posts (w/video) "Former Olympic swim star Scott Miller granted bail.  Former Olympic swimming star Scott Miller has been granted bail over alleged drugs charges.  The 38-year-old was jailed after he was allegedly caught with a quantity of methamphetamine, two weeks ago."

Lane 4 - Cult of Mac posts "WaterFi Will Let You Swim Laps With Your iPod Or Nike+ Fuelband [Review].  A Californian company, WaterFi specializes in taking other company’s gadgets and waterproofing them with a dual-coated, patent-pending process. WaterFi’s promise is that their process will make any gadget utterly resistent to even the most through dunking, but how well Christian Sprenger1does it work in practice?"

Lane 5 - Fox Sports posts "Christian Sprenger attributes world championships success to online video research.  CHRISTIAN Sprenger found his sweet spot via YouTube and now he has gone from supermarket shelf stacker to Australia's newest world swimming champion. Sprenger had eyed a potential retirement next year, but having found his "sweet spot" in the art form known as breaststroke, he is prepared to emulate his idol Kosuke Kitajima and swim into his 30s.  Obsessive online video research on Kitajima's stroke and underwater streamline turned Sprenger from a 2011 semi-finalist to Olympic silver medallist last year, and now world champion."

Lane 6 - Orange posts "Britons struggle in Barcelona.   Rob Pavoni was the only British swimmer to progress on a lacklustre morning at the World Championships in Barcelona.  While Pavoni squeaked into the 200 metres butterfly semi-final, Dan Fogg, Ross Murdoch and Ellie Faulkner all failed to negotiate their heats."

Lane 7 - Texas Longhorns posts "Swimmers await FINA World Championships.  First-time qualifier Karlee Bispo joins World Championship veterans Ricky Berens, Michael McBroom and Jimmy Feigen in Barcelona."

Lane 8 - Chicago Tribune posts "Triathlon races to all-time high in U.S. Triathlons, the three-prong running, biking and swimming races, are more popular than ever in the United States and fitness experts say anyone who trains properly can complete one.  Runners hail the triathlon, which offers a whole body, cross training workout, as the new marathon."


Waterfi: Waterproof Nike+ FuelBand

So jealous of my pal Rob over at RobAquatics as he bragged on Facebook... RobaquaticsMake it Count in the Water

Completely waterproof down to 100ft
2 Year Warranty fulfilled by Waterfi

The Nike+ FuelBand comes from the Nike factory sweat resistant, but enhanced with Waterfi's Dual Layer waterproofing process, it is now ready to be submerged 100 feet below the surface. Chase your NikeFuel goal while lap swimming, surfing, kayaking, even scuba diving. The Fuelband is waterproofed by filling the interior of the device with a thick rubbery insulator that forms a barrier around all of the sensitive electronic components
Listing-all
see more at waterfi.com

read more of my adventures with the nike+ fuelband over at even more of the17thman


12/25 - A Holiday Cherrished Moment of The Lost Swim & The Found Running Sock

Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho!  Despite being a bit umm. filled with Holiday Spirit from last night I woke up and decided to go swimming.  Unfortunately I have no proof of my swim as I've lost the swim workout when I had to reboot my computer mid sync.  But I did swim 1,225 yards.  I walked to the other end of the pool and warmed up a 225.  Then kicked a 100.  Then 4x100's pulling w/o paddles on 130.  Then 4x100's IM on 1:45 and warmed down a 100.  Making for a 1,225 yard swim.

That was it.  I came home and quickly ate a banana before heading out for a run.  I had to search high and low to find my running tights.  It was a bit chilly out.  Then I decided to wear a long sleeve running shirt.  I grabbed the orange one I last wore on Halloween 2011 for Aquaman.  Well after I put in on I wondered why I had one shoulder pad?  Shoulder pad?  It turned out to be one of my favorite socks.  I never tossed out the other one cuz' I still hoped they'd reunite some day.  And today they did.  It was my little running christmas miracle. RunningI only ran 2.5 miles to celebrate the 25th of the month of December.  So that's it.  I got in my holiday workouts.  I've now have ran 498 runs using Nike+.  I'm going to fit 2 more runs in this year to finish up my 500th run in 2012.


(NIKE+)+(SMASHRUN)= Runner's Geek Heaven

(NIKE+)+(SMASHRUN)= Runner's Geek Heaven

Now I've been using Nike+ for a few years and I love it.  I've started with an old iPod Nano, to the iPhone, to the Nike+ Sportband and back to the latest iPod Nano.  Well the Nano is a backup if I forget my Sportband.  So yeah I feel invested in the Nike+ ecosystem.  For years the graphs of information about my runs have been fine and dandy.  But as time has gone on I think Nike+ hasn't kept up. I know I haven't tried the all new or almost a year old new Nike+ GPS Sportwatch or any heart rate monitor.  Maybe that would give me different graphs to look at.  So let's look at today's run...

Nikeplus

It wasn't much of a run.  It was a warm up run before Group Power.  It was damn cold out.  45F is too damn cold to be in shorts and a short sleeve shirt.  Oh well.  Anyways I can get basic info from my Nike+ Sportband.  Now since I no longer have an iPhone but an Android based phone I used RunKeeper for GPS data.  Now Runkeeper is pretty cool and all...
Runkeeper
Cool.  Some different data.  Mostly from GPS.  Now couldn't a Nike+ GPS app do that?  Yeah.  So cool for you iPhone users.  But can you import Nike+ into Fitocracy?  NOPE.  So Runkeeper wins that match.  But DailyMile users win since Nike+ can be imported but not Runkeeper.  Damn...we need a running geek standard!  Can all these workout / running social media websites survive?

Back to Nike+ and it's graphs and data.  Let's look at a sad chart of my sad running habits...

Nike_plus

Meh...just run after run in bar form.  Yawn!  Now look at Smashrun.  Actually lets read a bit about Smashrun via a press release…

Offering an elegant alternative to the oft-criticized Nike+ site, Smashrun's free web-based platform creates rich visual dashboards that are tailored and prioritized, providing runners with a “big picture” snapshot and a “by run” specific analysis of years of running history.

In 2006, Nike revolutionized the personal data tracking industry with the introduction of the Nike+ sensor. Millions of runners adopted the device as they quickly discovered its power to motivate. By transforming data into attractive, shareable dashboards, Smashrun takes that motivational power to the next level.

We’ve engineered:

 - An attractive and easily shareable dashboard (here's Chris' running stats)
 - Badges that serve as milestones for running achievements
 - Daily ranks – for discipline, speed, and distance
 - Social sharing mechanisms and follower relationships

The result is multiple layers of reinforcement that are far more powerful than any video game, because the rewards are not just virtual. As users level up their Smashrun stats, so do they’re fitness level.
Smash1

Smash2

Smash3

Kinda cool if you ask me.  I still got to play a bit more and run some more to see the data chance.  I hope the folks at Nike+ are watching this and will update the Nike+ data soon, really soon.  But till then I will be heading to Smashrun!


Running Into 2012

I gotta admit that after January 9th running became not such a big focus for me.  On the 9th I finished the Disney Marathon. 

"

I made a mistake after that run and that was by taking time off.  Too much time off. NikeplusI didn't run at all for a whole month!  So so bad.  Now I didn't run in June but that was a health issue.  I got back to running for short 3-4 mile runs.  I don't have much motivation to go out and run 10 or 13.1 miles.  I am spending more time at the gym then ever so that cuts into my time.  But really I keep putting a goal for myself to be running at least two short runs around 4 miles during the week and a longer 8 - 10 mile run on the weekend.  Hopefully I can start working on that after this week.  The last few days I've spent hours on the bike learning a release so I can sub teaching starting tomorrow morning.  So I've been spinning like a mad man.  But I'm loving it!  Really, really loving it!  So maybe running went on the backburner in 2011 but it's a New Year and that a lot of new roads to run down!


RIP My iPod Nano! Damn You!

So I lost my iPod Nano at my gym last week.  Damn you who ever has it.  It had been crashing a lot and one of the buttons was sticking.  I so should have sent it back to Apple for repairs.  But I didn't and I guess I lost it.  So now comes the big question?  What do I replace it with?

The Cheap Solution:  The Shuffle?ShuffleIt's only 50 bucks.  If I ever do somehow misplace it I won't care so much.  Plus I'm poor and broke right now.  So 50 bucks isn't so bad!

The moderate solution with more options:  The Nano? Nano
More control of music.  More music?  Playlists?  So much better but with options of  8GB: $129.00 or 16GB: $149.00.  16GB in Pink is pretty cool!

Oh My Did I Win Lottery Option:  MotoACTV MotoactvGPS and Music for runners?  Oh wait how much?  $249.99  for 8GB!  HOLY COW.

I think the shuffle will just be the stop gap filler till I can afford another Nano.  I do think the MOTOactv is great but I just can't afford it right now.  Maybe I should give up running?


November's Rearview Mirror - Running

Compared to a year ago I almost don't run anymore.  Of course I was training for a marathon last year at this time.  Last month I stated that I wanted to get back running at least 20 miles a month.  Of course I ran 22 miles in October so that wasn't a lofty goal.  But I failed that simple goal. Idontrunenough
To be fair even though I'm not running I am going to the gym and working out more then I ever have before.  Group Power, Group Kick, Group Ride and everything else.  So who has time to run? Dailymile
Hey, I did run more in November then I did in June, July, August or September!  That is something, right? Runkeeper
Too much data for saying "I'm not running enough!".  December will be a cold month and without a Marathon or 1/2 Marathon coming up I doubt I'll be running much.  I'll make 10 miles my goal for the month of December.  I should at least be able to do that!