5km and Nike+

I’ve created a new category for these posts, it’s about time I think…

Anyway, completed the jogScotland Glasgow Green 5K tonight, in a 29 mins and 18 secs!! Woooohoooo. My private aim was under 30 minutes but given that I was still a little leg heavy after Sunday’s 10K I was doubtful I’d manage it, but I did!!

Last kilometre almost killed me mind you but hey, I’m still alive and feel vibrant. What a buzz.

The downside is that, given that this is a popular race (around 2500 entries I think they said) I am pretty sure the distance is accurate. Alas my Nike+ thinks I only ran 4.6km. I know it’s never going to be as accurate as a GPS system but it was only out by 100m on Sunday, yet tonight it’s lost .. ummm.. fractions were never my strong point.. let’s just say that it’s lost a ‘fair percentage’ of the distance I ran.

Of course I’ve yet to actually calibrate the thing properly, but to do that I need to find, ideally, a 400m running track and apparently Hamilton boasts only one and that is fenced off and locked up most of the time, and even then I doubt it’s going to be in very good condition from I could tell from peering through the gate.

Still, an new PB for me. This running thing could catch on you know…

Comments

  1. 8% !

    This running lark does sound fun though Gordon. I did try it once but it didn’t really agree with me, I always found the Guinness never stayed in the glass and made a right mess 🙂

  2. Hi joggerblogger, welcome!

    The Nike+ is an excellent companion for the hobbyist jogger. It’s not 100% accurate for distances, but as I say, I’ve not calibrated mine so that might make a difference. But purely to see your runs charted in nice graphs, and keeping a log of your progress as you go has been a huge help.

    And yes, 8%, pretty high when I’m only running 5K eh!

  3. Hi there Gordon, I enjoy reading your posts and glad to see you getting PB’s all over the place! Just to let you know that tonight’s course is possibly one of the most accurately measured 5k courses in Scotland. I designed the course last year and went round with the official course measurer, who has a Jones Counter on his bike (accurate to millimetres!). We allow for about 10 to 20m over distance because as we all know runners are adept at cutting corners where possible – although there is less scope for doing so on this course. The measurer takes the shortest route possible, following what he/she feels will be the runners line so there is not really any chance of someone running less than 5k (unless they just plain cheat and hide behind a bush for 20 mins and jump out and sprint to the finish – but, hey, what would be the point in that?!). Anyways. glad you had a good night – we did too (the organising team that is). All the best, Alistair (jogscotland Manager)

  4. Hi Alistair,

    Just to be clear my issue is with my Nike+ system not your measurement of the course, I know how much work and detail is put into these things, and I KNOW I ran 5k (my legs are happily confirming that this morning! 😉 )

    Congratulations on organising an excellent event, the warm up with the Rockettes certainly got the .. umm.. blood pumping..

  5. Congrats on the PB, a lot of people are reporting that the Nike+ system seems to not be very accurate at times. I wonder if it has something to do with battery power. not sure. Mine seems to be dead on.

    Anyway, if you are interested, I would love for you to come try out our new running community site. It’s brand new and we are still adding features. Check us out, http://www.runnerplus.com I would love to hear your feedback.

Comments are closed.