So as my faithful reader knows I am in a Nike+ Challenge (Dr. Nick’s Fastest Mile) …
One of the things I was trying to figure out is how the iPod/Nike+ is measuring the mile. The Nike+ iPod Integration measures the mile starting at the first step, so as soon as you start that is the start of the mile it is measuring. I like to do a warm-up first and then do my mile, which the Nike Triax system allows me to do laps and measure what portion of the run I want. So I run the warm-up, then press the lap button and start the next portion of the workout, the run. When I put the speed up some and off I go for a while (at least a mile and hopefully two or three) to do the mile for measurement in the challenge.
This comes down to a personal choice to some degree, should one count the warm-up and warm-down or just the “workout”. From previous discussions I have decided that the warm-up and warm-down counts as I am getting the heart beating. If one uses one of the predefined programs on the treadmill it includes the warm time as part of the overall time. But it is interesting to make the “mile” challenge work for the way I run, I had to put five minutes into a different run to make the measurement work. It was either that or do a 1 mile warm up, which I am not ready for yet.
To get an idea of the difference, here is the graphs of the run…
Nike Triax
Nike+ Run
So I have decided that when I engage the measurement is as important as what I am measuring. And this all looks different from the Twitter update as Nike+ puts the average of the run in.
yeah! frustrating isn’t it?!? I didn’t know until just now when I saw the badge on your blog that I did actually beat you last night while I was dying and gasping for breath just after the first mile of my run! Exciting! We’re upping the stakes, Bradford! Running off those beers!