Is listening to NKOTB on my iPod for an hour worth it? My heart says “yes!” , but for the sake of my health, my brain says “no” since this is the risk involved: Just a mere 60 minutes of listening to music on an MP3 player is enough to significantly damage one’s hearing (primarily the outer hair cells of the ear) says a small study from Ghent University in Belgium.
1 Comment June 23, 2010
I’ve misplaced my Nike+ Sportband (it’s somewhere in my house…) and running just doesn’t even seem to count without it.
I’ve reluctantly gone on a few runs Sportband-less and while it’s nice to not force myself to sprint through the yellow light and to run at a pace that’s comfy since I’m unconcerned about racking up a decent pace (nothing’s measuring my jog, after all), I’d much rather be adding to my total of kilometres logged (now nearing 2,500k completed over my three years as a runner). Watching my overall pace creep up second by second is extremely satisfying (the creeping down of my pace — not so much!).
For those of you who don’t know, the Nike+ Sportband tracks your distance, pace and calories burned thanks to a small accelerometre sensor you insert into Nike+ running shoes.
Without it (or the Nike+ iPod Sportkit), I simply don’t think I’d have ever stuck to running. It helps give validity to the many early mornings I’ve logged many k when I’d often rather be having brunch or sleeping in. It gives me solid stats, real tangible proof to back up my sense of accomplishment. Which is my main motivation for running; well, that and bragging rights :).
There are other tools that offer the same stats, and are probably more accurate, such as a Garmin with GPS — but they’re also a lot pricier than the $80 Sportband.
I heart my Nike+ Sportband; now I just need to find it.
-sigh-
4 Comments March 17, 2010
Finally tuned into the new free podcast Spilled Milk, which is hosted by Molly Wizenberg (of Orangette blog fame) and Matthew Amster-Burton (author of Hungry Monkey: A Food-Loving Father’s Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater) and if you love food and eating (and, OK, cooking — for me, the cooking is just a means to get to the eating) as much as I do, you’ll love this podcast, too.
Each podcast they focus on a particular food or cooking method, and the hosts have great rapport. And Spilled Milk has already opened my eyes to a good many things:
(1) to showcase a food, fry it (I like how Matthew thinks).
(2) I’ve never had a chocolate malt milkshake — add that to my to-eat list. I’ve had a date milkshake in Palm Springs, but not a chocolate malt milkshake.
(3) our hands feel gnarly when chopping a butternut squash because of a resin that causes dermatitis reaction.
Tune in (but not if you’ve skipped breakfast, as I had, or you might be on the subway at 8 a.m. seriously considering consuming an entire pack of gum as your first meal of the day).
Leave a Comment March 11, 2010
