Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

Steelcase is an up-scale furniture design company that has taken the treadputer to heart.

• Steelcase’s Walkstation marries desk and treadmill – Engadget

I can find NOTHING about the Walkstation on Steelcase’s website. They are best known for the Think Chair, which is “the simplest, most streamlined embodiment of our deep understanding of people who sit, and how they sit throughout the day.” If they profess to know people who sit so much, I wonder if they know anything about people who walk and run all day.

It looks like the Walkstation is merely an elevated work table over a sub-grade treadmill. You probably would do better to go to Home Depot, get the supplies and build one yourself. You get to choose your treadmill that way. Rumor has it that a Walkstation is going to cost $6500. Do you think it’s worth that to have a computer at your treadmill?

It looks like Apple might be considering supporting the Nike+ on the iPhone.

• iPhone 1.1.1 introduces 2 new special folders, possible Nike support – The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

According to Erica Sadun, there are two new folders in the iPhone directory that weren’t there before the latest 1.1.1 update. They are called: /AppleInternal/Applications and /Accessories. The file directory is similar to the iPod file directory for the Nike+, so I am hoping my heart out that the iPhone will start supporting my favorite exercise gadget EVAR!

All of this is speculation and those folders could be internal folders that Apple is planning on using for something else, but I am VERY eager to see the iPhone support Nike+

It looks like there is another active computer game that has been developed by Daniil Kondratyev, Tamar Raviv and Shahar Zrihen. It was developed as a final project of the Interaction Design Hands On Course at the Holon Institute Of Technology:

• Steppo

You can see a child playing with the game here:

I like that so many schools are researching active computer gaming. This looks fun, but not very practical for adults.

Via: Craftzine.com blog: Steppo

Two years ago, I wrote about Bodybugg, which is an overpriced gadget that attaches to your arm to measure your caloric expenditure:

• Starling Fitness » Bodybugg – Weight Management On Your Arm

Sometime last year, 24 Hour Fitness jumped on the Bodybugg bandwagon, offering the Bodybugg for $350 instead of the original cost of $500. Since 24 Hour Fitness is a major sponsor of The Biggest Loser, all the contestants are wearing a Bodybugg.

Now that Bodybugg is $150 cheaper than it was before, do I think it’s worth it? Part of me says no. You can get all that information from a $100 heart rate monitor and a food journal. Why spend the extra money?

Of course, another part of me was surprised at how happy I was with the Nike+. I could have kept track of my runs with a running journal for almost free, but that $20 gadget changed my running habits for the better. I loved seeing the graphs of my runs and how well I was doing. Maybe the Bodybugg would do that for my eating.

Am I going to shell out the bucks for a Bodybugg? No, but I’m less certain about how worthless it is after experiencing the Nike+.

Nicole Lee bought the new iPod Nano with video and a Nike+ running kit to go along with it. Unfortunately, the Nike+ running shoes were killing her feet:

• Perfect Running Shoes | neekole.com

She decided to go to a specialized running store to have her feet fitted to the perfect running shoe:

This was the procedure: They measure your bare feet. Then they ask you to roll up your pant leg, and walk around as they look at your gait, posture, and so forth. After that, they get a sense of what your “problems” are — whether you over-pronate when you walk, or you tend to lean a little toward the left, etc (These guys are trained to notice these things).

He then placed them on my feet, and encouraged me to go walk around the store, run in place, even jog around the block and come back. And I have to say, these shoes are amazing. He even taught me a special “butterfly” lacing technique meant to secure the shoe further.

I don’t know why that whole procedure scares me so much. There is one of these stores in Salt Lake City and visiting it has been on my list of to-dos for a long time. I guess I’m scared of having these professionals judge my running and walking style. I felt more comfortable going to the Nike store in Las Vegas and running on their treadmill in front of the whole world to test the shoes than to be evaluated by a “professional.”

Not Nicole! Kudos to her for going in and getting the best running shoes for her feet!

Our friend, SLB+, wrote a review of his Garmin Forerunner 305. It looks like it keeps track of EVERYTHING: heart rate, elevation and pace.

• Quadrathon: Back in the flow…

When I tested the Garmin Forerunner 205 at CES a couple years ago, they were unable to be REALLY tested because they didn’t work within the building.

• Starling Fitness » CES: Garmin GPS and Heart Rate Monitor

Because of the bulk of the unit and the lack of ability to work when I am running on a treadmill (half the year), I decided that my Nike Imara was better for me than the Forerunner. After enjoying the tracking that the Nike+ does, however, the Forerunner looks even better. Too bad it costs $240 right now. I think I’ll stick with my Nike Imara and Nike+.

Last week’s runners were awesome and it looks like we have some stiff competition going.

mplant is the clear Level 1 winner and she has enough mileage to graduate to Level 2! Good job, mplant!

On Level 2, stuckinord beat us all by almost four miles! Way to lead the pack, stuckinord!

SLBplus is a regular reader and commenter on Starling Fitness. He kicked everyone’s butt on Level 3 this week!

The Level 4 Challenge was a tight race and Sareybabes squeaked ahead of RicC with less than a half mile lead.

tamaswing busted out of the Level 5 mileage and graduated to Level 6 with this week’s win.

The true king of the heap is the winner of the Level 6 challenge, Rasmus! With an average of over 10 miles a day, he is the man!

Congratulations to all the competitors! Join us at Runner+ and show off your mileage!

If you exercise by running or walking, you can compete in the Starling Fitness Challenges on Runner+. All you need is an account at Runner+ and you can log your miles there. If you have a Nike+iPod kit, then your runs will automatically be added, but the site will also allow you to add your runs manually. If you would like to compete against runners on your level, here are the links for this week’s challenges:

Level 1 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 0-10 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 1 (09-17-07) – RUNNER+

Level 2 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 10-20 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 2 (09-17-07) – RUNNER+

Level 3 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 20-30 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 3 (09-17-07) – RUNNER+

Level 4 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 30-40 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 4 (09-17-07) – RUNNER+

Level 5 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 40-50 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 5 (09-17-07) – RUNNER+

Level 6 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 50-60 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 6 (09-17-07) – RUNNER+

“Okay, I’m at the thrift store and there are a bunch of golf clubs here. What do I need?”

“You’re where?”

“I’m at The DI.”

“You’re going to get golf clubs at the DI? Why don’t you just use your mother’s?”

“I want to get into this golfing thing and I need clubs if I’m going to do this. What do I need?”

“Well, the big ones are called woods. You need a 1, 3 and 5 wood.”

“Okay, this set has that.”

“The little ones are called irons and you need a 3, 5, 7, and 9 iron.”

“Okay, this set has a 4, 6 and 8 also.”

“That’s good. Now, you’ll need something called a P or an S. They are wedges. You probably only need one of those. Best to go with a P.”

“Got it.”

“Then you need a putter. They’re like the clubs they hand you at minature golf.”

“They don’t have any of those here. I guess I’ve got to go to another thrift shop.”

“How much are you paying for those used golf clubs?”

“Thirty-five dollars for the whole set. It has everything but the putter, plus a lot of tees and golf balls in the bag. Oh, look! Gloves! The left one has a hole. She must have been left-handed.”

“Nope, if you’re right-handed, you wear the glove on your left hand… prevents blisters. Thirty-five bucks?”

“Yeah, is that too much?”

“New will cost you anywhere from $200 to $900. Sounds like you’ve got a good set there.”

“Yeah, the name on the bag is Evelyn Banks. Is it wrong to use a dead woman’s golf clubs?”

“She might not be dead. Maybe she just got a nice set of Pings and didn’t need those ones anymore.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m going to imagine. She’s playing with her Pings and gave away a full set of clubs just so I could find them.”

If you exercise by running or walking, you can compete in the Starling Fitness Challenges on Runner+. All you need is an account at Runner+ and you can log your miles there. If you have a Nike+iPod kit, then your runs will automatically be added, but the site will also allow you to add your runs manually. If you would like to compete against runners on your level, here are the links for this week’s challenges:

Level 1 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 0-10 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 1 (09-10-07) – RUNNER+

Level 2 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 10-20 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 2 (09-10-07) – RUNNER+

Level 3 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 20-30 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 3 (09-10-07) – RUNNER+

Level 4 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 30-40 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 4 (09-10-07) – RUNNER+

Level 5 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 40-50 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 5 (09-10-07) – RUNNER+

Level 6 weekly challenge from Starling Fitness. This level runs between 50-60 miles a week.

• Challenge: Starling Fitness Level 6 (09-10-07) – RUNNER+

Last week’s runners were awesome and it looks like we have some stiff competition going.

I didn’t give RicC much of a challenge here. If you run between 30 and 40 miles a week, join Level 4 and give RicC a run for his money!

Level 5 had no competitors, so you could ace that one if you joined.

Congratulations to all the competitors! Join us and show off your mileage!

Based on the new and improved graphics on Apple’s website, it looks like the answer is YES!

• Apple – Nike + iPod

This gives me so much hope for the iPhone. If they are able to make the Nike+ work with the new iPod Nano, then maybe they have an update for the iPhone in the works. I would love to be able to forsake my beautiful red Nano for just the iPhone. Carrying a phone while on my runs is something I do anyway. This way, I would only need to carry one device.

Please, Apple, do the iPhone update for me…

Update: Here are the screen shots of the new Nano and how it works with the Nike+:

• First Hands-on: Nike + iPod Sport Kit for 3G nano | iLounge