Puffbox

 Long-time readers of this humble blog may recall I mentioned the Nike-Apple joint venture to produce an iPod add-on for runners. The nikeplus is a £20 gadget in two parts: one goes on/into your running shoe, the other slots into your iPod. Then, when you’re out running, your iPod talks to you over the top of your music, telling you how far you’ve gone, and how fast. When you get it home, you can upload your data to a website, or (if you know how) download the raw XML and play with it to your heart’s content.

Suffice to say, it’s my current favourite gadget of all time. It has changed my life, and that’s no exaggeration. The availability of detailed data for every run is a real motivator; it shows that you’re making progress, and it makes you feel terrible if you ever slack off.

So anyway, last week, I got an email from Nike’s advertising people. They’re running a campaign to promote the nikeplus, and would I like to take part? I’m not really sure how they picked me out of all the users of their website, but it sounded like fun… so why not? This morning a photographer came round, and we went down to the local canal to take some action snaps. Then this afternoon, I did a quick ‘phone interview’ with one of their copywriters.

It looks like the article will run on nikeplus.com, as well as branded areas of Runners’ World and Men’s Health. If I understood correctly, I’m going to be their featured runner for ‘pace’ – which is very generous, as I’m quicker than average, but hardly Olympic class. And I’m pretty sure that most runners would frown upon my ‘run like mad til you’re shattered, then limp home’ approach to pacing. I’m rather nervous to see what they make of me.