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Running again

David Jacobs writes:

I haven't been running over the past few years, but I have been recently. I'm a couple generations behind on the NikePlus experience, so I plugged it in this morning to see how it had evolved. The iPhone app and web dashboard are completely new to me, and entirely for the better. All the things that used to annoy me about running with it are gone (although I'm sure I'll find new ones). All of my old challenges, goals, and running maps were there, and I was immediately fed several suggestions to improve my running practice based on past behavior (even one suggestion that a goal may take "92 weeks" - yikes!)

I totally agree! I haven't been running for the past couple of years, either, but I started up again a couple of weeks ago, just casually, and NikePlus has gotten even better than it used to be.

It was great to see all of my old run data still there, and to be reminded of the last day that I ran (October 8, 2007, 2 days before Penelope was born). It's definitely time to start up again.

The Thrill

Joe Posnanski's Best Players in Baseball (from 1970-2009, based on Win Shares, via David) confirmed my childhood belief that Will Clark was the best player in baseball for a couple of years.

My reasons for his best-player status may not be as statistically valid, but they include: Clark homered in his first major league at bat, off of Nolan Ryan; and, as was pointed out in the comments, his 1989 NLCS grand slam against Greg Maddux was, well, thrilling:

Fastest ever

Lately, I get more excited by watching Usain Bolt run than by pretty much any other sporting event. Granted, I'm watching mostly the historic races, but that he's making history like this, right now--and that I can watch it in HD only a couple of hours later--is just incredible.

From the BBC:

One day Usain Bolt is going to do something that a normal human being might do. He'll spill his tea, or drop his chicken nuggets, or trip over his shoelaces. ... For now, he astonishes and astounds with everything he does. Maurice Greene, a former 100m world champion and world record holder, summed it up beautifully: "The Earth stopped for a second, and he went to Mars."

Nike+ and iPhone

The leaked screenshots for the upcoming iPhone Nike+ interface almost make me excited enough to start running again:

We've known that Nike+ has long been in development for the iPhone. Now we're finally getting a peek at the first shots of the interface. From what we can skim, Nike+ users will get all of the nifty performance graphs right on the phone (before this stuff was available on the web only).

And! Google Maps integration for running routes, which may be my favorite part of all.

Bolt

As impressive as the performance by Michael Phelps at the Olympics was--and, granted, I only saw two or three of his races, since I started watching late--the sheer dominance of Usain Bolt's 9.69s gold medal in the 100m was in a different league.

Completely thrilling.