Dr. Strangerun: How I Learned to Stop Sprinting and Learned to Love the Nike+

Hi. My name is Paul and I'm completely addicted to Nike+. I guess it's been going on for the better part of the last two years, and in that time I've been incapable of running without it. It's affected my shoe selection, my pace, my desire to run on days where my iPod is dead or I can't find my chip. Seriously, I can't squeeze out a mile without being "plugged in".

For instance - this Saturday I wasted 5 or 6 miles on a leisurely jog through the Park because I couldn't find my reciever anywhere. It's as if that run never happened. I put the miles in I swear. But I got back to Niketown and like that - POOF - they were gone. Lost to being unplugged.

I'm aware that this is in complete contradiction to what "real" runners will lead you to believe. "Running should be an opportunity to listen to your body," or "The chance to enjoy time within yourself," and other similar hippie mumbo-jumbo. But I buy into none of that. Running for me is an opportunity to go faster, longer, or harder than I did the day before. Like a masocist I enjoy beating myself.

And that's why I heart the Nike+ so much. I get to measure every run. Check my pace, see the distance, and then load it online so I can compare the progress. I don't have to guess that I'm going faster - or have to break out my slide-rule and Map My Run to do mathamatics, I get instant feedback. It could be proof that the running Gods love me and want me to be happy - or at least faster.

So I may not be a sole runner, and the traditionalists plodding along at the back of the pack may not like it, but I'm hooked.

And if anyone finds those 6 miles from Saturday tell them that I miss them and want them back.