I’ve been meaning to buy an iPod nano for awhile so I could use the Nike + running appliance to track my runs. We received Nano’s for attending the Office 2.0 conference last week in SF so I finally picked up the Nike device this week and just tried it for the first time today. All I can say is that this is what Web 2.0 is truly about. It has nothing to do with AJAX and rounded corners- it’s simple, invisible technology that bridges your real life with online and quietly improves your quality of life, gives you useful information to enhance your health, connects you with health-conscious strangers, motivates you to stay in shape and allows you to talk smack with friends on the other side of the globe all in the pursuit of better fitness.

This little gadget is about the size and thickness of three stacked quarters and sells for $30 at the Apple store. They try to sell you the special Nike running shoes that have a divot in the sole where the appliance clips in but realistically, it works anywhere in the shoe. I just took my old running shoes, removed a few stitches from the rubber logo and sewed it into the tongue. This thing is amazing- once you calibrate it, it tracks your runs (both time and distance), can calculate calories burned and talks to you during your workout to tell you where you’re at. You can designate your power song (think your own personal Rocky theme song) and if you start slacking it automatically kicks in to motivate you to exert yourself more.

Calibration of it was slightly annoying. I’ve never run on a treadmill before but I figured that would be the best way to gauge a mile and calibrate the device. Realistically the best way to calibrate it is to either find a known street distance or better yet, a racetrack. Once it knows your stride though, it tells you exactly how far you run. The NikePlus.com interface is slick- this is a great example of a rich interface (looks like they used Flex as the technology). The community they’re building with this service has to be extremely valuable to both companies as well- health-conscious people that aren’t just self-proclaimed but demonstrably so.

Possibly the coolest feature is the seamless integration via iTunes with the NikePlus.com site- every time you sync your Nano, it will send the stats from your latest workouts to your account on Nike+ so you have one place where you can login and track your progress. You can also challenge up to fifty friends anywhere in the world and compare their progress with your own (smack-talking is always the best motivator for improvement). The Nike / Apple partnership is genius on so many levels- Apple has a new product, Nike sells more of their shoes and sports apparel that integrates, Apple sells entire workout playlists of celebrity athlete’s’ favorite workout songs complete with voiceovers to inspire the runner, both get access to a valuable community.

If you have friends with Nano’s that run, this is an affordable Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah gift they will never forget.

I’ve had serious lower-back pain lately and after the first night of good sleep in a week, this is my major realization regarding the treatment of this type of problem:

While the injury itself that’s behind the problem may be muscular or skeletal in nature, the systems affected are inter-related and one issue cannot be fixed without correcting the other.

Even if you sit properly in your chair, you’re still sitting in a chair all day if you have a desk job and as Greg says, “our bodies aren’t designed to hold that position for an extended period of time.”

Greg and Michael are the same two guys that fixed my rotator cuff injury back in the Spring. I’ve done three acupuncture and chiropractic treatments for this problem this past week with only mild relief each time, however as I’ve now learned, we weren’t addressing the muscular side of the equation. Yesterday we added therapeutic massage to the regimen and not even 24 hours later I feel 95% improved. Apparently there are two sets of opposing muscle groups that battle over the lower spine and both were having spasms playing tug of war with my sacrum. Moving the bones back into place provided temporary relief but the muscles were undoing the work. By alleviating the muscle strain, the back adjustment seems to have held and my situation is much improved. And yes, that’s me posing in the diagram ;-)

I cannot recommend the services of these two individuals highly enough. When your daily existence becomes eclipsed by a health problem, there is simply no price that can be assigned to the prospect of becoming free of the pain. For me the back problem this past week had become more than an uncomfortable nuisance and was starting to seriously damage my productivity and morale at the office (my co-workers would tell you that I’ve been hobbling around like an old man and I’ve been irritable and unable to deeply concentrate). Thanks to Michael and Greg I should be back in the saddle now.

The question I have is “from where do these problems originate?” I had a major car accident in ‘93 that left me with a crushed L5 vertebrae so that’s probably the ultimate culprit but still there is no single event recently that should have triggered the resurgence of problems. My back has been mostly fine ever since the accident with the occasional intermittent, dull pain from long road trips and uncomfortable seating. Being acutely aware of my risk for back issues, I make sure to sit properly in the most ergonomic chair you can buy. The massage guy told me that apparently that’s not enough though, and that sitting uninterrupted for long periods without taking the occasional break to get up and stretch will cause the muscles to strain, which in turn pull the bones out of alignment, which means you don’t sleep well, which thwarts the healing process and creates more muscle strain, etc. Good sleep is so essential to the recovery that once the negative spiral is initiated, it needs an intervention to stop it. The spiral can be avoided entirely by drinking a lot of water and stretching throughout the day.

If you are experiencing prohibitive pain from repetitive strain injury or another work-related stress and are in the Phoenix area, I highly recommend the services of the guys from the CFAM as a measure of intervention.  And for that matter, whatever ails you I recommend you contact the CFAM - here’s a testimonial from a good friend I sent there for her long-term sinus problem and she’s finally found relief. Heck, if you’re outside of Phoenix and your problem is troublesome enough, I recommend you fly here and meet with them. Phoenix is beautiful in the winter!

*One disclaimer here- it should be noted that I did do their web site. I believe the service they do is extremely valuable but I derive no direct monetary benefit from referrals generated via the advice here.

So I think I’ve broken the code on the green tea at Starbucks. By the way I’m addicted to this drink. Every day at 3pm I jump in my car and make the pilgrimage to the closest dealer –ahem, I mean Starbucks– to get my venti unsweetened shaken green tea. This habit which costs me $2.11 each day has roughly the same financial impact as the nicotine addiction for the smoker that consumes a pack of cigarettes every day (granted it’s a little bit healthier).

I had a good idea of what I thought was in their tea so I experimented a bit with making it on my own and I believe I have perfected the mix. I knew there was an echinacea flavor in there and I notice they use a syrup for the mix which seems to have a faint honey taste. Here’s the simple recipe I’ve arrived at:

• two bags of green tea
• one bag of echinacea
• one teaspoon honey
• one quart water

Brew this up, then ice it and I challenge you to do a taste test and pick the one that’s the Starbucks mix. You can get the antioxidant Celestial Seasonings Green Tea online 40 pouches for $6 and 20 pouches of the Echinacea for $4. The venti size at Starbucks is 16oz (1/2 quart) so for $13 (tea plus the honey - prices online are similar to store prices), you can get 40 servings. Assuming yours is a daily habit at Phoenix prices, ignoring gas and time savings, that translates to roughly $50 in savings per month. Plus you don’t have to deal with Starbucks zombies. If you are as addicted to this stuff as I am, this home brew trick just might save you enough money to be able to afford the green tea anonymous rehab treatment you will undoubtedly need. I’ll see you at the next session.