Jason A. Carter

Carlsbad Half 2007, originally uploaded by jcarter.

I ran the Carlsbad Half Marathon on January 21, 2007. It was one of my best running days ever. I finished in 1:42.37, beating my previous best half marathon time by 7:29. My average pace was 7:49 per mile, which blew my mind; I’ve never even had a training mile that fast.

I had a lot of fun on the course, as you’ll see in these pictures.

I received a Nike + iPod Sport Kit for Christmas this year. As you might guess from the name, the sensor only fits in a specially designed slot in certain Nike shoes. I am currently training with Asics, so my only option is to wedge the sensor between the laces, which would likely fall out after a couple of miles.

I figured I was out of luck until I spotted an ad in the back of Running magazine for the LaceLid, sold by Waterspeare Industries. They make a rubber holder for the sensor that has two eyelets that you can thread your shoe laces through. It seemed like a bargain for $4.95 plus $1 shipping, so I ordered a white one.

I got a little nervous after a couple of days because I never received an e-mail confirmation, but the package arrived today, only a few days after ordering it.

The sensor fits into the rubber holder very securely – I feel pretty confident that it won’t fall out during a long run.

I retied my shoes, threading the laces through the eyelets. The LaceLid website shows a preferred method of tying your laces, which I didn’t follow. My method has a bit of play to it, so I’ll probably change the lacing to make it more secure.

I went for a quick mile run tonight and the sensor stayed in place. So far, I’m really happy with it, because it’s let me finally make use of my Nike / iPod kit.

Update 2/4/07: The LaceLid has performed well after a half dozen runs or so. And it sits there quietly when the sensor is out and I’m doing something other than running. If you’re looking for any hacks or widgets for the running data, Matt’s getting some good comments in his post about the Nike+ system.