biancadarc.com Blog

New Nikes in NYC

I bought these new Nikes with the little secret compartment for the sensor thingy that links with my new ipod. They’re meant to be used at the gym or out running but I thought “why not give them a spin walking back to Penn Station?” I did and it was fun. The little sensor thingy registered every step of my 20-minute mile. LOL!

So why was I in NYC yesterday, you ask? First, I live really close. In fact, in my former career, I used to commute every day to Manhattan to go to work. When people talk about the “rat race”? Well, I’ve been there, done that, got the T-shirt and all that. But yesterday, I went into Manhattan to meet my agent for the first time in person. I was invited to an event at the literary agency which I thought was the perfect opportunity to both learn something about “platform” (which was the topic) and meet the woman I’ve been working with for the past few months.

It turned out to be a wonderful late afternoon. The event started at 4pm, so my train ride in was mostly empty. (Everyone is going in the other direction at that time of day.) The people doing the presentation brought wine and cheese, which was a nice touch. And the guy giving the presentation was a lot of fun and put up with a peppering of questioning (maybe it was more like heckling) from the audience of authors and agents.

A quick change into my sneakers in the elevator and I was ready to see how this Nike stuff worked. Keep in mind, I got out of there around 6pm. A little after prime, but still rush hour in NYC. I walked uptown – a distance I considered “just a few blocks” that turned out to be well over a mile. Imagine my surprise. It was only ten short blocks and two long ones. (The distance between numbered streets is short. The space between the avenues is much longer.)

I was dodging people, stopped to browse cheap sunglasses at a street vendor or two and waiting for traffic lights or traffic to clear so I could keep going. It took me about 20 minutes to get back to Penn. But the data the chip collected was better than any I’ve had from a pedometer. It was more accurate, for one thing, since it registers every step I take. (I’ve had lots of bad luck with pedometers getting tilted or positioned wrong and not registering.) It gave me distance, elapsed time, calories burned and some other stuff. It’s really a great little gadget!

I hopped a train and was back home in time for my chat at Romance Junkies last night, which was also a lot of fun. All in all, a great day!