New Toy

As I mentioned in this post, I am training for a half marathon in October.  I usually run at the gym on the treadmill, but I occasionally run outside and now that my long runs are getting longer, not only do I need fuel to keep me going, but I need something to track my running.  I had wanted a Garmin Forerunner, but couldn’t justify that cost.  I already have a Polar Heart Rate Monitor, so another couple hundred dollars to track mileage/distance didn’t make sense.  Enter new Nike shoes & Nike gift card.  The new running shoes I bought last month were Nikes and my credit cards rewards came in the form of a Nike gift card.  I bought a Nike+ iPod Sports Kit for $29.99!

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The sensor (on the right), slips in a little slot under the insert in my shoe.  The receiver slips right into your iPod nano or, if you have an itouch, it has a built in sensor!  I had no idea my itouch could do that! 

I used the Nike+ for the first time Friday for my long run.  It said I was running much faster than I thought I was and than what the treadmill was telling me.  I know that treadmills are notoriously wrong when it comes to distance, calories & such, so I don’t put a lot of stock in that.  I had to calibrate the Nike+ today to get the most accurate results.  I ran 1 mile (at a “normal” pace) in 8 min 50 sec.  That is what the calibration was based on.  Now, when I run, the results should be much more accurate. 

Some of my favorite things about this new toy are:

  • Voice comes on to update you on distance ran, distance left (can be turned off)
  • Push a button & it tells you your pace
  • You can custom design workouts, distances or do open-ended workouts
  • You can upload your data to Nike+ website & keep track of your training
  • You can set goals & compete with others on the Nike+ website

For $29.99, this was a great purchase.  I really look forward to using this in my race next week & for training on my longer runs.  Another bonus to the Nike+ over the Garmin is that you don’t need GPS for it to work.  The Garmins won’t work inside (treadmills) or sometimes have issues picking up signals from the satellite. 

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