The Nike+ is a very cool gadget that can motivate you to run more…or at least, that’s the idea behind it. I remember seeing commercials for it and in January I jumped on the bandwagon. What I had to do was purchase Nike shoes that were Nike+ compatible (meaning that they had a little slot for the sensor chip in the sole) and the sensor itself (oh, you also need to have an Ipod Nano, but I already had one). The first week that I used the device I was pretty impressed. While running my ipod would indicate how far I had run and would tell me my pace. When I would finish, I would plug my ipod into my powerbook which would automatically upload the latest data onto Nike’s website which would then show me a neat graph with my information on it. During the first month of having Nike+ I would use it religously and I had a very detailed record of my performance.
Unfortunately, the novelty of it soon wore off. One reason for this is that the device was not accurate. I first noticed this when I was running with the device on the treadmill. I ran 5 miles according to the treadmill, but only 4.2 according to Nike+. I then started testing this outside. I’m a big fan of Google Earth. I always map out my runs using the software to get an exact measurement of the distance I run. So, when I compared the measurements that I got from Google Earth with the stats from Nike+ I noticed that the trend persisted, there was a .8 to 1 mile difference each time. That’s not a negligible amount.
The second thing that turned me off from Nike+ is that it stopped working. One day I was getting ready to go out on a run and I turned on my ipod but the sensor would not start detecting my movement. And that was it.
All in all, the Nike+ is pretty cool, but you have to take it with a grain of salt. Just know that its not going to be completely accurate. Also, it sucks that you have to buy special Nike+ shoes in order to be able to use it, though I’ve heard that some people put the sensor within the tongue of the running shoes that they already use. If you need some extra motivation on your runs though, I recommend it.
I’ve a feeling that the same problem occurs with pedometers, which is why I don’t use one. That, and I don’t want to get obsessed with how many steps I take each day.
well the Nike is supposed to be more advanced than a pedometer because it’s supposed to measure the leg swing…or something like that…it’s the latest and cheapest version of a technology that’s existed for a while.