Now, I don’t even own a cell phone, and I can only get my wife’s to work one time out of three, yet I now own an incomprehensively wonderful iPod nano and a $29 device that goes on my shoe and wirelessly reports speed and distance to said nano, which then informs me of my time, distance and (current?) pace. What a world.
(I don’t have the manuals in front of me, so I may forget some steps taken)
Current set up is the nano in a Nike+ armband, sensor in a shoe wallet on my non-Nike+ running shoes, iTunes on my laptop. Last night was armband over my running shirt and under my jacket; headphones went up my sleeve, around my neck (sort of a mistake) and into the ears. The sensor comes with a receiver you plug into the nano; the nano magically knows to update itself to support the Nike+ (or I had to sync something, can’t recall). Nike+ doc’n says the nano needs software level 1.2, but mine seems to work at 1.1.1.
One has to calibrate the software by selecting a distance over which to measure, both walking and running (why both? beats me). The default is 400m, which just happens to be the size of the track half a mile from my house. So, a couple of days ago, off I went. I didn’t have the armband yet, so I just put the iPod in a ziplock bag and held it in my hand.
First, it seems that the wallet has to be pretty secure from bouncing around (makes sense, since the sensor has a couple of accelerometers in it, I think), so I ended up tying the laces over the top of it. Putting the sensor sideways in my shoe didn’t work, predictably enough. I don’t like this solution, as the laces loosened up during my run yesterday. This took a couple of tries to calibrate it. Finally got it to register, and it recorded 370m. I ran a bit more after that, but I wasn’t sure what I was doing and couldn’t tell how accurately it had calibrated itself.
You hit the center button to do two things: audibly receive your current distance/time/speed (current or average, I’m not sure, for reasons I’ll get to) and “mark” that point in your run. One hits “Menu” to stop the workout. Except it doesn’t seem to stop it: one has to then choose (via wheel control) to pause or end it. That’s a problem.
You then connect the iPod to your computer, and iTunes can be configured to automatically upload your workout to nikeplus.com (after you’ve registered (for free) at that site). One can then peruse the run in primitive graphic form; each marked point in the run can be examined for details.
So I ran last night for the first time all set up. The problem with my setup is that it takes a bit of time between setting the iPod to be ready for a run (selecting the type of run (basic, calorie, time, distance) and music), getting it into the armband (where the screen is no longer visible or easily accessible), and finishing getting dressed (jacket). By the time I did that, I wasn’t sure what I had to do. I started my run by pushing the center button on the armband (easily found through my jacket), but didn’t hear anything. I wasn’t sure if I should. So a hundred yards in, I pushed it again, and sure enough that triggered the beginning of my workout. I got to the track and did a couple of miles, hitting the button every 800m. I hit the track at an announced .48 miles. The 800m splits were like .95, 1.4x, 1.9x, so it is reading short by about 6%; I’ll recalibrate to see if that gets more accurate. After I ran home, I hit the button again, which apparently doesn’t stop things, as I think it recorded distance while I was walking around to cool off.
When I finally got inside and got access to the iPod and actually ended the workout, it reads off the totals. Then Lance Armstrong comes on to congratulate me on doing my longest (time or distance, I don’t know) workout yet.
Hook up the iPod to my laptop, and iTunes informs me that it has uploaded the workout to nikeplus.com: would I like to go there? Sure. Except I can’t. Firefox shows a blank screen with a swoosh+ on it. Reloaded innumerable times to no effect. Hmmm. This morning, I try IE, and get the same page with an additional “Nike+ is definitely where it’s at. Traffic is peaked at the moment, but please refresh or revisit shortly.” This has continued all morning. Sheesh. So, I can’t see the workout details to determine how the splits looked and other things.
This shows promise. I’ll use it for longer runs, but probably not for interval-type workouts. I’m hoping that the audible readout gives split or average pace, and not instantaneous pace. Burying it under clothes makes starting/stopping a bit annoying, but maybe when I remember how to do it, it’ll be fine.
Amazing technology in any case.