Sports Frog

I'm not much of an early adopter. To me, Blackberry is a pie filling MySpace? Hell I don't even have a Friendster page yet. Forget GPS, I like maps. But when it comes to iPods I have been ahead of the game. I bought my first many years ago and subsequently kept replacing them as the technology has been refined.

So being an avid runner, and someone who competes in very manageable triathlons, I found the commercials showing the Nike Plus iPod Sports Kit intriguing. When I saw the runner in the ad burst through the raindrops to complete that last mile, I decided to give the product a try. Someone at Nike was nice enough to send me a pair of sneakers and the adapter, and let me borrow a Nano to try it out. One issue I have with the kit is that I can't use it with my regular iPod. That is going to be a problem for me, because after trying it out a couple of times I have to say I don't know if I can quit this thing.

I received the sneaks and device last Friday and figured I would spend the whole afternoon reading instructions and trying to install software. Nope. After about 15 minutes I was geared up and ready to go. I replaced the placeholder they have under the insole of one of the Nike sneakers with the real sensor. There was a nice Jack Bauer-element to installing the chip. In essence, the sensor works as a pedometer that sends signals to your iPod letting you know how many miles you have gone. To get your iPod to begin understanding the sensor, you just plug in this small component and you are ready to go.

Once you start running, in addition to displaying how far you have run and your pace on the screen, the device will audibly tell you your stats whenever you ask it to do so. I chose to hear my reports from the "female voice" over "man" and in "kilometers" over "miles," I admit I was hoping the combo would make for an exotic-sounding babe. She's not bad, but I'd prefer more choices for how to get my audio updates such as "Spanish accent" or "a capella group" or "overbearing trainer." Apparently that last one is available in the form of marathon runner Alberto Salazar, whose coaching tips you can download to go with a Nike workout mix.

You can set your running goal as a time (example: 40 minutes) or a distance (from 3 K to full marathon) . Oh...you can also enter a calorie-burning goal, which may be good for the Swamp Weight Loss Challenge. The updates will correspond to whatever goal you choose. The first time I ran with the kit, the mileage it tracked was way off because I didn't calibrate it to my stride. But before I ran the second time I took it to the track for one lap, and it became much more accurate.

I just uploaded my first two runs to the Nike web site. My first thought was why is keeping tabs at Nike.com better than a simple Excel spreadsheet? But then I saw the cool-ass graphics and nice display of my running history (see the screen shot), and I was won over. Apparently I can also use the site it to set goals and win graphics of trophies or challenge Maria Sharapova to some kind of contest.

Oh...the sneakers themselves actually look pretty stylish to me, though it may help that I love the color orange. But I'm not sure if I like running in them as much as the Mizuno form I have been using for six years. That's OK because all I need to do is buy a pouch and I can use the Nike sensor with any pair of sneakers.

One problem is the sensor has a battery that can't be recharged so I don't see it lasting very long. I've also heard complaints that the device doesn't offer split times or a heart-rate monitor, but I prefer that it is affordable and simple. I'm going to explore some other options over the next few weeks and try some of the Nike workout music. But overall, I'd say if you have a Nano, it is definitely worth the 30 bucks to grab this gadget.

Any questions? Jeeves fell off the treadmill, so ask me in the Swamp.