Gadget Review: Nike + iPod Sport Kit

I might have told you that I'm a runner. Last Fall I ran the Nike Half Marathon and this summer I'm running the Napa Half Marathon. I recently got the Nike + iPod Sport Kid, a little gadget that you put in your shoe to track your speed, distance, and pace and send the information through your headphones to be announced by a pleasant male or female voice.

I don't really like Nike shoes (I'm a New Balance girl, myself), so I wasn't psyched about buying the special Nike + iPod shoes that fit the sensor. But with a quick Google search I learned that there are several shoe hacks that will allow you to use the sensor with any pair of shoes. I chose the Grantwood Shoe Pouch because it was the first one I found and because at $5.99 (the price has since gone up to $7.99) I didn't have much to lose. The product arrived right away, the customer service was excellent, and it works like a charm.

I wish I could say I'm as happy with the Sport Kit. But let's start with the good parts about it:

• I love being able to track my distance, speed, and pace. Before that I was using the USATF site to plan routes and that took a lot of time. 
• I love being able to track my workouts at Nike Plus.
• I love it when Lance Armstrong comes on to tell me that I've beat my personal best for the mile. I think he has a crush on me.

What I don't like is:

• I don't like having to plug the receiver into my iPod because then my iPod no longer fits in my armband. (This can easily be solved by buying an armband from Nike, but I don't feel like it. Instead my kludge is to leave my armband unfastened and turn my Nano upside down.)
• I'm not very good at keeping track of the receiver. (This could easily be solved by putting it in the same place everytime I take it out, but since I don't do that with my keys, cell phone, or wallet what makes me think I'm going to do it with the receiver?)
• My Nano never froze before I started using the Nike + iPod kit. Now it freezes once a week.
• If you're doing a time workout your iPod will automatically announce your time at certain intervals and if you're doing a distance workout it will automatically announce the amount of miles you've run, but I can't figure out how to make it automatically announce my pace. I don't like having to press the center button to find out. Does anyone know how to make it do this?

Price: $29 

Comments

[J Maxfield]

Here's my gripe about it (not that you asked):

When I run I don't listen to music. I listen to podcasts. Leo. Amber. Old SXSW. Mostly Leo. If I setup a workout I have to choose from either Now Playing, a playlist, or nothing. Why can't I delve into to whole library?

Easy fix, right? Just setup a playlist with a bunch of podcasts I want to hear, right? Not really. For some reason if the first podcast I was listening to ends, it doesn't move onto the next one. It's, to quote a certain Merlin, quite crazy making and I can't figure out why the file structure and contrivances (for lack of better terms) inside the Nike+iPod would be that different from the standard iPod interface.

Phew. End of rant. Very cathartic.

[Megan Morrone]

I love to hear gripes that aren't from the perspective of a child under 5. Bring them on. In fact, I've had that same problem. I solved it by turning Shuffle to the 'Off' setting in my iPod. (It has something to do with the fact that podcasts aren't played in Shuffle.) Let me know if that doesn't fix the problem.

[Nobody Girl]

I would like to use the Nike kit, but I've got a larger ipod and apparently it only works on a nano :( Gutted..I like the idea of Lance Armstrong whispering sweet nothings in my ear!!

[J Maxfield]

Thanks, I'll give that a try. Should something so simple really be that hard? Or cause that much irritation? Prolly not.

As for Lance whispering at me - creepy. But the lady-voice is quite nice.

[Anne]

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That nike shoes + ipod is too much for me, i couldn't spend much money for that.

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That nike shoes + ipod is too much for me, i couldn't spend much money for that.

[joe mundigl]

I like the Nike+ except for one thing, the pace is constantly wrong. I am not terribly fast, so when it tells me I've slowed from an 8:30 mile to a 15:00 mile, I get upset. I looked at the posts on Nike+ and don't see a solution. I am using the shoe pouch but I don't think that could be causing it. Maybe I am wrong.

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