Nike+ / Nano--anyone tried it?

I'm sure there are some early adopters here--anyone gotten the Nike+ kit and tried it out? I just got a Nano and am an avid runner; I'd love to have a way to monitor my runs to measure workouts. Curious to see how well this thing works before I try it. (Also I'd have to buy Nike running shoes; I've always been happy with a particular New Balance shoe, and switching to a new model is always a crap shoot.)

Also, any problems with running with an iPod? My Nano seems a bit delicate to strap on my arm and do a lot of running. Any thoughts welcome.

i got it today and i ran for a good 20 mins and it worked great. you dont need the special shoes, its just a gimmick. i put it in my regular running shoes via under the laces and it worked fine. i also didnt notice any faster than normal batery drain.
also, for the running with the nano is no problem for me. i just hold it while doing whatever. i have an agent 18 shield on it so even if i drop it itll be okay

edit: just to cover all the basics

as long as you have the most recent ipod update, than all you have to do it connect the reciever onto the nano and a new menu comes up: nike+ipod

Cool, thanks much for the info. I think I'll get the kit and try the sensor with my regular shoes to see how that works.

Interesting. So it's not pressure sensitive, it's motion sensitive.

sensor = motion sensitive, yes

update:
I LOVE THIS THING!!! i did a calorie workout and for every 50 calories it says what number you have done,(you can choose a male or female voice) and when you reach 50 calories to your goal (there are preset amounts and a custom amount) it says 50 calories to go and counts down every 10 calorie till you reach your goal and it tells you, congrats you have reached your goal. than for me lance armstrong said that it was my longest run yet. (could be differant for others, i dont know) so anyways, i get back, plug my nano into the computer and a pop up asks me if i want to go to my nike site and than it sends me and it sends the website my stats and it keeps track. sooooo very awesome, i recomend this thing for everyone.

edit: as far as the shoe lace thing goes, i almost lost the sensor when it slipped out of my laces, so i just put it into my sock and it worked just as well. dunno if this thing is sweat proof or not, but ill make something so i can put it around my ankle

edit 2: i recommend that you keep the little insert thingie that it comes in, not the box just the part that the sensor and nano thing pops into for storage. i have a feeling theses two things might be easy to lose if one is not careful

edit 3: no apple stickers in the box :( ;)

i ended up getting the black and red nike + shoes. they feel great too which is a plus. for people that need a wider shoe, there is no wide option for the shoe, just standard. i guess i need to break these puppies in. i know i said theyre a gimmick, but the convinence of having the insole sensor holder was to high to resist

Thanks brass. I can't wait until I get mine.

Mine should turn up on Tuesday! Can't wait.

Will try with my Asics for a while and see if it works ok, if not might have to invest in some Nike shoes, but over pronate quite a bit, so need fairly supportive shoes, and not sure the nike ones will provide that.

We should start a MacNN Nike+ community when it's up and running.

Adam

I'm much too heavy to run - would this thing work for brisk healthy long timed walks?

Yes I'm serious! I'm wondering if the sensor is sensitive enough to pick up a normal footstrike in a walking stride, instead of a hit you get whne your foot hits the ground when running....

I can see me walking to work a LOT more instead of biking if it'll work... silly I know....

I heard this only works with the nano. Any ideas why? I've got a 3g ipod, and probably will upgrade with the next ipod revision, but don't want to shell out the money for a new nano.

im a tad heavy myself, and yes the sensor is sensitive enough for brisk walking. as long as your walking and stepping in place than the sensor will do just fine, and if you need to stop and take a break for longer than a couple mins. there's a pause work out option in the nike+ipod menu on the nano. also, as i found out today, :brick: if your not listening to music put have the distace tracking on, than you need to put the ipod lock on or your ipod will fall asleep and pause your workout, i lost a good 20 mins due to this :cry:

its probably due to the fact that the nano is small and has a flash memory instead of an actual harddrive so it works better for aby kind of excersize. i dont think that this feature will get included in any firmware updates for other ipods, which probably does mean that there will be some kind of nano upgrade

I got mine on Friday and did a long run with the sensor held by the laces. The distance measurement was off quite a bit IMHO. Could be that the sensor wasn't firmly in the laces.

This morning I calibrated the sensor for running with a measured mile. It was slightly off so hopefully that will help.

For a 1.0 release this is very good.

I want to try out the shoes and see if the sensor is more accurate.

Since you calibrated the reciever has it become more accurate, even held in your laces?

How have you secured it to the laces? I was thinking of making some form of neoprene sheath for it that I could thread onto my laces. Figured that might be enough to hold it on, but also tight enough that it will record every footstrike.

Adam

held in your laces?

Apple wins... and Nike .... well... poor Nikey...:cry:

Because Apple research shows that more nanos are used during work outs. Another reason might be that they are flashed-based.

I put the sensor in a small zip lock bag, rolled it up and kinda weaved in through the laces. In my first run, there was a point where it was not recording properly. I figured the sensor wasn't being held firmly and as you said maybe missing footstrikes.

I'm sure we'll see some commercial solution for this so that you can firmly secure the sensor to regular shoes just like the sensors for measuring your time in races.

After calibration, the sensor seems to be a bit more accurate but I haven't fully tested it yet.

Hey that's business!!

Here's someone's smart attempt to avoid using Nike's shoes:

http://podophile.com/2006/07/14/shoe...-kit-shoe-mod/

Neil

thank you for the link. i dont agree with the guy though. i have support and stability with the red and black nike+ shoes

I'm working on something that can be made with neoprene offcuts that would usually get trashed by wetsuit manufacturers.

As soon as I've constructed and tested one I'll post more details.

I just ordered this:
http://www.roadid.com/accessories.asp#shoepouch

Looks like it will do the trick...cheap too!

save your money cacarr, something not as tacky will come along soon

edit:
oh well, tell us how it does, heh, and that shoe theyre showing it with i have 2 pairs of them, great shoes

I'll let you know when I get it...and it's not that tacky.
:)

Right... just been for my first run with mine, just ran a quick mile, and my solution worked pretty well, was quite accurate too.

I'll calibrate and test it again tomorrow night, as well as pictures and instructions on how to make it.

Took me about 15 minuts, with nothing more than an offcut of neoprene, a needle, and some black thread.

Adam

Just ordered mine! Glad to hear it works well without the special shoes. My feet are especially flat (why I like to run, don't ask) so Asics > Nike. That and I'm pretty sure Nike won't make a Nike+ shoe that actually gives SUPPORT - seeing as they're based on the line of shoe designed for runners with perfect feet (Nike Free...its like running barefoot! Which is extremely painful for me!).

My Asics GT2090's are kinda old so I'm thinking of "modding" the in-sole of the shoe to fit the receiver. I'll post back if it works!

I have one now, and I had to make a special trip to the Apple store to get it. I haven't had time to try it yet. Anyone up for a competition?

Hello again all!

Right, have written a quick review, including details of my custom solution for non nike trailers.

Reveiw and photos can be found here

Okay, I used it for my first run tonight. All I can say is "wow". This little thing is worth double what you pay for it, or more!

I was really impressed with the female voice. Not too obnoxious, just enough to keep me motivated. The power song really got me through the hardest part of the run. I also liked the last few minutes where it reminded me how many minutes I had left.

Then I uploaded my data and was really, really impressed with the Nike web site. I especially liked the records it kept on my fastest mile, best 5k time, etc. I set a goal and am now looking for a competition.

Anyone up for a competition? Don't worry, I'm a slow runner and just getting started again. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?

By the way, I just tucked it under my laces. I'm going to use velcro in the future.

so... it doesn't track any heart beats? I thought it was an all in one athletic device, but it seems that just track your running.... it is design just for running?? someone tell me what is this device for?

The Nike+ kit was mainly designed for running/walking. It will only keep track of your time, distance, pace and calories (if you enter in your weight). I'm sure Apple & Nike will introduce another accessory (a watch perhaps?) that will keep track of your heart rate.

I tried placing the little transmitter underneath my laces but it kept slipping out and the distance measurement was not that accurate. I finally broke down and bought a pair of these.

http://a712.g.akamai.net/7/712/225/1...13827001_l.jpg

The distance accuracy increased tremendously with these new shoes. It was only off by a few steps.

One more thing, I agree with as2, we should get a Macnn Nike+ community challenge started. My Nike+ account name is kcrosbie@mac.com if anyone is interested. It's been a long long time since I last ran a mile and it shows on my current run... 8'59".
LOL! At least it was under 9 minutes. :D

This got me running after two years off. Last night my mile was 10 minutes. I used to run 5k's in 25 minutes. I'm not the fastest, but at I'm trying. With more time, I'm sure I can improve.

I'll set up a friendly competition to try it out. If people want to join, pm me their e-mail addresses.

I set up a non-competitive 100 mile distance goal for MacNN members. It's the MacNN Century Club. If you want to see if you can hit the goal, let me know. Speed is not important here, just distance.

I think you can just cut a small circle inside the sneaker and put that device there... that will work fine I guess...

We have three people signed up thus far.

I bought one of those key pockets that attach to the shoelaces. The sensor work perfectly while inside and it won't fall out or off.

Chris

mine should be arriving soon. like others, i've bought a shoe wallet to hold it in my older nike running shoes.

anyone have a case they can recommend for using this with the nano? i need something with an open bottom, obviously (my current one is too bulky and has a covered bottom). maybe an armband.

I can't even order mine yet: apple canada does not offer it yet :(

Got my Road ID shoe lace pouch and sport kit today.
Though I think I need to calibrate it or re-check what I thought was 2 miles, it is very cool. My time was 18m 44s for 1.66 miles (yes, I am a slow runner...but not that slow).
Can't wait for more runs (i.e., more data!).

So far, I highly recommend the Road ID pouch (see above post for link)...though I stuffed some toilet paper in it so the sensor wouldn't move around.

BTW, I'm running in Adidas Supernovas as Nike doesn't make shoes wide enough or supportive enough for me.

Later...
Chris.

how long does this device last ?? will we need to buy a new one or we can just replace the battery ?

You need to buy a whole new unit if the battery dies.

I'm sure though it'll last a good year or thereabouts - a decent runner will spend many times that in shoes, shorts, fuel, that kinda thing, so the £19 per battery life is <Dr. Evil> "Quite inconsequential" </Dr. Evil>...

if you go to macrumors.com there's a forum on this topic.

basically, i bought the kit and did the velcro/b/w the laces trick.

i ran an official 5k race this past saturday and my ipod registered it as 5.02 km.

i then ran a 4.6 mile loop that my gf calculated with a car, and it registered as 4.61. i ran on a treadmill for 5 miles and it registered it as 5.04.

on the other hand, my gf ran the 4.6 mile loop and with her kit it registered as 5.88 m. she then calibrated the kit on a track (running and walking 400 m) and it registered as 4.88.

i think i'm just lucky that the person they used to calibrate the default runs in a similar fashion to me. i have calibrated the kit on the track, but i haven't been running since the calibration.

I've been asking around, and there's no time frame for when they're going to carry them in the Apple stores (or even make them available for online order on apple.ca) up here in the Great White North.
Would anybody be willing to help me out and purchase+ship one over? I'll cover all expenses, of course.

Won't Apple US ship to Canada?

Is it snug? From what I've read it senses both the up and down and forward motion. If it jiggles while in the homemade solutions, there can be errors introduced.

I should be getting mine either Monday or Tuesday then I'm going to "hack" an old pair of sneakers and install it into the midsole. That may be the best way to emulate the Nike shoes.

Unfortunately not. From the website:

U.S. SALES ONLY
The Apple Store sells and ships products only within the continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii. No shipments can be made to APO or FPO addresses, United States territories, or addresses outside the United States. You may not export any products purchased at the Apple Store.

Can anybody help me out?

Had a great run with this system using my New Balance sneakers and the sensor tucked under the sole insert in the sneaker. Noticed it but was not overly annoyed by it for the purposes of my test. I love the PowerSong feature and the female voice is very reassuring. The distance readout was about .2 mi off according to the treadmill, which also had me burning calories a bit more effectively than my iPod reported. If you want your results to be strictly limited to your actual run, you have to turn off the workout as soon as you finish. Otherwise your warm down results will significantly impact reporting of your average pace. I had set the Workout for 3 miles, so I thought it would stop recording my activity after I hit my mark, but it recorded the next half mile warm down as part of the workout.

I'm going to test the system more thoroughly on a quarter mile track tomorrow morning after calibrating it AND using it in both a pair of New Balance 991s and a new pair of Nike+ ZoomAirs. I'm going to calibrate it using the Nike shoes and then see how the New Balance compares. Also have a key wallet so I'll probably test that on the NBs, too. Will report back later tomorrow.

The Nike interface is fantastic. It comes alive once you have workouts to upload to it and, of course, Apple's interface to the Nike site is perfect. I am one psyched runner.

We have about 5 people in our challenge (not a race, just running or walking for distance). I was camping this weekend, so I'm off to a slow start.

So, here's the deal. It's both easy to calibrate the sensor and worthwhile. Also, calibration is close to identically effective using Nike's special shoes and using the "tuck under the shoelaces" method, which I did with my New Balance sneakers as specified above. I calibrated to 400m using both shoes and then ran test distances with equally accurate results. This is great news for my wife whose feet don't take well to Nike shoes. My feet usually don't either, but I'm digging the Zoom Airs ($100).

On my first mile using the New Balances I hit a personal best (6:39) and Lance Armstrong congratulated me. On my next run using my new Nike's I improved on my mile pace (to 6:16 over 2.5 miles) and Paula Radcliffe congratulated me. As corny as it sounds, this was pretty cool. I can't afford a personal trainer and pretty much always work-out alone, so I wasn't expecting affirmative feedback on my results and it was a pleasant surprise.

The Nano was the iPod I always wanted Apple to release. Flash-based, durable, stylish, perfect for running. With this new add-on, I'm tickled. Hopefully future editions (or third parties) will offer heart monitoring.

My new Nike shirt arrives tomorrow. Short sleeves, vented and a pocket for the Nano. A little pricey, but hey, if it gets me running - isn't it worth it? It also has a spot to keep my headphone cord out of my face and hands when running.

Got my sport kit today - let me preface this by stating that I've been running on and off for many years and it's been about 1.5 years since I've run. I have been walking in that time period (we have a dog and we walk almost every day.

I proceeded to hack my old New Balance 715's that I've not been wearing and are about 1/2 way shot. I have a couple other pairs of running (mainly Nike) shoes, so the wife wouldn't let me buy the Nano + Sport Kit + Shoes until I retire a couple pairs. :)

So, I hacked into the insoles with a utility knife and dug a spot for the sensor roughly where it sits in the Nike shoes. Cut and then made it smooth and it sits a little but under the bottom of the shoe. Didn't feel it at all until the end of the run, but I think that may have been due to me shifting the insole - where I felt a little pressure was not where the sensor was.

So, I grabbed the dog and we went for a very slow start back to running..... Ended up doing a 15 minute mile with running and walking for 30 mins. Slow, I know, but at least I'm out there. The lady's voice was very good announcing my progress (and she sounds sort of hot! :)

Got home and when I ended my workout about 2 minutes after the 30 minute mark, I took off my shoes, grabbed a glass of water and my car keys and went to drive the route. Driving is not the most accurate as you are not going the exact route you did - sidewalks, turns, etc, but it's close. Drove the whole thing and the car registered 2.0 miles. The Nike sensor registered 2.06. As close to perfect as I can get. Much better than when i tried to fine tune my previous pedometer.

Uploaded to the Nike site and that was painless Set a goal for myself to get to 13 minutes/mile over the next 15 runs (3 weeks).

Needless to say, I give this thing an A++++. I can run in Nikes, so my next shoes will be the Nike Plus shoes - either the Shox or the Air Max 180. I love the design of the Moire, but at 260, I'll probably kill them (or they'll kill me) way too quickly.

If you're on the fence, it's a great running tool!