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Little Motivator

I’ve been using the Nike+ sensor since December 2006 so I figured I would go ahead and write a review for those who are considering buying this. I’m actually using my second sensor now (my first one ran out of battery, after logging about a year and a half of use and approximately 1700 miles). I run with Asics and use a Marware Sportsuit Sensor Case (basically a pouch for the sensor) to attach the sensor to the top of my laces. In other words, you don’t need the Nike+ shoes to use this. If you have an iPhone or iPod touch then you won’t need the receiver that plugs into the bottom of the Nano either (it’s a built-in app on the iPhone and iPod touch).

Now as for the accuracy. For the most part it’s pretty accurate but that’s all going to depend on your calibration and whether you’re running on a treadmill or on the ground. What I have noticed is that it tends to err towards the average pace you ran during calibration. For example, if you averaged an 8-min/mile during calibration then when you’re running slower than an 8 min/mile it will show that you are running faster than you actually are and if you’re running faster than an 8 min/mile it will show that you are running a slower pace than you actually are. I have tested this on treadmills and on the track. That being said, it’s still fairly accurate, probably within 95% accuracy (assuming you’re able to run close to your normal pace). As for varying degrees of accuracy running on the treadmill vs. running on the ground, I’m not exactly sure why that happens, maybe because my stride is a little different on the treadmill. Anyways, what I do for that is I will calibrate on the treadmill when I know I’ll be running on the treadmill a lot for some period of time (like in the winter when it’s too cold to run outside) and then calibrate on the track when I know I’ll be running outside a lot.

After your runs, you plug your iPod or iPhone into your computer and send the workout data to the Nike+ website. Nike has put together a very nice site and this is probably the best thing about using this device. On the site you can view your running stats, set up running goals, challenge your friends to competitions, get running advice, map running routes, and probably some other things. They’re constantly updating the site so there are probably some features I haven’t used. You can check it out for yourself at [...]. There is a pretty big running community on the site so it’s great for motivation and let’s face it, the main reason why you would buy a device like this is probably to motivate yourself to run more. For those serious runners, the stats that are tracked with Nike+ may be a little disappointing. You get stats for the entire workout but unfortunately you can’t get split times during the run. It does give you your pace at various points in your run but you can’t see how long it took you to reach certain points in your run (how long it took you to get to mile 1, 5k, etc).

For those of you who like pros and cons lists…here you go:

Pros:
- Easy to use and fairly accurate (read above where I talk about accuracy).
- The [...]website which is great for motivation (it would be nice if you could see how long it took you to reach a certain distance during your run though)
- Good for those runners who run on treadmills to be able to track their miles.
- Cost. Cheaper than GPS systems and Polar’s S1 Foot Pad, which does the exact same thing but retails for $130. Also, if you have an iPhone or iPod touch you can save some money by just buying the sensor that attaches to the shoe instead of the entire kit.

Cons:
- May need to calibrate for better accuracy (on track and on treadmill, at least for me…maybe you’ll be lucky and not see a difference)
- Once battery dies in the sensor you need to buy a new one (can’t replace battery).

Update (2/6/2012):

The featured review for this product, Apple MA365LL/D Nike+ iPod Sport Kit Electronics, was written by V. Tran.

The average rating for this item is 5 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.