Is the iPod Nike Kit worth it?

i have just recently started using the Nike+ kit with my Asics. It works quite well. First off I bought a used 2nd Gen Nano and the kit used as well. As for the armband thing I found it to be a pain in the ass, I have always found armbands to be a pain in the ass. So I came across another option a DLO shell case and with the small belt clip it works out great.

I recommend calibrating the device to get more accurate results. I did this by setting it for a 800m run and did 2 laps around a track. I trust the stats it gives me and the Nike+ online features are really great.

I have the 2nd gen Nano with the Nike armband. I adore it. It's not tremendously sophisticated, but it will encourage you to run more frequently and run harder.

It works fine without Nike shoes. Just secure it (it should be rigidly attached to the shoe -- it should not wobble or bounce), and make sure it's oriented so that the long axis is parallel to the long axis of the shoe (e.g. so that when you look at the shoe from the front, the Nike swoosh is pointing in the correct way). So continue to run in whatever shoes work well for you (it doesn't matter which). Some people have also used a dremel to dig a little pocket under the insole like the Nike shoes have; this apparently works quite well, but I've been too chicken to do it to a pair of my Saucony shoes....

As for armbands, use whichever you prefer. The Nike is among the lighter weight ones out there, which would be my primary desire. But to be honest, I got the Nike one primarily because I had an old $50 coupon for the Apple store (from the old iPod battery settlement), with which I got the Nike transmitter and armband for only $10 additional....

I like this sensor sleeve from Marware.

It is REALLY worth it!

I used to run a lot before I moved to the city I currently live in. Then I arrived to chilangolandia and for several reasons I stopped running. I started gaining weight (about 22 kg / 45 lbs in 2 years). In these 2 years I'd tried several times to start running/exercising again, without success. I even bought a treadmill so I could stop blaming the city for not having a place for me to run safely. Nevertheless, I couldn't take again the habit of running as before.

About 7 weeks ago, someone robbed my old iPod mini (and old comrade that went along with me in any run I took), so down I went to sears to replace it (I use my ipod a lot while walking/commuting from home to work at several hospitals). I like my iPod to be small, therefore I don't like neither the classic nor the new touch, so I settled for a nano.

Once there I saw an old nike+ kit with a big discount (it seemed to have been there without selling for a long time, hence the discount). Then I remembered the Nike+ challenges that Ziwi had been posting in the Macrumors fora and felt a sudden impulse to get it. Luckily, there was also a credit promotion that allowed me to spend more than what I was planning to. I decided then for the biggest nano, the Nike+ kit and a really light silicone sleeve+armband from belkin.

Next morning, I woke up early (like a child in christmas morning, eager to play with my new toy) and took a run to start using the kit. For this I taped (Scotch tape to secure it firmly in place) the round sensor to my adidas' laces, calibrated the distance in a metered track, and started running.

The first day it was really difficult for me to run a little less than 4 km. But the feeling of SEEING my progress in the screen of the computer was really new to me, and made me feel the need to run more.

Then came the challenges. My God!, when I started joining different challenges (including the MacRumors challenges) I started feeling the urge to keep running and running, because whenever I felt like I could not run anymore, I remembered about that extra km that I needed to top another runner, and soon I discovered that the "Power song" feature of the kit came really handy on those situations.

Now, after about 6 weeks running (the people that study human habits tell us that we need 21 days [or cycles] to create or destroy an habit) I'm amazed at how the proper motivation (the challenges) and the right tools (my music, the power song, the auditive clues and congratulations that come with the kit) have led me to run even faster and longer than when I was in my best shape but only ran what I "felt" was ok for the day.

By the way, I have already dropped 17 of those 45 extra pounds; and altough I'm still far away from being really "in good shape", I'm healthier than before (cholesterol and blood pressure have returned from borderline to normal) and happy to be running again.

Last week my wife gave me a gift, a pair of Nike+ shoes. So now I have the complete set. Although I agree that you don't need to replace the shoes, you can run with whatever you have.

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EDIT:
This is the silicone case/armband that I got, it's about 5 quids cheaper than the other, altough it looks less "professional"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-iPod...7?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1208650372&sr=1-7

And you can always "tape" the sensor to your laces, avoiding the need to buy the dongle. But I must confess I did that because I didn't knew they sell those things to securely attach the transmitter to your tennis shoes.

I was gonna go the nano and nike+ way but then saw the sport band thats been released by nike so you dont need an ipod nano to track your runs. I'm going to order one of them and use my existing 2nd gen shuffle for music. I know the shuffle capacity is not as much but i won't be running any marathons quite soon, plus its smaller and easy to carry.

It's £40 for the sport band on the nike site.

It's a good alternative for people who have an ipod and dont want to fork out for a nano

sport band

Check the refurb store at the UK apple store - they are probably cheaper than amazon.

I started with the nike+ kit and it got me running again. I then got the timex icontrol watch for the holidays (which allowed me to control my ipod from the watch - the cat's pj's in my book because I also use an arm band). Unfortunately, both the nike+ and iControl require you to have their specific dongle plugged into the ipod (in other words, can't use both at once ). The watch control won out for me.

The Nike+ kit is simply WONDERFUL. When I bought it, I thought it was pretty expensive, but in hindsight it's really worth every penny. I use it with a 2nd gen nano, and NON-Nike+ shoes. I just formed a small cloth pouch around the shoe sensor, then put it between the laces and tongue of my right shoe. It works perfectly, though admittedly it does look pretty ghetto (if you care). I do have it oriented along the long axis of my shoes, but I highly doubt that actually matters (the sensor just senses your foot hitting the ground - something like: #hits x stride length x 2 = distance traveled.)

I also found the default calibration to be simply excellent. Using my car's odometer, I checked my route, and found over a 5k distance, the sensor was accurate to within 100m - which I think it just incredible, considering my stride length definitely changes while going up/down hills, etc.

To really get the full benefit of the kit, you have to check out the Nike+ site. The statistics it generates for you are awesome, and really well presented.

I picked up a 1st gen Nike+ armband on eBay cheaply, and it works well. Apparently the 2nd gen adds a window so you can see the screen, whereas mine doesn't have that. I find no need to look at the screen while running (you can get a voice update of your current progress at any time anyhow), so to me it's pretty much perfect.

PS. If you do grab the kit, listen out for Lance Armstrong and others ... that's all I'll say about that

If you like music and running, you can't get much better than the Nike+iPod

I have it, and it's improved my runs greatly. I'd recommend it.

I like my Nike+ kit. It's fairly accurate for a simple accelerometer (anywhere from 20-100m off w/ non-Nike shoes) and a good way to simply keep track of the miles you run. The data collected is only manipulated in a very simplistic fashion which isn't good for anyone with more than a cursory interest in their training program. Hopefully they'll release a new model which allows you to better see your progress. Even better would be a BT heart rate monitor.

If you're new to running, this can really help. With some software upgrades, Apple/Nike could turn this into a runner's dream.

For the entry price, it is worth it and may help motivate you to continue running.

Do you get any benefit from the nike+ipod kit over the nike+ sportband other than listening to music at the same time as your run?

Do they sync the same way through the nike+ website or does the ipod one have added iTunes features etc?

I want to get one, I may just get the sportband because I have a shuffle but no nano. I can use my shuffle for listening to music, I don't really care about the powersong feature.

cheers

Several small differences...

i0Nic said:

Do you get any benefit from the nike+ipod kit over the nike+ sportband other than listening to music at the same time as your run?

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Besides what you pointed (hearing music while you run and the power song), there are acoustic clues on your progress, every km/mile, at the half point and when you're almosth there, in addition to whenever you push the center button.

And yes, it syncs the same way than the ipod

With the iPod, it does add a Nike+ tab to iTunes, which basically shows recent run data, and then links to the Nike+ website. The features in iTunes are very minimal, so for either product, you'll be on the Nike+ site to look at your stats.

acearchie said:

Anyone have any questions that they specifically want answering?

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How fast can you run a 5k?

I use the nike kit with a nano, and love it!

Has anyone heard if the kit now works with other ipods? (like ipod touch or iphone). When it first came out it only worked with the nano, but that's really just a software issue, which apple could fix with a firmware upgrade. I heard a rumor that they were in fact going to enable the nike plus function on ipod models other than the nano, but does anyone know if this has happened yet?