{"id":31,"date":"2008-02-25T08:52:09","date_gmt":"2008-02-25T13:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gabeanderson.com\/2008\/02\/25\/use-your-ipod-nano-nike-to-track-mileage\/"},"modified":"2008-02-27T19:44:03","modified_gmt":"2008-02-28T00:44:03","slug":"use-your-ipod-nano-nike-to-track-mileage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gabeanderson.com\/tech-blog\/2008\/02\/25\/use-your-ipod-nano-nike-to-track-mileage\/","title":{"rendered":"Use Your iPod Nano & Nike+ to Track Mileage"},"content":{"rendered":"

You’ve probably seen the commercial<\/a>. You may even know someone who runs. But you probably wonder: Does that whole iPod<\/a> and Nike+<\/a> thing really work? <\/p>\n

Oh yes. And it’s even better than you might think. <\/p>\n

Nike+ running overview<\/center><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I started running in late December 2007 when a group of friends decided to run the Nashville half-marathon. Since then, I’ve gotten really into this running thing and have since committed to run my first marathon in San Diego this year (and to raise money for a good cause<\/a> in the process).<\/p>\n

The Technology of Running<\/strong><\/p>\n

My first 7 weeks of training I didn’t bother timing myself too accurately — I just rounded my times to the nearest minute. After all, I had never been a distance runner before, so my times weren’t too impressive anyway. But then a few weeks ago I decided it was time to get more accurate. I was debating between just a basic, el cheapo watch, a more sophisticated watch like the Timex Ironman Triathlon\u00ae 50-Lap Sleek<\/a>, or going all out and getting an iPod Nano with the Nike+ sports kit. <\/p>\n

I’m really glad I went for the most techie of the options: The iPod Nano with the Nike+ sports kit. <\/p>\n

Gabe\u2019s iPod Nano<\/center><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I have an old-school 40 GB iPod from 2004 that I was bringing with me on runs, but it was bulky for running and doesn’t even have a stopwatch. I was also worried about justifying the cost of new Nike shoes along with the new iPod and sports kit. As it turns out, you don’t even need Nike shoes<\/strong>, so my new Asics work great. All you need is an adapter like the SwitchEasy RunAway<\/a> (which is what I got) or the Marware Sportsuit Sensor+<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Your Personalized Trainer<\/strong><\/p>\n

The iPod Nano is pretty awesome in its own right — the built-in stopwatch is perfect for running even without the Nike+ integration and includes the ability to get split times and store your run history by date. But throw in the Nike+ kit and you take running and your stats to a whole new level. <\/p>\n

Gabe\u2019s Personal Records<\/center><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

With the Nike+ kit on your iPod, it communicates directly with the adapter in your shoe and uploads your data to your personalized Nike+ site, so it knows how far, how long, and how fast you go. It’s super-easy to use: Just connect it to your computer via USB and it automatically loads your run data into iTunes, which then sends it to your account on the Nike+ site. <\/p>\n

With the Nano and Nike+, you can do all of this cool stuff:<\/p>\n