The iPod goes running

Nike and the nano team up to monitor your workouts
BY MIKE WENDLAND

FREE PRESS COLUMNIST


I am seriously in the exercise groove and I owe it all to my iPod.

And Nike.

Nike+iPod equals exercise motivation, thanks to an ingenious gizmo that fits in the bottom of my new Nike running shoes and connects with my iPod nano to measure the distance I cover, the pace I'm going, the calories I'm burning and how long I've just been doing it.

All to the beat of my favorite tunes.

The new Nike+iPod system is my choice for the coolest new gizmo of the year.

And it only costs $29.

For starters

Of course, you do need an iPod nano, if you don't have one. They start at $149. And you'll need some running shoes. Technically, you could cut a hole in what you have to hold the wireless sensor.

But it's much better to get a new pair of Nikes made with a custom, built-in pocket just under the insole. Nike has six different models available for men and women, starting at about $85.

Getting it all to work is so simple you don't even need to read the manual.

Put the sensor in the shoe and plug a small wireless receiver into the bottom of your nano. That's it. You're good to go.

The scroll wheel on the music player has a Nike+nano setting on the menu. Click it. Find the settings submenu. Click it. Choose distance to be measured by either kilometers or miles. Click the weight selection and enter your weight. That's what is used to calculate the calories you burn in a workout.

There is another function you should look at in settings. It's the sensor choice option. Now, truthfully, I didn't do a thing with this the first time I used the device. I just took it on what I know to be a two-mile walk.

At the end of the walk, the screen on my nano informed me that I had covered 2.07 miles. Pretty close.

But I made it even closer.

The sensor function has a calibration feature lets you pick a course you know to be accurate. Do the course and the sensor adjusts accordingly to remember your style.

I did it on a quarter mile track. When I did that two-mile walk again, it said 2.01.

I could tweak it more, but that's plenty accurate for me.

You pick the music

Music is, of course, what an iPod is all about. Pick your favorite workout song on the nano and make it your PowerSong. Then, at anytime during a workout, all you have to do is press and hold the center button and it plays your favorite. For me, that's Tom Petty's "Runnin' Down a Dream."

On the iTunes music store, there is now a Nike Sport Music section with $9.95 workouts you can download for roadwork or treadmill training.

But most of us will use our own tunes on the nano. They play through the earbuds as the nano screen shows your time, pace and speed. You don't need to even look at the screen, though. You can activate a feature on the nano in which a voice gives you periodic audio updates over the music.

The system also lets you run a basic open-ended workout or one based on time, distance or calories. Want to burn off 100 calories? Set the workout to last until you do.

Another cool thing about this: When you plug your iPod into your computer, it can connect to a Nike Web site that stores your workouts and lets you set fitness goals.

Talk about motivation mojo.

Technology columnist MIKE WENDLAND can be reached at 313-222-8861 or mwendland@freepress.com. He posts daily on his PC Mike Web log at www.freep.com/pcmike.