Running with Nike Plus
Everyone that knows me knows that I need to be constantly motivated to accomplish anything. I’m becoming more and more self motivated these days but, when it comes to working out for the sake of working out well I’m just lazy.
Recently I took the plunge and bought a new pair of Nike Moto 6′s. I absolutely love running with them on, they are very comfortable.
When I first bought them I noticed that they were nike plus “ready”, which basically means that the right shoe has a specially designed hole under the insole that you put a Nike plus sensor into.
The Nike Plus Ipod Running Kit
For those that don’t already know, Nike and Apple have teamed up and produced the Nike plus ipod running kit. The kit consists of the sensor that fits in your shoe and the receiver that you attach to your Ipod touch, Ipod Nano or Iphone.
Once you attach the receiver to your Ipod a new section appears on the main screen called “nike+ipod” were you enter your weight, age etc.. under the settings section. This allows you to track the number of calories you burn during your workout, among other things.
This kit costs $39 (Canadian) so after spending $90 on the shoes I was a little hesitant to buy it. After a few conversations with some friends that bought it already I decided to pick it up and try it out.
Is it Worth it?
I have to say that I am very impressed with it so far, more so than I thought I would be. It’s not the kit that is impressive but the tracking and charting information on the Nike Plus website that gets me motivated.
Below is a sample of one of my runs (Note that I have a weird running style and I need to calibrate my settings for running on a treadmill)
As you can see the Nike plus sensor and receiver record the total number of calories that you’ve burnt, the average pace per kilometer, total distance and a bunch of other data.
All this data is transmitted to your Nike plus profile once you connect your ipod to your computer.
Setting Goals
One the best features of the Nike plus website is the goal setting feature. Weather you are new to running or a expert runner the goals section will keep you motivated. There are 4 main types of goals that you can set.
1. Run More Often
2. Run Further
3. Burn More Calories
4. Run Faster
You can select how many times a week, or month that you run. There is a chart that lets you know how far ahead or behind the goal you are.
On top of the goals menu, you can select a pre designed workout program that will help you learn to run, train for your first 5K, 10k, Half Marathon race or all the way up to running a full marathon.
Challenges
Bored running against yourself? Maybe you are ready to see how fast you are compared to the rest of the runners in the world? This is were the Nike Plus challenges come in. There are literally hundreds of different challenges you can enter for all different running levels.
You can create a challenge and invite just your friends, or join a challenge already created and opened to the public. I personally enjoy the beginners challenges as I actually have a fair chance at winning (or at least place in the top 10).
There are also team challenges that you can join. Like the Canada vs U.S.A one that is currently going on. If you happen to win a challenge you are awarded a trophy….yeah.
The challenges are a great way to keep you motivated and encouraged. Once you join a challenge you can post comments on the challenge wall. You can either encourage your fellow runners or trash talk them, most are encouraging….most.
The Forum
The only thing I can find wrong with the Nike Plus website is the forum. It seems like a great idea but in my opinion it’s useless. There is no real sense of community or helpfulness or encouragement there. Sorry forum members but it’s true.
If you’re interested in joining a really great running form, I highly recommend joining Running Mania. Awesome group of runners from all levels there.
Nike Friends and Foes
Nike Plus has a feature that lets you add friends (or rival runners known as foes) and view the runs that they’ve tagged. You can also invite friends to join private challenges. If you are interested in adding me as a friend or a foe, my user name is mclintst or check out my twitter updates at @Steve_wlw
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