An iTrainer in her shoes
I’m jogging through LAX at full tilt -- Burger Kings and Cinnabon stores a blur as I race past. I haven’t had time to put away my nano, and Bruce Springsteen’s “Badlands” is belting in my ear as I vault over a fallen suitcase.
Suddenly a voice interrupts the music piped into the earbuds: “9 minutes, 2 seconds completed; distance, 0.54 miles; current pace, 16.36 per mile.”
This wasn’t how I’d planned to test out the new Nike + iPod shoe gadget. But it’ll do.
I slow down to a walk and another, more familiar voice comes on. “This is Lance Armstrong. Congratulations. That was your longest workout yet.”
Is this a beautiful world or what?
The Nike + iPod Sport Kit -- a little disk that fits in a Nike shoe that feeds distance and speed information to an iPod nano -- was introduced in May with all the bluster and pageantry of a Hollywood premiere, including a big splashy launch in New York, featuring sports celebrities such as Lance Armstrong and elite marathoner Paula Radcliffe.
“Nike + iPod will change the way people run,” Nike president and chief executive Mark Parker declared in a news release.
The system will “take music and sport to a new level,” trumpeted Apple chief executive Steve Jobs in the same release.
Although the general population may not be waiting breathlessly for the latest in sports gadgetry, avid runners who want it all -- music and fitness information in one package -- are giving the system a serious once-over.
The kit includes a disk about the size of a poker chip that’s placed in the insole of a specially designed Nike+ running shoe. The disk transmits workout data -- such as distance, speed and calories burned -- to a small receiver that plugs into an iPod nano.
The information is displayed on the nano’s screen and a pleasant voice -- male or female -- provides updates on how your workout is going. Then the music resumes.
If there’s a song that you find particularly motivating, you can designate it as your “power song,” to be played when you need an energy boost.
And when your run is over, you can upload your workout information onto www.nikeplus.com to track your performance and compete with friends.
For gadget-head runners, this could just be the holiest of grails.
When tested along the strand at Long Beach, the system operated smoothly. The shoes fit well and had a nice spring. At predetermined intervals, the music was interrupted with a distance, speed and calorie update.
As someone who exercises best with a foot planted firmly in my back, I was surprised to find myself actually enjoying the experience. The fitness feedback provided helpful information -- I finally found out how far I’d been going (not very) and how fast (not very) -- as well as a nice distraction element.
And here’s the kicker: At the end of my usual route, I kept running.
Many users say the chief attraction of the system is that it enables them to go on uncharted runs and still know how far they’ve gone.
“I was able to set my goal and set my time and take off running” while out of town, says James Murray, a 45-year-old high school administrator from Carson.
Murray tested the distance feature against a measured course and found it to be accurate. His “power song” is the hip-hop tune “And Then What,” and he sometimes runs to audio books -- currently Bill Clinton’s “My Life.” “It’s definitely hard to get a good rhythm going with that book but it’s a nice distraction,” he says.
With the device, Nike and Apple may have drummed up the perfect marriage of pop culture icons. Apple has sold more than 58 million iPods since the devices’ introduction in 2001, and 8.1 million in the last quarter alone.
The ubiquitous little music machine has spawned a host of iPod-adapted gear -- athletic apparel, jeans and backpacks -- with iPod pouches and other modifications. Many automobiles are now being built with iPod integration.
Although official sales data aren’t available, the Nike + iPod Sport Kits -- which hit stores in mid-July -- are selling briskly, says Nike spokesperson Jacie Prieto. Nike+ shoes are selling well at FrontRunners in Brentwood, says merchandise manager Thac Lecong. The store has sold about five dozen pairs of the sneakers in about three weeks.
But could this be the next Pet Rock? The gadget is entering a sports footwear market already bursting with specialty shoes.
“I don’t see this as a flash in the pan, but it’s not going to be for everybody,” says Neil Schwartz, director of business development for SportsOneSource, a sporting goods news and market research group.
“Runners are very picky about what they put on their feet,” he says. “A runner approaches footwear the way a movie star approaches clothes.”
And even enthusiastic users say that in the end, having boatloads of music and data at one’s fingertips doesn’t matter if the shoe doesn’t fit properly.
“If you’re gonna get serious about running,” says Brock DeSmit, 26, an avid runner from Brentwood who uses the system and likes it, “you really have to think about the shoe first. The music and other stuff is just a perk.”
But this doesn’t apply to less-dedicated runners. “The truth is, if you’re just gonna go out and run a couple miles,” says DeSmit, “you can probably do it in loafers.”
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The bottom line
To some, the Apple and Nike insignias -- an apple and a swoosh -- stand for innovation and speed. To others, they represent the sound of money leaving the wallet. If you want to purchase the entire Nike + iPod system, here’s what you need and what it will cost you.
The Nike + iPod Sport Kit -- $29.
Nike+ enabled footwear -- $85 to $110.
A nano iPod -- $150 and up.
Macintosh users: Mac OS X version 10.3.9 or later and iTunes 6.0.5.
PC users: Windows 2000, XP Home or Professional (SP2) and iTunes 6.0.5.
The Nike + iPod Sport Kit is available online at www.apple.com and www.nike.com and at FrontRunners, Niketown, Sport Chalet, A Snail’s Pace
and Road Runner Sports.
Although Nike says the system works best with Nike shoes, the disk, in theory, could be attached to any brand of running shoe.
In fact, Marware, a manufacturer of Apple accessories, is set to release Sportsuit Sensor+, a neoprene and rubber pouch that attaches to the top of any running shoe. The item will sell for $9.95 and is available at www.marware.com.
-- Janet Cromley
