5th June, 2008: iPod + Nike Plus = Running Game? (with powerups!)

After the sad demise of my iPod the previous weekend, on Sunday I finally decided to dive right in and buy myself a lovely new 8GB iPod Nano (with video, ooh, ahh). It’s (RED) in colour (you know, so my shameless indulge actually goes towards doing some good, in theory) – and very shiny.

I was actually quite excited because this also gave me an excuse to spend the extra $30 for an Nike + iPod kit – as I had been eying up the whole Nike Plus thing since I’d first read about it in the little flyer that came with my new Nike trainers a couple of months ago…

…anyway, before this entry turns into nothing but an account of my brazen consumerism, I’ll get to the main point – I’ve been impressed by the Nike Plus concept for a while.

For those of you who don’t know – the system consists of a sensor placed in the sole of your Nike trainers, which connects to your iPod whilst running – thus displaying all sorts of real-time data about your run. Another nifty feature is that you can identify a “Power Song” which you can choose to listen to when you need a bit of a boost during your run. So it’s like a real-life powerup. I love it! (What should my powersong be? My current working out/running playlist is far too long to choose just one!)

You can then log your runs on the Nike Plus website – a sort of virtual community/social networking type thing.

I can’t wait to get started. As some of you may know, I am currently training for my very first half-marathon, so something like this will definitely help me out!

Also, what I really like is the fact that (thanks not just to the powerups, but also the potential for “collaborative play” via the website…) the whole Nike Plus system seems like something of an Augmented Reality game, and started to explore that thought further…

Of course, then I found out that Jane McGonigal had had the same thought and had blogged about it earlier this year! Ah well, I suppose I should be pleased – great minds and all?! ;)

I’m not sure if there’s been any progress on Jane’s concept of a Nike Plus MMO since her entry, but it’s definitely very interesting! Will write up my thoughts on that later, as this is getting a bit waffly already.

Anyway – I’ve not tried out the system yet as I’ve not been running since I got to Kansas City, but I will endeavour to do so soon enough, so I will upload my data for all to see then!

(P.S. Oh, and also – I am starting a running blog! It’s location is still a secret right now. I will probably crosspost this entry there soon too… )

(P.P.S. In other news, I am very excited indeed that Geek Goddess is officially set to redesign Mitu.nu for me, woo! For the new, improved version of my blog & site which I don’t ignore on a regular basis. It’ll be a radical step forward, I know!)

Posted at 2:16 am | View Comments

  • I've read about the nike/ipod/memory stick kit, looks v. kewl, esp. with the statistics for each run, you'll have to come out for a run when your back i've been going with the portsmouth joggers a coupla nights a week and its been fab :D
  • Wow, that's pretty funky. Too bad the trainers are not red as well; every wun knowz dat red wunz go fasta! :D

    I'm intrigued. How much did the whole kit cost you? Either in US dollars or real money, I don't mind.

    But hold on a minute. The lovely Geek Goddess is helping you out with a redesign? Is she just doing pretty pictures or is she going to be fiddling about with the code behind the blog?
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