Nike+ GPS Sprotwatch Update–11/27/2011

Got a couple new updates today on the sportwatch today including:

• Improved mapping accuracy for better looking maps
• Improved instant pace
• Enhanced quickstart features

We’ll see how this effects the experience, and as always they are updating satellite data. In addition to the updates, there are some new features as well:

• Stopwatch: Time up to 50 laps with a tap (tapping the screen initiates a lap)
• Alarm: Ability to set an alarm on the watch (I guess it’s getting more watch like)
• Time set: Ability to set time on the watch (used to be set only by satellite)

Not huge added features, but nice none the less. It’s good to see some of the basic features coming to the watch. I’m looking for more basic running features as well eg. Heart rate zone training and ability to program variable intervals with warm up and warm down.

Any questions about the watch, drop a comment and I’ll  get back to you.

Nike+ SportWatch GPS–It’s First #fail

For about 3 months I have been using the Nike+ SportWatch GPS. It’s ultimate strength has been it’s ability to track distance easily and accurately. The TomTom GPS, coupled with the Nike+ Pod I have not had a run that did not track distance, until today.

With both the Pod and the GPS active, there were no miles recorded. The odd thing is, the route was recorded but the watch still reported no miles after being uploaded. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here it is:

Nike+ SportWatch GPS–Nike Connect Update

Not sure what the updated did, but one came out today, very exciting. Also got a video message from a Nike Athlete congratulating me on running 5 days in a row. I kind of like that feature though it’s a little creepy when your computer starts talking to you out of the blue when you are not paying attention.

Note on the performance of the watch. It’s still a solid GPS watch.

Nike+ SportWatch GPS–First Disappointment

The last time I wrote about the watch I was praising the accuracy and consistency of the watch as a distance tracker. In addition, the use of the goals provided that extra motivation to get out there and execute the daily workout.

Today, I was disappointed. Once again I’m tracking down a distance, time and frequency goal. In addition to my reliable watch, I had a real running partner as well, and had a great workout. When syncing the watch to the computer, I got the login screen that I got the first time plugged my watch in. After attempting to sync three times, I unplugged the watch and looked at the watch history (this is very easy, just two button presses) and sure enough, the watch says “No Runs Yet.”

The watch has gone back to factory settings and today’s run is lost. I’ll keep you up to date, but if this happens again, the watch is going back to the store .

Week 5 With Nike+ SportWatch GPS

Another good training week with the Nike+ GPS watch. The screen, simple controls and accuracy of the GPS remain to be the strength of this watch.

This week I got to really feel the pressure of the Goals feature of the Nike+ website. It was the final week for my 2 Nike+ Goals. One was distance and one was for speed.

I had reached the speed goal earlier in the week and I was congratulated when I synced the watch by and elite athlete, that was nice . The distance goal, on the other hand, seemed out of reach. The distance goal was in my head from preparation and well into my long run this morning. As the run progressed the idea of one more mile for the goal motivated me. After doing this mental exercise 3 times the goal was met and the run was that much more fulfilling.

This type of motivation, like a good running partner, was amazing. Tomorrow new goals will be set, and I look forward to hearing the next athlete sing my praises for achieving those goals.

Week 4 with Nike+ SportWatch GPS

Sorry I missed last week. There was a race on Sunday that ended at a brewery, and well, you can connect the dots (the Boilermaker is a great race if you can ever get out to Utica for it).

The watch performed like a champ at the race and for all training runs before and since the race, but the lack of heart rate zone “alerts” is a little bit of a downer. It was nice when when my watch would tell me where I was with respect to hear rate. The screen on the Nike+ GPS watch is great for reading it, but having the ability to set and be notified of your changing heart rate zones is a very nice feature.

The Nike+ site does a nice job of making you aware of heart rate, and even the zones to an extent so I’m surprised this was not a feature of the watch. I would guess this could be added as a software update at a later date, so I think I might start lobbying.

Have a great week all.

Week 2 With Nike+ SportWatch GPS

Having this watch for a second week, I have come to appreciate the simplicity of this device as a distance tool and run recorder. I wear the watch as a timepiece as well which brings some comments from both runners and non-runners alike.

Life got in the way of many of my runs over the week, but that’s just life . Today I went on my first run in a new place, and the watch performed like a champ. I had no worries about going to long and missing breakfast with my wife, heart rate was nails and another run was recorded.

This run was a quite nice up and back on the Saratoga Lake. It was a beautiful scene with a light mist above  the water and perfect running temperature. I I’m sorry there’s no picture, my cell phone was dead this morning, but please take my word for it.

The one disappointing aspect of the logging of the runs is that Nike+ no longer syncs with the Nike Training Log. I have been using the Nike Training Log site to record my runs since I started running. I use this log for 2 reasons: 1. My running partner told me I needed to log my runs and 2: the Nike Training Log provides a place to record many aspects of your run and as an early adopter of the Nike+ system years ago, after some writing into the Nike+ forums, there was automatic integration of your Nike+ data into your Nike Training Log. I have ~5years of running data in the Nike+ Training Log, and it’s fun and or educational to refer back to certain moments in time  for training purposes. We will see how this plays out, I hope to get the integration to the Training Log again, for now I am still doing manual entries (I’m back on the forums again , we’ll see what happens).

Until next week.

Week 1 With Nike+ SportWatch GPS

I’ll get a more granular in posts to come, but the general outlook for the Nike+ SportWatch GPS is very good. So far it has delivered on what it is billed as and I would say a great value for a recreational+ runner.

I had 2 issues this week on my runs, but they were user errors:

1. My first run was intended to use all sensors(GPS, Heart Monitor and Pod). I did not wait for the watch to say ready and instead hit the “Quick Start” option thinking they would all sync. The manual specifically says if you use Quick Start, only the pod will be used on your run.

2. Ran out of battery. Again the manual specifically says good for about 4 runs. Not being used to having a GPS watch I did not even think about charging it. This will not happen again .

Beside those to hiccups, it’s nice to have a watch again and in this case, a watch with a very easy to read and navigate screen. It’s been about 2 years since I’ve run with a timing device. It’s even better to have a heart rate monitor back. Heart rate is my second favorite running partner (second to a human). It is really great to have GPS, I can now do up and backs in completely unknown areas and not worry about how far I’m going out. An added bonus is the Pod, the original Nike+ “pedometer” pod that goes in your shoe to count steps, distance and pace. It calibrates on all your runs to your GPS and if the GPS drops in the middle of a run because of tree or building cover, the pod picks up and continues marking distance, nice feature.

If you want to know something specific about the device, please comment, and I’ll try to address it.

One Week to the Goat

Yesterday Fleet Feet Syracuse put on the last Mountain Goat Training Run for the year. With the Goat only 7 days away, the training run gave the brave few a taste of that type of weather you are only ready for if you train for it, driving rain and wind ~40 degree temperatures. Thank you again Fleet Feet for your commitment to getting us ready for this great race.

To all you runners out there hitting the hilly course next Sunday, get some good easy runs in, maybe some speed work early in the week, and carb up on Saturday night. Those of you have run it before, you know there will be hills, but as we saw last year, you never know what mother nature will throw at you.