The Detroit Free Press reported results on Tuesday of the 2008 Consumer Reports running shoe survey. Top of the list? The Nike Air Zoom Vomero+ series available for both men and women.
The survey, which involved testers running a total of 1,240 miles on 205 pairs of running shoes, rated shoes based on stability, cushioning, fit, weight, breathability and flexibility. Here are the official top three winners:
Forbes reports that 24 Hour Fitness will soon begin outfitting selected gyms with Nike+ iPod enabled equipment.
“24 Hour Fitness, the largest fitness club chain in the U.S., is the first to offer new Nike + iPod enabled gym equipment in select clubs across the country. Nike and Apple worked with major gym equipment manufacturers to make their cardio equipment Nike + iPod compatible so gym members can easily track and record workouts on cardio equipment like treadmills, stair steppers, elliptical trainers and stationary bikes.”
Brian Morrissey of The Internal Pigdog politely expressed some frustrations with the accuracy of his Nike+ SportBand over the course of a few posts in mid May.
“So far, I’m underwhelmed. The chart above shows my run today. After nine years of running, I figure I have a pretty good sense of pace. There’s no way it was that slow. I ran today more at 7:30 or a little below. The graph also has all these peaks and troughs that don’t make sense.”
“To test the accuracy, I ran to the park, then started Nike+. I did the four-mile loop (technically, a USATF-measured 4.04). Nike+ told me 3.71 miles. I was pretty much exactly right about the distance. My internal odometer kicked Nike+’s ass.”
Nike responded directly to Brian’s concerns in the person of Blogger user PLe1, the director of Nike’s RUN NYC program.
“Brian, just for the sake of disclosure I’m the director of Nike’s RUN NYC program. I just want that out there so it’s not like I’m hidng the fact I work for Nike.
Out of the box it’s 90% accurate and set for 8 minute pace but it’s designed so that every runner can make it work for their particular cadence by calibrating it.”
Make sure to check out Brian’s article and the article’s comments thread for the whole story.
What if all Nike+ runners could run in the same race, on the same day, no matter where they are in the world? The flexibility of Nike+ gives runners of all abilities the opportunity to do this. The race, to be known as The Human Race, will be taking place on August 31, 2008.
The 10km (6.21 miles) event will unite over a million Nike+ runners from all around the world in not just a battle of fitness, speed and stamina, but also a battle to raise money for three well known charities - The UN Refugee Charity, The Lance Armstrong Foundation, and the World Wildlife Fund. Each participating Nike+ runner can choose a charity to represent while they run, and every step in the race will earn money towards their selected charity. Starting in July, the Nike+ Web site will also allow runners to accept and manage personal donations from friends, family and colleagues.
Man, it’s been so long since I’ve had time to sit down and write I almost forgot my login. Nonetheless, I was able to navigate the archives in my head to bring you what I humbly believe is one of the greatest features of the Nike+ site. No, it’s not the new online training program (the one that will set a custom training program up for you), nor is it any of the various widgets that are available for download (desktop and screensaver flavors). It’s the “My Nike+ Mini“, truly the greatest thing since sliced bread.
To begin the creation of your little sidekick, click on the “My Nike+ Mini: Create Your Own” image, in the lower right-hand corner of the Nike+ website, beneath the “Last Run” dashboard (If you can’t find the link, try looking under the “Runs” menu). From there, the creation wizard makes it easy to customize the look of your Nike+ Mini. You’re able to customize from a stock selection of hair, eyes, mouth, nose, shoes, clothing and even facial hair.
After you’ve created your “Mini Me”, you have the option to download it as a screensaver or to add it as a widget to your Facebook account. All the more reason to pick up an iPod nano and a Nike+ Sport Kit. Who needs challenges when you can create a flash version of yourself? Note: likeness will vary.
I hope this is just a sample of many new features to come from the Nike+ website.
Photographer Nick Onken is currently in Latin America on a three-week assignment for Nike Running. Details on his project are thin, but this behind-the-scenes video gives us some clues. Enjoy.
We’ve discussed how to use an online pedometer to map and route your runs. Now there’s a new piece of Mac software that promises similar functionality with a much richer interface and a great set of features.
TrailRunner is a freeware application offered by Berbie Software.
“TrailRunner is a route planning software for all kinds of long distance sports . . . . TrailRunner can calculate a route for your desired distance and export directions onto your iPod, giving you a detailed orientation while you are on your way.”
TrailRunner is compatible with the Garmin Forerunner products, promising the ability to “display and manage workouts . . . directly from Garmin Training Center.” Support for the Nike+ Sport kit is available as well. The feature list is too long and too rich to include here, so head over to the TrailRunner home page to check it out for yourself.
At first blush, TrailRunner seemed to be the one killer app I’d like to use to map and manage my run data. The fact that it’s only available for the Mac is a deal killer for me.
Are you using TrailRunner? Let us know in the comments how you like it and if you’d recommend it to the rest of us.
According to variousonlinereports, Nike has dumped ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky after a brief 13-month relationship. According to AdvertisingAge, “Nike is shifting its running-shoe and Nike-Plus business back to lead agency Wieden & Kennedy.” While this won’t make much practical difference to us in the short term, the single most interesting item about this is that Crispin Porter was apparently working on the Nike+ website. I’ve stated before the Nike+ site is prettier than it is functional, and an interview with Nike’s Chris Shimojima seems to point at some coming changes to the site. I’m hoping that dumping Crispin for Wieden may help speed that process a bit.
Great products frequently inspire great parodies. Here are two of my favorites, followed by my favorite viral Nike+ video. Enjoy the lighter side of Nike+.
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