Nike-plus Log: 250 Klicks and Still Kickin'

I hadn't connected my Nike-plus to my laptop in a long while, but something compelled me to hook up today. When I did, I was elated to learn that I'd logged 250 kilometers, according to my sensor.

It made me wonder why I didn't start using it sooner.

But first, a little background info is in order. See, my husband, supportive guy that he is, purchased the Nike-plus iPod sensor for me many, many months prior, but he didn't ask me if I wanted it. He just bought it, because another runner had told him was cool, plus it was on sale. Of course, snob that I am, my heart was set on a much more elegant Suunto t3c (about $189.95) or Garmin Forerunner 405 (MRSP $299.99), so when he presented me with his gift, I muttered a half-hearted "Thanks," and tossed it aside.

It sat untouched for months in a Dick's Sporting Goods bag on a shelf in my closet.

Meanwhile, my lust-fest with the Garmin and Suunto continued. The pros at Playmakers — my favorite local sporting-goods store — unequivocally vouched for the items I coveted, and these guys have some serious credibility in my book, for they are uber experienced and committed runners.

"They're also salespeople," my husband reminded me.

"Sure, I know," I countered, "but they've never led me astray."

Then one of them asked, "What do you hope to get out of a watch? Do you need to monitor your heart rate, for example?"

"Not really," I said, almost laughing.

"And are you going to be doing such great distances that you'll need to record, say, 26 one-mile splits or more per day?"

"Not likely," I responded, wishing he'd just get to his point.

"Tell you what," he said. "I'd recommend that you think about what you feel your needs are, because these watches and GPS units are great, but they do represent a fairly steep investment for something you may be able to get more affordably. Essentially, you want to be happy with your final purchase, right?"

So I went home, and started thinking with my brain instead of my heart.

All I really needed was something that would help me keep track of distances that I wasn't able to measure by car, as well as speeds, time splits, and a gob of individual runs. Obviously, my months-long infatuation with the two watches I'd been ogling wasn't serious enough for me to make the purchase myself.

I'll sheepishly admit to a temporary lapse in judgment when I considered adding the watches to my birthday or Mother's Day wish lists, but the very thought of it made me feel opportunistic and greedy. "What's wrong with a Timex?" I could hear my husband grumble. And I'd have been hard-pressed to argue his point. Besides, I didn't want a gift that made me feel like I needed to take a shower every time I wore it, even though that would have been the case either way.

And didn't I already have this Nike thingie sitting around somewhere in my closet?

I rooted around a bit and found it crammed behind an old book in a now-crumpled Dick's Sporting Goods bag. I fished it out of its box and gave it a quick once-over, then chucked it into my purse and headed out to see my old friends at Playmakers.

"These are pretty cool devices," one of them said. "I actually have one at home, and it's pretty amazing (now he tells me). Let me show you how it works!"

He bagged my sensor to my left Brooks shoe, making sure it didn't have a lot of wiggle room, then he suggested that I go out to a high school track, and calibrate my run to a single lap around the inner-most track, which would equate to 400 meters. That was it! Soon after, I was off and running ... and tracking some of the best feedback I could ever want regarding my running performance: distances, calories, time splits, personal records.

The best part is the Nikeplus.com Web site, where all my runs are recorded, including each mile of any given run, and milestones are celebrated. I can compare my runs against that of someone in Turkey, encourage a beginning runner to "just do it" in Japan, ask an elite runner in Australia for tips on working through a slump, trash talk my sister in Denver, Colo. When I achieve a new distance best, Lance Armstrong congratulates me. When I best my previous top speed, Paula Radcliffe tells me she's proud.

Not bad for the $20 my husband invested to snag the sensor on sale ... and the hundreds of dollars I saved!