Nike+ iPod

For my birthday last fall, my mom and step-dad bought me the best present imaginable: a Nike+ for my new awesome iPod Nano (also a birthday present, courtesy of the World's Greatest Husband).  This one thingie (technical term) plugs into your iPod, while another thingie attaches to your shoe, and tracks your running distance, time, pace, and calories burned.  THEN, you can upload your results to the Nike+ website.  This is an amazing invention for a nerdy, data-tracking accountant like me.

The thingie and the other thingie.

I'm starting to notice something, though.  I am not too sure my Nike+ is tracking my distance properly.  Case in point: two weeks ago, I logged and 11 mile run in 2 hours, 9 minutes.  Although I actually only ran 11 miles (I know because I ran on a measured path), Nike+ told me I did 11.86 miles.  Hmm.  Then, last week, I ran 12 miles (again, the same measured path) in 2 hours, 10 minutes.  Um, no way I improved my pace so much as to achieve an extra mile in a single minute!  Furthermore, Nike+ said I wasn't finished and needed another 3/4 of a mile or so to reach my goal of 12 miles.  Wha?!  Now I'm really confused.

So lesson learned: I can "re-calibrate" the Nike+ after finishing a run.  I can do the appropriate distance, then, no matter what distance the thingie (again, technical term) tells me I did, I can override it by inputting the correct mileage.  My ASSumption is that it then recalculates my pace accordingly (guess I should validate that, huh).

All in all, the Nike+ iPod is a super cool techy gadget that I LOVE - but I need to remember not to rely on its measurements 100%.  Good thing I'm not an elite athlete training to WIN the 2011 Flying Pig - I just want to finish the darn thingie!