What gadgets are people using? Im using my ipod with Nike + app. Unfortuneately the ipod doesnt have gps so I cant use that side.

[tygfuz]

[blondrachel]

Hi I use a nano too but also a polar HR monitor which is great and gives HR, I also have memory map on my lap top to sort our routes and distances travelled.

[ChrisMcB Graduate]

Hi Tygfuz, I was looking at the Nike+ sensor. Are you using an app on your phone? Or is this the sensor you put in your shoe? I was looking at getting one.

[tygfuz Graduate in reply to ChrisMcB]

Hi Chris, You use the sensor in, or attached to your shoe, with an app. I bought the sensor and receiver pack then found the ipod touch doesnt need the receiver part. It is possible to use the NHS podcast as the 'music' while running using the app. You dont need Nike shoes to use the sensor, a cheap pouch to hold the sensor can be bought which attaches to the shoelaces. Is better to use on a phone that has GPS on to get the full effect.

[louby43 Graduate]

I use a Polar watch and chest strap and use my phone to track distance, then I've got my Ipod for music!

[juicydee Graduate]

I've recently bought a Nike+ Sportband as we are an Apple-free household so no iPods allowed and this was the cheapest way to receive the data from the shoe sensor! It was overcooking my distance initially, and I had trouble getting it to recognise any of my runs as 'valid' to use for recalibrating (the instructions are terribly demanding and say you have to run on a route with no hills at a constant speed, yeah right), but all of a sudden when I came back from my normal route and plugged it into my PC it offered me that run to calibrate from. The only difference I can think of is that I ran a bit faster this time as I had some new music - maybe it didn't realise I was actually running before?? - lol.... Anyway on my first run since recalibration the distance it logged matched exactly what I'd measured on the Mapmyrun website, Which, just in case you're interested, was 5k. Oh yes!! (er-hem, time was 45 mins.....need to work on that).

It doesn't do music (I wear my Zen MP3 player for that) and no GPS, but is no more bulky than a normal watch, and I have the sensor in a pouch on my shoelaces - so I guess it's really a fairly sophisticated pedometer, but the website keeps all your data and graphs it all for you so you can track your progress. If it carries on working this well, it'll be £40-ish well spent!