Which do I believe???

[imnorunner]

I did run 3 of week 8 today (and it was tough!!!) my treadmill said I had done (including walking) 3.40km...but my ipod fitness thingy said I had done 4.5km. Which is right? Ipod is very new (ipod nano) and treadmill is about 5 years old.

Have felt a bit dispondent about my distances...so would love ipod to be right!!!

[crox Graduate]

Treadmill Don't know how your ipod would know, unless it comes with a footpod type device?

[imnorunner Graduate]

Hi, the ipod has an inbuilt fitness bit which you programme with walk/run time/distance and then you play a playlist or podcast over it. While you are running it tells you how many km you have done....I guess its a fancy pedometer

[OlsBean]

I'm afraid I would agree with crox, the treadmill should be more accurate. Like you said the iPod is acting like a pedometer, so it can count the number of steps you take but what it does not know with any degree of accuracy is the length of your stride, on the other hand the treadmill knows down to the last cm how much ground it has spun under your feet.

[Malcy Graduate]

I think the problem is that mobile devices usually depend on GPS and this isn't always either accurate or consistent. Here's an interesting story.

I usually park my car about a mile from work and walk the rest of the way. Road works meant quite a big detour this week, so I decided to park elsewhere (incidentally, I'll now be saving £10-15 a month just be not driving from one side of our - small - city centre to the other). I set Endomondo to track my stats. Day one, it said 0.8 miles to the office, 0.75 back to the car - pretty consistent. Next day, 1.25 to the office - half a mile more. Yesterday I parked a little further away, aiming for the one mile mark) and Endomondo said 0.7 miles. In my lunchtime walks, I also use Endomondo. Normally I do about 12-13 minute miles - about 5 miles /8km in an hour. Thursday, it announced the first mile after only six minutes. At other times, it can give a mile after anything between 8-13 minutes.

I guess what I'm saying is that the mobile apps are fine for tracking trends in the longer term. But I just don't trust mine to give me accurate readings for an individual workout.

Probably the best plan is to track your stats over a few weeks, and get to know roughly how long you take. then use THAT as your benchmark.

Hope that makes sense.

[crox Graduate]

Have you calibrated it? Not sure if this is relevant to your device: support-en-us.nikeplus.com/...

I've calibrated the footpod on my garmin and it seems to tally nicely with the treadmill I use, trouble is you have to use something like a treadmill to calibrate it...

[imnorunner Graduate]

Thanks Crox, it did ask me if I wanted to calibrate it...maybe I should.

How depressing!!! I am the slowest runner I am always running up a hill...that must make me slower! Currently it would take me 50 mins to do 5k....

[tygfuz Graduate]

yes calibrate. The ipod can only give an estimate based on the jolts from the running. The treadmill should theoretically be more accurate. My ipod is not usually that far out, but is usually different from the treadmill.

[Oldgirl Graduate]

Its a mine field tracking acurately. I use NikeFit on my iPod Nano for the distance announcements and music. Garmin Forerunner 110 (more acurate I would say) Also GoodRunGuide to pre-map routes. I get 3 different distances every time Duh!!!