NIKE PLUS STILL SUCKS…
You will have seen the rant-like posts I have published in the past about Nike+ and how the Nike+ iPod Nano does not sync with the website frequently, and that the statistics from the site are missing a key value (10K) and that when the you use the iPhone application the data for the best Mile and best Kilometre is corrupt, even though it thinks those races are correctly timed, and those races have the little PB icon.
So on the I raised a support call with a real person, after toing and froing with Nike Support on Twitter. This was 2 weeks ago. And it was given a catchy title.
Corrupted Personal Bests 1Mile/1km [Incident: 120828-013301]
Nothing came back.
I messaged asking if there was any progress at all. I was told…
“I’ve escalated your query to the correct department for further investigation. Our site team is aware of the issue and is working to resolve it as quickly as possible. At this time, the root cause is unknown. To the best of my knowledge, all devices and all sync types (Nike+ Connect, wireless sync, and iTunes) are impacted.”
Informative but not very useful. So I gave it a few more days and asked again and they told me they had recalculated my stats on the site and asked me to check the phone. I should have asked WHY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD? Because the stats on the website are 100%. It is the feed from site to iPhone that is wrong. I checked the phone with absolutely no faith in the ability of Nike+ Support and was justified in my belief, as there was no change at all. I mailed them and…
“Sorry to hear that didn’t work.
I’ll get back to you as soon as I receive a reply from my superiors.”
No word since. I chased them again today.
AND THEN THERE IS THE SYNCING PROBLEM
This is an ongoing battle that anyone I know who has Nike + faces. Every so often, more regularly than not, the iPod or iPhone will not sync the runs through iTunes. It logs on but just does not sync them at all. This can be a real pain when you are trying to monitor progress through averages of pace and distance and time.
How this issue manifests itself is that you connect your iPod to your PC, it opens iTunes, which in turn opens the NikePlus website. But then, as you log on, it does not automatically sync the new run(s). It just shows you the last one that was successfully synced.
If I was NIKE, I would add a feature to allow you to manually load your runs by browsing for them/
As it is I have found a f@#king annoying workaround.
- Copy all files from the \iPod_Control\Device\Trainer\Workouts\Empeds\latest folder onto your PC
- Sync all your iPod purchases into iTunes so they are not lost, any photos or movies or whatever too
- Restore the iPod to factory settings
- Copy all music back to iPod, photos, movies and whatnot
- Plug in Nike+ receiver as the app will not be on the iPod any more
- Add a simple run with it. I usually just walk around the house. You need to create a new recorded run effectively so it builds the folder structure and creates the lastRun and settings files
- Connect iPod to PC and copy the files from the latest folder earlier to the new latest folder
- Connect to iTunes.
- This will now, and has done for the last few times, thought this was a new iPod and syncs all the runs from the latest folder.
Of course, this is a pain in the arse and I hate Nike+ with my very being.
So I looked at alternatives, knowing that I do spend a lot of time on the treadmill and need the foot pod accessory.
There is the Polar RS300X with Foot Pod which is about £150 for the watch and an extra £60 for the pod. The rating vary and I have not read any of the reviews.
And the Garmin 610 plus foot pod. This being the only Garmin with the foot pod. This is £350 all in.
I cheekily asked Garmin on Twitter if I could get a loaner to test it out and they said no dice. Still, it was worth a go. I am angry with Nike but what should I have expected for a £20 widget? Although really it is a £20 widget with a £200 phone and a £100 iPod.
In the end, I will likely have to shell out £250 for the Polar after all.
IN OTHER NOT NIKE PLUS SUCKING NEWS…
I am getting close to a busy race period so decided to make a plan. When researching how you should train for half marathons, and not just my half-arsed increasing time and/or distance by a percentage every fortnight.
What I read was that, as you reach 10 days before your half marathon or marathon that you should TAPER your runs, i.e., lowering the distance but making the runs more frequent. Okay, so this was easy, I have the Amsterdam Half Marathon on the 21st October and can could back 10 days of tapering until I get to the 10, which is only 3 days after the Royal Parks half marathon in London. So I added some rest in there. Then 10 days before the Royal Parks takes me to the 27th September, which is only 4 days after the Teach First 10K, so I some rest in there.
Long story short here is my training plan for the next month. Beautiful, isn’t she?
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