I love love love my nike+. I use it all the time when hiking, running, or even just walking around town. It easily tracks how far you have walked, average pace, and even calories burned. It is honestly a great tech tool that everyone should own.

From the Apple site: "Transform your iPod nano into a personal workout coach with the Nike + iPod Sport Kit. This wireless sensor and receiver combination works exclusively with your Nike+ shoes and iPod nano to give you real-time feedback during workouts and let you track your performance on your Mac or PC."

The program in the iPod tells you information about your current work out and your goals." I personally can't wait till somebody creates a hack program that lets you change some of the remarks that are said. They need remarks like:
- Pick it up slacker
- You call that running, I call it strolling
- Your slower than a turtle stuck in peanut butter
- No wonder why you were picked last for teams

I'm sure there are plenty more that are even better! (via Nike & iPod)

Nike+ shoes and iPod® nano sold separately; sensor will only work in enabled Nike+ shoes. Allows you to have a PowerSong for extra motivation when you need it; just press and hold center button; returns to previous playlist after. Put the sensor in your shoe and connect the receiver to your iPod nano to track every step. See real-time exercise feedback on your iPod nano screen

So I'm not doing so much running outside right now since it kills my throat and makes my lungs want to burst BUT when I do run I always use my Nike+ system. It's great - keeps track of your time, distance, calories burned, best run and occasionally when you break your own record some cool athlete like Lance Armstrong will congratulate you on breaking your record and doing such a great job. Neat, huh? Only $29.95

It's like a personal trainer- it provides feedback on your distance, time etc.- and gives you praise when you succeed!

If you love to run this is a must have for any iPod nano owner! It transforms your iPod to a personal trainer that gives you feedback on duration and speed of your workouts. All you do is download it to you computer and it keeps track of your performance! A great motivational tool! What is your power song?

When I don't use my Garmin 405 outdoors, I use the Nike+ iPod Sport Kit on the treadmill. I've used this for over a year now and it's great for tracking mileage and speed. What makes this product worth it is the Nike+ community. You can challenge friends, set goals, view graphs, etc. One bit of a warning though: once the chip battery has run out of juice, you have to buy a new chip separately down the line.

If you only read one of my recommendations, then let it be this one. I can't tell you how much I enjoy my ipod sports kit. This baby can do ALMOST everything. It provides the music and if specified the motivation to meet your goals. In the meantime it's logging your distance and pace. Later, you can upload this info online and view a graphic interpretation of your workouts. The website will record your goals and the system will notify you by audio when you achieve this goal. There is also a web function that allows you to plot & save your running course and estimates the distance based on your inputs.

At the moment there is no better alternative. My own wish for this product is that Nike/Apple would create a version that also monitors your heart rate. That would truly be perfection.