Nike+ipod Fitness challenge anyone

January 18, 2007 11:36 AM

I am new to Nike+iPod, and am having fun with it, but I don't know anyone else who has it so I have no one to challenge. What say we (and by "we" I mean you, if you have Nike+iPod and are willing to play along) list our screennames in this thread?
posted by AgentRocket to MetaFilter gatherings at 11:36 AM (35 comments total)

I am AgentRocket. I am slow (10+ minute miles) and short (2 miles at a time), so I need some motivation.
posted by AgentRocket at 11:38 AM on January 18, 2007

I've been toying with the idea of getting one. How is it?
posted by Kudos at 11:44 AM on January 18, 2007

Is this something for which one would need to have shoes to understand?
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 11:46 AM on January 18, 2007 [1 favorite]

Could not resist. Sorry. Walk on.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 11:46 AM on January 18, 2007

I use my plain old gps. Oh, and a bike. But there's ice and snow on the ground outside. Can I show you my pokemons? Let me show you them. My pokemons.
posted by loquacious at 11:50 AM on January 18, 2007 [2 favorites]

I have the that. But I haven't gotten around to using it yet. Can you say more about challenges?

I too am slow (10min/mile) and short (at 1 mile per run, after a long hiatus).
posted by oddman at 11:54 AM on January 18, 2007

A link here would have helped.
posted by anotherpanacea at 11:55 AM on January 18, 2007

I have a friend trying to do the same thing: Go Big or Go Home
posted by pithy comment at 12:07 PM on January 18, 2007

Is okay if we do this in generic running shoes on a stationary bike using winamp?
posted by cortex at 12:20 PM on January 18, 2007

I got one for Christmas but I don't run in the winter. So I will check back in 4 months.
posted by smackfu at 12:41 PM on January 18, 2007

Dag, in four months that bad boy'll be obsolete. Send it on my way, I run all year long!
posted by adamgreenfield at 12:47 PM on January 18, 2007

Well, this is going swimmingly.

As best I understand it, the challenges work like this:

When you know people's usernames, you can set up a challenge with up to 50 people. They can be based on a preset distance (I will race you to 100 miles), or time (who can run the fastest 5K in the next month) or an open distance (who can go the farthest in the next month) or a common goal (all of us commit to go at least 5 miles a week). Then when you log in to nikeplus, you can monitor your progress vis-a-vis your virtual running buddies; there's also a widget for your mac or pc that will keep track. The idea is it keeps you motivated because you want to succeed with your group.

I am one to wake up at the alarm for a week straight but then snooze one day and quit. I need someone to hold my hand. So come on, hold my hand.

[[As an aside, I run without the fancy shoes - I bought a $6 pouch instead and it works fine. As a whole, I think the Nike+iPod thing is pretty freaking cool.]]
posted by AgentRocket at 1:41 PM on January 18, 2007

I have one, but I'm v slow, so you'd definitely win any challenge with me. But my username's the same as here.
posted by pyjammy at 1:43 PM on January 18, 2007

The shoe has a GPS, and uses the iPod as a display? Sorry... I am way behind on all of this.
posted by scarabic at 2:36 PM on January 18, 2007

Thanks for the tip on the Shoe Pouch, AgentRocket. I was looking for something like that.

And it seems like it might not be 4 months this year! Since they moved DST, on March 11th sunset will be at 7 PM, which will give me time to run after work. Assuming there's no snow. I'm picky like that.
posted by smackfu at 3:08 PM on January 18, 2007

scarabic, it's a sensor that's supposed to go in the sole of the shoe. It doesn't use GPS, but rather it has accelerometers to try and do dead reckoning of a sort. And yeah, it does use the iPod nano for display. The killer feature is that it's only $30, assuming you have the iPod already.
posted by smackfu at 3:11 PM on January 18, 2007

where does it plug in to my BIOS settings?
posted by localhuman at 3:30 PM on January 18, 2007

First ever MeFi century ride, leaves from my house 4/1/07. Beers after. Be there or be square.
posted by fixedgear at 5:00 PM on January 18, 2007

This is cool. Almost makes me want to get it.

Is there a list somewhere of all the cool Web2.0-ey sites with MeFite groups? I heart the last.fm group.
posted by roll truck roll at 5:26 PM on January 18, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'm in, Agent Rocket. You're going to set one up? My name's the same as here. My pace/mileage is about the same as you, so it should be fun!

I don't have the special shoes either, for what it's worth. I designed my own pouch to attach it to my shoelaces. Works great! I've also been working with another guy to code up a widget that displays your running stats on your blog. (You can see it on my site's homepage.)

I've become quite an evangelist for the system. It was this guy's post calling it the "multiplayer game of the year" that got me hooked. Of course, I pulled my hamstrings two months ago when I got a bit overconfident and ramped up my distance too quickly....
posted by web-goddess at 9:24 PM on January 18, 2007

i might buy one and participate in the next challenge. I've been real tempted to get one, but every time i think about picking one up, i also think "huh, i could just run for free".
posted by fishfucker at 8:52 AM on January 19, 2007

I've just started running, also got sucked into this running game by cabel sasser's post. No fancy nike shoes for me either, I just put the transmitter in a small plastic bag under my laces.

I'm pjrivera on the nikeplus-site. Please invite me to the challenge!
posted by pj_rivera at 7:20 AM on January 20, 2007

Alright pjrivera, pyjammy, and web-goddess, I have invited you to "MetaFilter Runs, v. 1.0." I set it up as a "most miles in a month" challenge. I'm not sure if you get an e-mail or what, as this is my first challenge.

I hope this will be fun.

(oh and web-goddess, your blog is what turned me on to nike+, so thanks for that).
posted by AgentRocket at 8:36 AM on January 20, 2007

yup, I received an email with link to nike+ page to accept the challenge. I'm running in kilometers, so I hope I've got a slight edge there...
posted by pj_rivera at 9:43 AM on January 20, 2007

Heh. It came up as kilometers for me too. I'm pretty sure the site will handle all the conversions automatically. They already work out the time zone differences for you to make sure you don't miss the start.
posted by web-goddess at 5:54 PM on January 20, 2007

AgentRocket, I just got a nike+ setup, so if you want to add me, my username and email on my profile both should work.

fixedgear, you serious about the century? I'd be up for that if you were within a day or two's driving distance.
posted by mathowie at 12:19 AM on January 27, 2007

You're invited, mathowie. Welcome to the challenge. It's a lot of fun so far.
posted by AgentRocket at 9:04 AM on January 28, 2007

Do any of you know if our challenge has the "Trash Talk" thing enabled? I can't see it because I'm in Australia, but I got the impression from other people that on the US site there's a way for you to chat to other challenge participants from within the Nike+ app. (So if you're all on there and you're wondering why I'm not, that's why.)
posted by web-goddess at 12:58 PM on January 28, 2007

Yes, our trash talk is enabled. There is no actual trash being talked just yet; just niceties. It's a bummer that you can't see it down there.
posted by AgentRocket at 7:26 PM on January 28, 2007

Actually, I just changed the country selector to show the US... and there are all your comments! Man, your version of the site is so much better than ours. We didn't get that cool resolution thing, or any of the fancy widgets. And jeez, you have actual support with tutorials and stuff! When you click on that link outside the US, you just get an e-mail address.
posted by web-goddess at 9:25 PM on January 28, 2007

Hit me. I'm [e-mail] .
posted by jragon at 6:44 PM on January 30, 2007

Could you add me? Same login name.
posted by andendau at 2:01 AM on February 8, 2007

I want in too! donnieohyeah is my handle.
posted by DonnieSticks at 11:09 PM on February 8, 2007

andendau and DonnieSticks, you are invited. There are only about 10 days left, so get going!
posted by AgentRocket at 3:18 PM on February 13, 2007

We should definitely make this an ongoing series of events. I'm sure once the weather in the Northern hemisphere starts getting better, you guys will be kicking my butt!
posted by web-goddess at 11:51 PM on February 13, 2007