Adidas miCoach

So today my pregnant wife had a craving and there was only one way to satisfy it...her craving?  The shopping mall!  No need to worry the fact that we got over 20 inches of snow and the DC area has no clue how to plow...she had a craving and it had to be met.

With that being said, I think I found something that I REALLY want but want to do some research before going out and dropping the money on it.  What is it?  The Adidas miCoach, it is a new workout tracker thingy somewhat similar to Garmin, but not NEARLY as expensive and without some of the fancy bells and whistles.  While at the Adidas store I kept looking at it like a 5 year old looking at the window of a candy store, and since getting home and reading a review about some of what it does, I think I'm sold...now it's just trying to sell the wife on it!

Here's some of the parts of the review I REALLY liked...feel free to share your opinions with me.

The $140 miCoach Pacer combines a pedometer, heart rate monitor, calorie counter, and real-time coaching into a device that easily connects to your iPod (or another audio player). Equally important are the online coaching tools that you sync the device with to keep track of your workouts and advance you along a fitness regime that can range from learning to run to improving your marathon time.

 So this part is my FAVORITE part, it has a coach that will bring you on a training regimen, Boston here I come...or just a 3:30 which is my next goal!

There are two options available via a switch at the top of the Pacer: Free mode, where the device will simply gather data; and miCoach mode, in which the virtual coach will supply audible feedback through the headphones. Another 'fast-forward' button on the top can be used to select different workouts in the miCoach mode, such as a recovery run or intervals speed training.

So this adds to the last part, when I don't want to be told what to do and just want to run and do what comes naturally, I can!  I can tell the thing to shut up and just let myself run and it will still record everything for me.  And lastly...

After the run, the Pacer connects via USB to a Mac or PC and uploads your data (you'll need to plug it in before your first run and install a small software program to enable synchronization, as well as register with the miCoach Web site). The Web interface coupled with these devices is often where they trip over their laces, but not in this instance. The miCoach site is easy to navigate, and includes just about everything you need in order to track and improve your running. The dashboard shows your latest workout time, calories burned, distance, pace, heart rate, and stride rate along with a preview of the next workout and overall achievements (such as mileage) to date.

I love that I can analyze all of my workouts on a web application, right now it's not something that will be able upload onto the blog, but it's data that I can definitely use for posting and looking at old workouts.

All this for $140, I hope Pacers starts to carry it soon...Feel free to send me reviews, to read where I got my information from, go here