Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

Chris at Runner+ gave us a fantastic review of the new Garmin Forerunner 405. It’s a GPS running watch that will track your runs (like Nike+, but more accurate).

• Garmin Forerunner 405 first impressions & review – RUNNER+

Here is the killer for me:

First off, most important issue: there is Zero Mac support. The frustrating thing about this is that nowhere does it say this. Not on the box it came in, and not in the documentation that comes with the 405. Thankfully I have both Mac and Windows PCs, but I primarily use a Mac. Even the 305 has some moderate support for Mac. I called Garmin and they confirmed that Mac support is non-existent, and if you are a Mac-only runner, you’ll have to wait for “late Q3 or Q4 2008” to use this device. Merry Christmas!

On the bright side, I heard that REI is putting the older Forerunner 305 on clearance for less than $200 and it DOES work with the Mac. If you are a PC user, then the software problems are not an issue.

After a few runs, he also noted a few more things:

• The battery life of the 405 with GPS enabled is only 8 hours (compared to the 305’s 10 hour life) which may prohibit some ultra marathon runners from upgrading to the 405 and sticking with the 305.

• Charging the battery on the 405 couldn’t be easier. You can charge it with the included USB cable to any PC (including a Mac), or attach the adapter to charge via any household power outlet. The way it charges the 405 is via a clip (think of an aligator clip) that clips onto the side of the watch and makes contact with two metal contact points on the bottom of the watch. Pretty cool!

• The default backlight timeout is 8 seconds, probably to conserve battery life from the get-go, but it’s far too short. Luckily it’s easy to change in the options menu to 15 or 30 seconds, 1 minute, or “stays on” mode which keeps the light on until you touch the bezel with two fingers. My preference is 15 seconds.

• Odd GPS behavior: after my run it kept the GPS turned on. This drained my battery life after a few hours from 100% down to 91%. Would prefer that if I wasn’t in training mode that it would automatically turn the GPS off. So now it’s a bit of a pain to have to turn the GPS on and off, before and after each run. It should be automatic.

Chris had a lot more to say about the Forerunner 405, so click on over to the full review to see the rest:

• Garmin Forerunner 405 first impressions & review – RUNNER+

Unbeknownst to me, Adidas and Samsung got together and developed miCoach, which is a running system that works with a very specific Samsung phone and Adidas shoes. It’s very reminiscent of the Nike+ released by Nike and Apple a couple of years ago. How do they compare? Stuff Magazine has a blow by blow comparison here:

• Sport Stuff : Nike+ vs Samsung miCoach: the verdict

Here is their final verdict:

Nike and miCoach are both great running buddies, and deciding which one’s best for you comes down to a few questions. Do you hate the idea of having a personal trainer, use iTunes and would rather use a Nano than a new phone? Then Nike is for you. If, on the other hand, you want the most advanced training system, like lots of voice feedback and prefer using Windows Media Player, miCoach is a better bet.

I don’t know if Adidas realizes this, but the killer app for the Nike+ was the Challenges. Being able to run against REAL people was so inspiring to me that I REALLY over did it and ran too much. As long as Adidas focuses on the training aspects instead of the real-life competition aspects of this technology, I think they’ll be left behind.

If you thought (like I did), that Nike was abandoning Apple with their Nike+ Sportsband, then you might be surprised to find out that Nike is working on compatibility with the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Stuff Magazine was able to look at the cool projects in the works at Nike and they have the complete review here:

• Sport Stuff : Nike+ coming to iPhone and iPod Touch

The first piece of news is that Nike will definitely be extending its compatibility beyond the iPod Nano to the iPhone and iPod Touch. No surprise there really, but the interesting detail is that it could also make use of both devices Wi-Fi (and, ultimately for the iPhone, 3G capability) to let you update your training log on the fly. Once you’ve legged round your local park you’ll be able to send the data (probably via a software app like the one the new SportBand uses) wirelessly without having to sit down and drip sweat over your computer. Very cool.

It looks like they also have training programs that you can use to get ready for a race. Here is a screen shot:

I haven’t been running recently, but even this news makes me a little excited. Could it be that all those patents that Apple was working on with the Lifestyle Coach was for the Nike+ system? Are they breaking off their alliance or renewing it? I can’t wait to see!

I have talking about running skirts in the past.

• Starling Fitness » Running Skirts Tested

Back then, my biggest problem with RunningSkirts.com was the fact that their skirts didn’t have anything to protect my inner thighs (just a panty underneath). Since then, they have added skirts with shorts underneath for protection.

I was told about a new company who is also making running skirts (shown to the right). They have inner thigh protection and a place for your iPod:

• GymGirl Ultra, Gym Girl Running Skirt, Skirt Sports

Now, my only problem with BOTH companies is that the skirts are sixty bucks a piece.

When I can get gym capris from Russell for about fifteen bucks, why would I go to the expense of spending four times that for running skirts? I know they’re really cute and they might be something sexy to wear at the gym if I were trying to attract a mate, but how sexy can you really look when you’re working out?

It only takes about ten workouts until most of my exercise clothes are looking ratty anyway. That’s six bucks a workout, which is over my Five Buck Workout rule.

I love running skirts. I think they’re adorable, but there is no way I would spend $60 for one.

Update 04-12-08: Here are a couple of skorts from other clothing companies on Amazon that range in price from $10-$20.

• C9 by Champion Running Skort at Amazon.com

• Champion Gym Essentials Performance Skort Womens at Amazon.com

• Reflex “Rally” Skirt at Amazon.com

• American Apparel Stretch Cotton Skort at Amazon.com

This German site, Mac Life Online, is reporting that Nike is finally releasing its Nike+ Sportsband, which is a version of Nike+ without the iPod.

• Nike+ Sportband wird unabhängig vom iPod :: Mac Life Online :: Die Seite der Mac Life

There is nothing about this product on Nike’s website, so we are really just going on the word of this one site in Germany. Of course, a year and a half ago, information from Nike was leaked about this product:

• Slew of new Nike+ gear leaked – Engadget

It was called Speed+ back then and looked very different than the current picture:

Since then, the Amp+ has been released, proving the leak to be at least partially correct, so the Nike+ Sportband doesn’t seem like too much of a long shot.

Here is another photo of the Nike+ Sportsband that shows its USB connector.

I used to dream of a Nike+ product that didn’t depend on my iPod, but now I am so angry at Nike that I don’t care. They have insulted my intelligence, my body and me for the last time. If this is anything like the other Nike products, the Sportsband will be yet another cheap product that will have no support, break within months and be a waste of money. Wait until Apple comes out with their Lifestyle Companion and pass Nike on by.

Ever since Nike+ came out, I wished that Nike had less to do with it and Apple had more to do with it. The bulky flash website that was so slow to download had Nike’s fingerprints all over it and I wished for something solely run by Apple.

Then Apple came out with the iPhone and my iPod Nano felt like a superfluous accessory that I only used when I went running. I can’t use my Nike+ with my iPhone, so I have kept my Nano just to log my runs. I have been wishing for the Nike+ to work with my iPhone.

If I had been wishing that Apple would create their own system, I would have had my wish granted. Apple has filed SIX patents on a “Lifestyle Companion”.

Not only will it communicate with a sensor on your shoe, but it also communicates with exercise machines so that if I run five miles on a treadmill, it doesn’t have to approximate with the sensor, it can get the information directly from the treadmill. It also can track your eating and nutrition.

You can find out the details here:

• iPhone. Your Lifestyle Companion » Unwired View

Suddenly, all my hatred for Nike is allowed to run free. Their XL workout gear that will only fit those who are underweight, their slow and cumbersome website, and their overpriced sensor replacements for the Nike+ can all take a walk off a cliff. It might be years before these patents become a product for me, but I’m willing to wait. When Apple does things, they do them right.

Via: The Joy of Tech comic… laughter is the best tech support.

Weight Watchers sells a bracelet for counting points for about twenty bucks. It’s not too pretty, but it features a movable charm that allows you to keep track of how many points you’ve eaten. The only problem with the bracelet is that anyone who has attended Weight Watchers would recognize those cheap pearls and black beads from a mile away. It practically screams, “I’m on Weight Watchers!!”

Sutherland Studios, however, has step-by-step instructions on how to make a similar bracelet.

• Sutherland Studios – Free Row Counter Bracelet Instructions

They suggest that you could use the bracelet to keep track of rows of knitting or crochet, but this would be genius for discretely keeping track of your Weight Watcher points. Since you are making it yourself, you can put the number of beads for YOUR points limit. The second string, with additional charms, could keep track of your veggies, dairy, oils and water. I imagine five green beads for veggies, six green beads for water, two white beads for dairy and two clear beads for oils.

Because you make it yourself, choosing your own beads, no one would be able to tell that it was for keeping track of Weight Watcher points. You could just privately move over the stretchy bead when you eat your meal unnoticed.

If you make a bracelet such as this, post a message in the comments linking to yours and show off your talents!

Via: Craftzine.com blog: Row Counter Bracelet

There are a few nutrition scales on the market. Do you have any idea if they are useful and which ones are worth looking into. Every website about weight loss speaks about food diary and self monitoring, this appears to be an accurate method.

What are your thoughts

Valarie

Valarie,

My first thought was: What the heck is a nutrition scale?

When I did a Google search for the words “nutrition scale” there were SO many entries for companies selling food scales. They are compact little scales that can tell you how much food you are eating. So if the nutrition facts on the back of the package say 1 ounce, you can weigh out 1 ounce.

I have one. I use it to weigh the Walking DVDs and Yearly Journals that I send out every month.

Okay, every once and a while, I use it to weigh food to make sure that I’m still eyeballing things right. Mine is made by Escali and it looks very much like this Escali Primo Digital Multifunctional Scale. My sister gave it to me when she cleaned out her kitchen. It runs on batteries and I have never had to change them.

The thing that worried me is the price of these gadgets. They range from $20 to nearly $300. My scale was the cheap twenty dollar version and works wonderfully. Why would anyone need a food scale that is almost three hundred bucks?

They don’t.

I can understand the cost of a scale like that if you worked in a research laboratory, but for weighing your food at home, an inaccuracy of a tenth of an ounce isn’t going to make or break your diet. In fact, the whole idea of meticulously weighing your food just seems wrong to me. Eat enough to stop being hungry and not too full. If that means leaving a bite or two left over, fine. Give it to the dog, throw it away or save it for later.

Seeing all those listings for companies that are selling “nutrition scales” just seems like they are trying to profit off the diet industry. If you do desperately need to weigh your food, a twenty dollar scale should be perfect. Don’t waste your money on anything more elaborate than that.

Best Wishes,
Laura Moncur

Note:

The email reply that I sent to “Valarie” bounced. I suspect that the email I received was a pathetic attempt by some misguided company to create a viral marketing desire for “nutrition scales” and to profit from the diet industry.

Good luck with that.

SLB Plus is a regular reader and runner on Runner+. Recently, he wrote a blog entry about the Virtual Partner feature on his Garmin 305.

• Quadrathon: The VP of 3P

He has been training with his Garmin 305 for a while:

My 305, you have got to love this thing, I have had mine nearly a year have piled on over 1000 miles on it and it’s never let me down. It has a feature rich menu of options which I won’t go into in depth as I know a lot of you have one but the VP [Virtual Partner] is one I have only started using recently and at the moment only on my road bike while on the trainer.

The Virtual Partner is a motivational feature that lets you “race” a little guy. I don’t know exactly how the pace of your VP is chosen, but if you run faster than him, you get to “beat” him.

Personally, I find things like this VERY motivating. Running on Runner+ helped keep me motivated because I could see who was ahead of me that day and try to run further than that person. The VP feature on the Garmin 305 is like a race every day.

When I tested the Garmin 305 at CES 2006, I was unimpressed.

The huge and bulky machine dwarfed my Nike Imara Heart Rate Monitor. Back then it cost nearly $400, but now you can find it for as low as $215. You can also purchase a bicycle cadence sensor so it will tell how you are doing if you are exercising on your bike. To add icing on the cake, you can buy a foot pod, so if you are a treadmill runner (like I am), the 305 can keep track of your distance on the treadmill.

SLB Plus talked about his love for his Garmin 305 before:

• Quadrathon: Back in the flow…

The more I hear him talk about his 305, the more I think that I might have been too quick to judge the bulky watch as an overpriced gadget. It might be time to start to seriously consider the Garmin 305 as a useful training device.

Click here to see Garmin’s Website:

• Garmin – Forerunner 305

Ubisoft creates fun learning games for the Nintendo DS, such as My Word Coach, My Spanish Coach and My French Coach. Now, they are turning their eye to health and fitness with My Weight Loss Coach.

• Ubisoft – Ubisoft ANNOUNCES MY WEIGHT LOSS COACH

My Weight Loss Coach features include:

• Personal Profiles: Create your personal profile and evaluate your improvement potential, then set up your objectives following the recommendations based on your personal profile.

• Input Reward System: Log your progress on a daily or weekly basis, tracking your physical activity and nutrition habits.

• The Pedometer: A peripheral device that comes with the game and can be easily updated through your DS, it’s the best way to control your daily physical effort, challenge yourself and balance your food intake.

• Real-Life Landmark Checkpoints: As a reward, all the physical activities you achieve and good nutrition habits you acquire are converted into measurable distances based on real examples.

To see more screen shots, click on over to DS Fanboy’s gallery:

• DS Fanboy – My Weight Loss Coach Gallery

Sadly, we have to wait until summer to get a closer look at this game. Maybe by then we’ll be to our goal weight.

Via: Littlest, Yellowest, Differentest – DS Fit: Ubisoft announces My Weight Loss Coach