The Brooks Nightlife Jacket is one of the greatest purchases I've made for my runninng wardrobe.

First, the 360 degree of candle power retroreflectivity will help ensure your visiblity when exercising outdoors in low-light conditions. It's availalbe in both neon yellow, which I have, and black with neon yellow accents. Now that the sun sets at about 3:30pm here, I get good use out of this!

The zipper zips high, but unlike some jackets I own, I cannot feel the zipper rub against my neck as it's covered by a fleece cover.

Inside pockets hold money and an mp3 player with a hole for headphone cord. The chest pocket is the perfect size for my iPhone, so I wear this on my extreme long runs when I feel a phone may be necessary.

Drawstrings at the hip allow the user to make it as snug or as loose as possible. However, the only con of this jacket is what to do with the hanging strings once they've been pulled tight so they're not hitting your legs with each step.

The vents in the back and underarms allow for great breathability. It's also good in a variety of temperatures , good from 35-65 deggrees, depending on what you layer underneath. It's made of Brooks Shelter AireplexII 100% Polyester Microfiber with Teflon DWR. I've worn this in 30 degree weather with a long sleeve shirt and it was almost too hot! It's also wind and water resistant, so this is my go-to jacket for bad weather.

What's a great purchase you've made for your wardrobe?

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Having discovered the Nike+ app on my iPhone last week I ordered a new Nike+ sensor for my shoe (the old one had cracked somehow), and ordered the Belkin Sport Armband for iPhone from Amazon. I'm sad to say I threw out the packaging so I can't return it. What can you do? I wrote a scathing review of course and continued the drum beat here :-)

Did anyone at Belkin try this with an iPhone?

I was sorely tempted to produce a video review instead to show the complete failure of this product but figured it would waste more time than it took me to shop for it.

If you take the armband and put it on, it feels *fairly* secure. Add an iPhone 3GS and very quickly you realize what a waste of money this would be. It flops up and down and the arm band wiggles it's way down your arm unless you have it tight enough to constrict the blood flow, at which point you're at risk of fainting during exercise :-)

I had the Nike+ neoprene armband for my nano when I used the old sport kit and the velcro fastener and neoprene combo made it easy to wrap firmly around your arm, partially waterproofing the nano but also securing it completely. I'm going to have to try to find one like that for the 3GS in person at a store since I've unfortunately ditched the packaging and can't return this hunk o junk.

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I've owned the foot sensor for some time but not run with my iPod Nano in quite a while. I do like to run with my phone just from a safety standpoint so the Nike+ integration was an exciting development.

Despite having our own iPhone app I was keen to see how the Nike+ piece worked. I looked around and until today I couldn't find out how to get the Nike+ app or get it all working.

I found a review on CNET explaining how to get it all working. Basically go to your iPhone settings and scroll down looking for Nike + iPod on the settings page. Flick the switch to ON and then hit the sensor button to start pairing your sensor with the phone. Now when you go back to your list of apps you'll see the Nike+ app and can start training.

When you sync your computer after your first workout it will start synching your workouts with the Nike+ site if you have an account or prompt you to create one.

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Woohoo! 393 miles in 2008 so far and the rest since June 2006 means I'm a member of Nike's 1000 miler club.

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Yesterday I bit the bullet and bought my new Nike Air Structure Triax 10 running shoes and some other bits and pieces. The running shoes are now in yellow and black, an upgrade from the red and black accents in the last pair. Super Feet have also released gender specific orthotic inserts so I bought a new pair of those too. This is all driven by my latest injury created from running a marathon on a cambered highway in a pair of shoes with too many miles on them.

I also got a new Nike+ sensor since the last one was running low on battery power after a year of running. Melissa pointed out that Nike now has a new armband for the iPod Nano Sport Kit setup so you can finally see your display through a panel in the band. Prior to this you had to shuffle down the neoprene material to get any feedback about the buttons you were pushing. Melissa bought one and I guess I'll have to wait til next week. My last purchase was a new pair of Balego comfortable socks.

So I have all my new stuff and I'm going to go for a 3 mile run, even though a part of me is nervous that it might be too far still for my recovering foot. At least we're running the 3 mile loop from our house which means at about 2 miles I have the option of cutting across the grass to get home. Some of my previous runs since the marathon I've been stuck 1 mile out from home when I realized that the pain was back and I have to walk that last mile, not helping my condition. Hopefully this won't be too much and I'll be home in three miles looking at this and feeling smug. I'm hoping the new shoes and inserts will be enough cushioning to save me limping home.

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I remember reading the instruction book when I bought my Nike+ sensor that it would eventually die but I had no idea it would be so soon. I have to confess I never turn off the sensor and have run over 531 miles in the last year with it so it has certainly taken a beating but I would have expected it to last at least as long as a watch battery.

The units are sealed so it means I have to pay another $30 for a new sensor now. It's pretty good value if you break it down: $30 = about 5 cents per run OR 8 cents per day for statistics about my running patterns and a pace guide.

If your battery dies when you're in the middle of a run you can use WalkJogRun to plot your running route and see how far it was and how many calories you burned so all is not lost!

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I just read on ipodnn that Nike accidentally leaked a product onto their European website and then pulled it back again. The device called the Nike Speed+ eliminates the need for an iPod Nano, or any iPod at all, by displaying the feedback from the Nike+ sensor on a watch device capable of showing pace and calorie information. This appears to be distinct from the unreleased Amp+ which is supposed to act as a remote for the iPod Nano as well as displaying the sensor information.

As for my own announcements, I've just signed up for the Chicago Distance Classic (half marathon) in August and the Chicago Marathon in October. Tonight I'm attending a Team in Training meeting to take part in the San Diego marathon in June. Two and a half marathons!

My training has been picking back up again after my physical therapy to address the tendonitis I was experiencing on the inside of my ankle. The physical therapist had a few revelations about my running style and my arch support in my shoes.

I woke up this morning and felt that tell-tale ache on the inside of my ankle again. I felt it a little while I was on the ghetto treadmill in our building. One of the things I notice about the treadmill is that although it faces a mirror with a hole cut out for a TV, the alignment of the treadmill is angled to point more directly at the TV. I'm curious if the reason I felt the pain was that I was subconsciously trying to correct my run so that I was running towards the mirror. Either way, it was foolish not to stop and either turn the treadmill or just stop. Prior to this I had run on a mirror-less treadmill at the gym and even done 3 miles outside without an issue. Hopefully two days rest will help.

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A colleague told me about a rumored new wrist device for the Nike+ so I dug around and found a couple of descriptions (look under media players). As I've blogged before, the issue with the Nike+ sport armband is that the display panel is hidden beneath the neoprene so there is no way to see your pace as you are running or setup your run without shuffling the neoprene down. I discovered recently that it's pretty hard to use the touch sensitive dial with gloves on which meant I had to remove my glove to adjust the volume on an icy morning.

The Nike Amp+ should solve most of the problems of the armband by offering a wrist mounted display and remote control for the iPod Nano so you can just glance at your wrist to view current pace, duration or distance and then skip songs or pause your workout without the potential of hitting the wrong button through the neoprene.

I couldn't find anywhere mentioning a release date but it looks like it will be around $80 so save your Christmas money!

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I thought I was going to hit 6 today but a last minute change of plans due to the failure of the Holiday Inn to block off rooms for our wedding in 5 weeks had me frantically calling around hotels. After the calls I decided to address the problem of my Nike iPod Sport Kit and the inconsistent readings. Specifically, the shoe pocket I had been using appears to have allowed the sensor to flop around too much so I suspect it was missing steps as I ran. The result was that over the same measured 3 mile route I have been training on for months it represented the distance anywhere between 2.6 miles and 3.2 miles.

First I tried some velcro to attach the sensor to my shoe but the velcro was in no way good enough to hold the sensor firm as I run so I went to the alternate plan. Using a craft knife I carved a sensor size hole underneath the innersole of my left Nike Air Triax 9 shoe. Interestingly enough there appeared to be a chamber in the middle of my arch just wide enough to house the sensor at the right depth so that when I placed the sensor in there and replaced the inner sole it was impossible to detect. I'm not sure if I've ruined my shoes by destroying the scientifically created tension or balance of my shoe but the ensuing 3 mile run measured about 100 yards longer than the 3 miles it was supposed to register so I'm satisfied with the solution. I'm going to calibrate it this weekend (yes, I know, I have said that before) and then see how it goes. My feet feel fine incidentally so we shall see if there are any longer term effects after a few weeks and many more miles.

Today I clocked 23:45 for the 3.1 miles or a pace of 7:39 per mile and I feel pretty good. After the ring shopping today if I have enough energy, I may head down to the track near Michigan Avenue and calibrate the sensor there since it's the only track I know of near here.

Oh, and the low flying aircraft title was meant to be a post about how, during the run, an American Airlines 767 flew just a few hundred feet in the air over the lake as I was running. This weekend is the Air and Water show in Chicago and I guess it marks the start of the event. In a post 9/11 world, it freaked me out to see a passenger plane running parallel to Lake Shore drive towards the John Hancock building and the Sears Tower. Since then I've watched a stealth bomber, a refuelling aircraft and what looked like a Tornado come whizzing past our lounge window which looks out over the lake from the 9th floor.

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I'm already 2.5 miles behind my goal of 80 miles in the next month after a weekend of debauchery. This last week I've not been able to get myself in bed before midnight so the 6am rises have been pushed back to 7am and I've been dragging my heels when it comes to getting out to run.

I'm a little confused about my iPod Sport Kit. The run I usually do which I measured at 3 miles showed up on Friday as just under 3 miles (consistent with the marathon difference) but today it reported 2.62 miles which is much further off. I tried a different setting today by selecting a 3km by accident instead of the 5k I wanted to try so I just carried on running. The only other variable was that the sensor may not have been correctly aligned in the shoe pocket. Besides that, the run was identical so it seems wierd it would have changed. My time was 24:57 so by my traditional measurements that is 8:19 per mile. If nothing else, the discrepancy will get me out of bed early tomorrow morning to run again so I can try to track down the problem. I will also try and head to a 400m track tonight to recalibrate for my own stride. Time for work...

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