miCoach pacer by adidas

PUT ME IN, COACH When it comes to running, I don’t really have a clue what I’m doing. I jump on the treadmill, start at a comfortable pace and speed up every quarter of a mile. It seems to work for me, but I’m sure there’s a better method out there. Enter the miCoach pacer by adidas. It combines a pedometer, heart-rate monitor, calorie counter and real-time coaching into a small digital trainer that connects to your iPod. Once you register the device on the miCoach website and use the site to pick your settings (such as the intensity of workouts and the type of voice for your coach—I chose British female; it’s like Mary Poppins is telling me to run faster), you’re ready to go. I attached the pedometer to my (non-adidas) shoe laces, strapped the heart-rate monitor band under my shirt and attached the pacer (which wirelessly connects with the other equipment) to my iPod and then hit the treadmill. Right away, my “coach” piped up and told me to slow down. My run was scheduled to last 30 minutes, so she thought I should start slower to conserve energy. Post-run, when I synced up the gadget with my computer, all my stats from the run appeared on the screen. The most interesting stat was the calories I burned from the run (the treadmill said I burned about 475, but miCoach insists the number is 508—I’ll listen to coach). I still don’t exactly know what I’m doing when I hit the treadmill, but with miCoach I don’t have to worry about that. I just do what the British lady tells me to do, and discover fitness and running goals I didn’t know I had. $140 at shopadidas.com.

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