The Nike+iPod Sport Kit was released last week and I'm officially addicted. This $30 gadget gets your iPod Nano to talk to a widget (aka an accelerometer) on your running shoe, and then the ipod talks to you, telling you how far you've gone. As you approach your workout goal (time or distance), it increases the frequency of updates, motivating you to pick up the pace. When you get home and plug your iPod into your computer, it syncs your workout with nikeplus.com's tracking program. It also syncs with nikerunning.com, the fully-featured training log web site that can track all sorts of workouts and fitness goals (so I definitely recommend using this site instead).

I discovered the best feature today when I finished my workout: a voice broke in said “Hi! This is Lance Armstrong and I want to congratulate you on breaking your personal record for the mile.” Excellent!

For the music enthusiasts, the music integration is a little weak. The best it offers is that you can pick a “Power Song” and whenever you hold the center button down, it will play. It seems like a no brainer that it should figure out how long your power song is and start playing it that length of time before you are projected to finish your workout. This morning I tried to do this manually and, just as I was rounding the last bend of my run, I went from Kylie Minogue's “Can't Get You Out of My Head” back to my significantly less motivating NPR's On The Media podcast. Oh well.

If you run and if you own a nano, I highly recommend picking up the sport kit! For more information and convincing reviews, check out the Engadget review roundup. The blogosphere has plenty of info on how to attach the widget to any pair of running shoes.