Adidas miCoach Pacer Review: Interactive Fitness for Casual Marathoners

For the past three weeks I've been testing out Adidas' miCoach Pacer, the newest entrant in the increasingly crowded field of interactive activity monitors. Personal training gadgets have been around for years, but the category has become better defined to appeal to different kinds of people in recent months. On one end of the spectrum are the simple calorie-counters, like Philips DirectLife and fitbit. On the other end are the geek-triathlete devices, such as the GPS-enabled Garmin Forerunner which straps onto your wrist like a small computer. In the middle are devices for casual marathoners: the Nike+ iPod system, and now Adidas' latest--which is the most full-featured of the mid-range systems that I've used.

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.

The Pacer is actually three separate pieces of gear that work together: a stride sensor that attaches to your shoelaces, a heart rate monitor that straps around your chest, and the main control unit that collects the data and clips onto your workout armband or shirt. After a 12-minute assessment run to calibrate the three devices, the Pacer begins collecting data as you walk, jog or run. I found the stride sensor (which is basically a pedometer with a triaxial accelerometer inside) to be accurate compared with Google's running distance mapping programs, and my own calculations during a drive along the same route. Readings from the heart rate monitor were also in line with the data I've collected from other heart monitors that strap around the chest. The chest monitors are more accurate than wrist-strap heart rate measuring devices, but not everyone likes working out with a piece of gear stretching around their solar plexus. That said, Adidas' stretchy chest strap was of higher quality than others I've used in the past, and was never uncomfortable.

The brains of the Pacer are housed in a black pill-shaped unit designed by the Adidas Innovation Team that is about the diameter of a large wristwatch and made of rubberized plastic. By plugging one end of the unit into and audio player and your headphones into the other side of the Pacer you can listen to music and also get instructions from miCoach as it guides you through different workouts. (Adidas is also introducing a line of headphones today at CES 2010 in a partnership with Sennheisser.) 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.

There are competing devices on the market that include a built-in MP3 player, such as the Philips Activa. But I think Adidas made the right decision here--let Apple handle my audio needs, since they do it so well already. Sure, it would be nice to automatically sync my playlist with the miCoach software (more on that in a moment), or play a motivating song with a touch of of a single button, but it's not essential. And my iPod's audio quality did not deteriorate in any noticeable way from linking the Pacer between my iPod and headphones.

The virtual coach doesn't interrupt the workout often. She's there to tell you the time, distance, pace and raise a flag when you're out of the prescribed heart rate zone (I chose the soothingly robotic British female voice, but there is also a male coach available). Adidas chose a minimalist approach here, but pushing a button on the front of the Pacer gives you an instant update on your current stats when needed.