Nike Triax Elite Running Watch

Nike Triax Elite Running Watch SDM/HRM
Nike Website
Triax Elite HRM/SDM Watch - Workouts, Chrono, Heart Rate Monitor, Speed and Distance, PC/Mac Software

First let me say that this is one cool package. The watch coupled with the SDM (speed distance monitor) pod that goes on your shoe and the heart rate monitor that goes around your chest is pretty amazing when you think about it.

I give it 4/5 stars

I did my research and you can too by hitting Google. The choices are long for heart rate monitors. I have had a Polar for a few years and it has allowed me to train consistently so I decided to build on that success. I am a traveling salesman so I find myself in strange towns often. So I don’t know how far I’m running, often. So I wanted to add speed and distance to the mix.
The choices are fewer for distance tracking. Well, accurate distance tracking.

SDM: Basically there are two technologies out there to track distance and therefore speed. GPS - Global Positioning System and motion tracking from Dynastream
Innovations. Okay, three - there is the standard Pedometer that measures steps but that is very inaccurate.

GPS systems based on satellite technology are proven and fairly accurate. They are great for hiking, driving, etc. when you have a line of site to the sky and the goal is to know specifically “where” you are going, not necessarily how far. I have a GPS I use for hiking and driving - reviewed in another column and great for the where. The GPS I use for hiking does have issues for small distances though - it is great when it tracks against roads and trails in a database but when moving off road things like altitude and the “drift” of
satellites cause it to be somewhat inaccurate. And if you have tree cover or buildings in the way - you loose the satellite and you are out of luck.

The Dynastream technology is a multi-dimensional motion tracking device that delivers a highly accurate and continuous method of measuring distance and velocity traveled for both runners and walkers. The little “pod” on your shoe generates analytical information about the stride such as stride length and foot lift. It then transmits it to the watch where it is recorded and measured against time. Nike has taken this technology and
created a smart device that is easy to install, light-hardly noticeable and maintainable.

I chose the Nike SDM “pod” because it is all about distance and speed not “where” and it is generally more accurate and not dependent on a line of site to the sky and satellites. I plan on running in the woods so I need that. The pod attaches to your shoe with a little rubber strap. You turn it on by pressing the button
on the top. It will then begin to flash. I ran about two months before the battery ran out. This was an easy switch. The pod takes a single AAA battery and is easily replaced with a coin:

The Strap (HRM Transmitter): This is standard issue Heart Rate Monitor. I had a Polar before, it worked great for years and I probably would have bought another one but its based on GPS technology. Also, I had heard that the Nike tracking software was great. More about that later.

The great thing about the chest strap is that it has a replaceable battery while the Polar is sealed and once it runs out its done. Interestingly enough my Polar strap lasted over three years and never ran out of power, this Nike chest strap battery needed replacement after three months.

The other small problem is that the strap is a little bulky - on long runs it rubs - I haven’t tried vaseline
- not sure if it would harm the unit. Finally, an update here - there have been reported problems with water seeping into the battery via the gasket - so make sure it is tight. You can lose power and use of the strap.

The Watch: This is one complex but comprehensive chronograph. It has a “sleep” option to conserve power - that should tell you how much it uses. The Watch has 4 modes: Time, Workout, Chronograph and PC Link. Time has two time zones and the date. Workout stores distance, time and heart rate combinations to guide you through your workout. Chronograph has a stopwatch that can save multiple runs and a total of 100 laps. This is great for long runs and also when I take road trips and want to save several runs in the watch until I get home. Most of the time, though, I have my laptop computer with me and can’t wait to download the data and see the graph - but more about that later. The watch will also save “auto-laps” set to whatever interval you want. I tend to leave it set to record every mile split.

The Workouts will work in conjunction with the Chronograph to record splits and display or audibly
give information to you during the run. If you set a pace for example based on heart rate it will graphically show you where you are on pace by moving a bar on the side up or down and it will beep fast or slow based on you going out of your target heart rate range. No cheating on the downhill’s, no killing yourself on the uphill’s. You will get the whole run in as if your old cross country coach is following you in his car watching what you do (Yes, my high school coach used to do that on the long road runs).

The biggest complaint I have heard is that the watch display is not as user friendly as the Polar. I kind of agree - there is a lot to track and review and there are two many button pushes to get there:
Lap View shows your current Lap large with total time small.
Total Time view shows Total Time large with your current lap small.
Heart Rate view shows your pulse large and your split small.
Distance view shows your distance large and your split small.
Pace view shows your Pace per minute and your split small.

You must press the “view” button on the edge of the watch to cycle through - so if you want to look at your distance and then your total time it will take you several presses to get that information - all looking down and fumbling.
How many of you run like that - Split is important - perhaps for three seconds on the split to display but in general I want to see total time. Especially with pace - if you are tracking pace you don’t need to see the last split. Also - PACE is average pace over the segment in workout but instantaneous on chrono.
During my race I found myself staying with the Heart Rate and listening for the splits (audible beep) to track miles.

That is also where I realized my calibration was off. I had gone to a track to calibrate the watch. Basically you run a quarter mile and tell the watch it was a quarter mile. The problem was, it wasn’t a quarter mile, it was a little longer. So I trained for three months as a much faster pace then I though. Imagine my surprise when I hit the first mile in less then 7 minutes and my watch beeped the first mile split a minute or so later.

But that is it, no other complaints - others have said they don’t like the angle of the watch, I like it. Time is easy to set but the real easy way is to set it on your computer. Okay, lets get to the software. I’m going to show
you the Mac OS X version - as far as I know it is the same on Windows.

Software: The Triax Elite software lays everything out on one screen. The main view is a calendar with a month’s worth of workouts and plans. Here you can see a summary of your distance and time, connect to the website and get some help. I have to say that they aren’t finished yet - we connect just takes you to the Nike Website and Help is a rudimentary list of FAQ’s. At some point it would be nice for them to create a community of posted workouts to load into the software as well as software updates and technical
support.

When you plug the USB Dock into your laptop and launch the software you will have two additional buttons - Set Watch and Sync. Set watch is great, you can set everything from the time to critical pieces of information about your workouts. When you Sync you load the workouts into the watch. Both a menu of workouts to choose from if you want to try something new on the fly or as an entire plan - a set of workouts that take you through a set process over several days, weeks or months.

The Sync also downloads what you have done. All of your saved runs are loaded into the calendar where you can add journal entries, view a graph of the data and export to a spreadsheet for other uses.

I particularly like the journal and the graphing. I keep track of how I felt during the run as well as the day’s conditions. You can also export the day’s results with the button located at the bottom of this screen. It outputs a flat file that can be printed as a text file or imported into Excel for example. It will show every bit of data collected in intervals - that is what the system uses to create graphs.

You can match HR against Time, Distance and Pace/Speed. Its a great motivator. I wish it had a smoothing function - the system is so accurate that it shows every sub second measurement so it is choppy. See the following image:

Historical data is important if you want to adjust your routine or see what works. You can look at the full month and see what you have done (or not done) and then match days against each other in a long term graphic view.

Then you can create plans, working towards a goal. You can be very creative - setting up intervals based on heart rate or long slow runs based on time not distance.

The UI is pretty easy to use - you simply drag and drop workouts and plans onto the calendar. For the most part this works - there are some glitches in the Mac OS X version for planning - Individual workouts drag and drop fine, dropping a whole plan on the calendar had some issues with absolute dates - often taking it back a few years or not working at all. Nike Tech Support was very persistent getting back to me to resolve these issues. I’ll let you know if we do.

I recommend this watch for serious runners and those who think they are serious. If you are a gadget guy then you will love this watch. If you are working towards a better time and stronger heart then you will love this watch. If you cannot program the VCR and jog occasionally - don’t bother, you will find it too complicated.
I can see Nike targeting rehab and physical therapists with this device. Heart rate is the best measure of Cardiac health. Serious runners are the other target because tracking speed and distance is the most useful way to see how you will do in the race.

JimmyC