Adidas miCoach Pacer Product Review

Adidas miCoach  is a real-time training system that is design to work like a personal coach. Unlike other gadgets I used for running, Adidas miCoach is the only gadget that has an audio feature that tells you when to speed up, slow down or maintain the pace depending on your training zone.  It’s like having a running coach run with you during your workouts.

Adidas miCoach comes in two types, the miCoach Pacer and the miCoach Zone.  What I have is the miCoach Pacer which comes with the Foot Pod and the Heart Rate Monitor.  I have used it for two weeks already for a total of 70KMs.  Here’s my review of the Adidas miCoach Pacer.

Pros

• Superb Audio Coaching Feedback.  It was a different experience.  Other GPS watch or footpod, you get the information everytime you glance at your watch.  With miCoach, you just run and it will tell you when to slow down or speed up depending on you target zone.

• Perfect training partner.  Since it is based on zone training, I find it perfect for training.  By sticking on your target zone, you get the most in your workout and lessens the risk of overtraining which can lead to injury.
• User-friendly website.  I don’t have any idea idea what Zone Training is all about and I don’t know how to apply Zone Training.  But once you access the miCoach website, all the information is there.  The training plans for 5K/10K/21K/42K using Zone Trainings are easily downloaded and applied to your schedule.
• Plug and Run.  All you need to use miCoach is in the box.  It can be used with any music player so you don’t need to buy a specific brand.  If can also be used with any shoe since the lace clip is already provided.  There are also Adidas shoes that are designed specifically for miCoach.
• Good Accuracy.  I can’t say it is 100% accurate.  I still think foot pods are inferior to GPS when it comes to accuracy.  But miCoach was able to measure closely to my GPS watch.  My usual 800m route was measured between 780-820m when using miCoach.  Not bad.  And it was not even calibrated.  Just straight from the box. Yet, there are times when error is close to 1000m already but happened once so far.

Cons

• I can’t see.  There is no digital display.  You just need to listen.  For someone who prefers visual feedback, this is a disadvantage.  Audio feedback takes time to be completed.  I mean, I can easily glance at my watch before and get my pace information in a split second.  With miCoach, you have to wait for the voice to finish telling you how fast you are running.
• Not race friendly.  Since voice feedback is slow to be process, it’s not good to use them in a race while targeting for a PR.  Besides, who likes to run a race with someone telling you to suddenly slow down.  If the race is just one of your training, then you can use miCoach.
• Too many wires.  With a GPS watch, I just strap it on my wrist and I’m ready to run.  With miCoach, I have to strap on my music player (this is optional), clip the miCoach pacer, clip the foot pod, and strap on the heart rate monitor (HRM).  The HRM is mandatory.
• Lose this wire, and you’re doomed.  Where can you find a wire connector that is an audio jack at one end and a USB jack at the other end?  I have never seen a cord like this before.  So when this one get’s lost, good luck in looking for a replacement.

  
  Take good care of the connector.  It’s the first time I saw this type.  An audio jack in one end and
  a USB in the other end.  This is to sync your miCoach Pacer with the miCoach website. 

• No battery indicator.  I hate it whenever a battery operated device sudden stops working due to an empty battery.  Unfortunately for the miCoach, the foot pod and the HRM doesn’t have a battery indicator to tell you when you need to replace them.  It will probably just stop working in the middle of the run.  But so far the battery lifespan looks ok that you wont need to replace them that often.

Tips in using Adidas miCoach

• Use the Assessment Run first to adjust the HR zones according to your capability.  You can get this from the Adidas miCoach website.
• Have a dedicated pouch or bag for all the miCoach parts.  They can be easily misplaced.  Once, I can’t find my earphones and it was useless to run without it.
• Secure the foot pod well when using the lace lock.  Always check if they are snapped tightly in place before running.  They might easily fall off your shoes.
• If the Adidas miCoach cannot find the foot pod signal, try to walk around with the foot pod attached on the will activate

How much is Adidas miCoach

Adidas miCoach Pacer will be available in the Philippines on March 20, 2010 in Adidas Stores for 6,995 Php.

Summary

Adidas miCoach delivers what it promises, a personal coach.  With miCoach, it is not about training hard, but training smart.  This is a good training partner I would like to stick with.  The Adidas miCoach website offers a lot of training plans that will suit your running goals.  I find that very helpful.

But still I miss the digital displays and there’s just too many wires and parts to bring with you for your runs.  I spent 10 minutes looking for the foot pod during one of my runs.  Be well organized to avoid similar situations.