Eric Tapley

Back at the end of July I posted about using a pedometer to track my walking each day. I’ve been doing this since April 10th with the goal of walking at least 10,000 steps per day (about 4.6 miles for me). I had trouble with the first pedometer I purchased, so at the end of July I replaced it with the very slick-looking Sportline Walking Advantage 345.

I had terrible luck with this pedometer. I love the clamshell design but the unit was terribly unreliable. The hinge mechanism broke three times, about once a week, from normal use. I was especially careful of the clip after the first hinge broke, but the plastic mechanism kept twisting and breaking apart, no matter what I did. This final time the hinge hadn’t broken (yet) but the buttons stopped working properly so I couldn’t switch between modes, reset my steps from the previous day or change settings.

Tonight I replaced the pedometer at our local Dick’s Sporting Goods store for the fourth - and final - time. Instead of model 345 I talked the store staff into upgrading my exchange to the Sportline Walking Advantage 360. (It helped that they didn’t have any of the 345s in stock and I wasn’t going to settle for a downgrade, especially after having so much trouble.)

So far I really like this new model. The 360 has some features not on the 340/345, such as:

1. A user-replaceable battery.
2. Seven-day memory to track activity over time.
3. A walk/run mode to operate in different conditions.
4. Separate settings for stride if you’re walking vs. running.
5. The time of day (either 24-hour or 12-hour time).
6. A stronger clip.

Ultimately I just want this to work, and I hope that the stronger clip does the trick.

So, new pedometer, same goals. I hope to have better luck with this one!

On a related note, I’ve been thinking about the Nike+iPod kit and a new pair of shoes. I used to be a runner in high school and college (before I developed Colitis) and I’m really interested in getting back to it. Using the Nike+iPod system to keep track of running seems like a lot of fun and a great way to take advantage of all those tracks I have in iTunes. Cabel Sasser’s post on the subject is a great read on how this tech might make runners out of geeks all over the place.

Product details: Sportline Walking Advantage Model 360: Fitness Pro Pedometer