When I received a call from ADIDAS asking me if I’d be interested in a review of a new product, I immediately double checked they had the right number.  I’m not exactly an athlete.  Far from it in fact.

This product was described to me as an “electronic personal trainer”.  Well, I’ve never had nor considered a personal trainer, so the idea wasn’t looking that good for me.

It was called the Adidas miCoach.  It could help me train for a marathon and would work as my personal running coach.   Despite this being almost incompatible with ‘me’ – I said “yeah sure, send it over”.  They did.

What arrived was a nifty little black box, a little bigger than the old iPod shuffle (not the tiny new one!).  With it was a small black clip the size of a 10c piece, and something that looked like an elastic belt!

So I signed up, registered, set myself up.  Then I saw an option that was not “marathon” or “fun run” even, it was “get fit”.  Even better, there was an option for “lose weight”.  I ticked that box quick smart.

Soon after I was setting up a 12 week exercise plan.  3 days a week, my electronic coach, or should I say “miCoach” would help me through this..

After plugging the unit into my PC via USB and synchronising with my newly developed plan, I decided to give it a go.

The unit has two small plugs in it.  The first is for your headphones, the other is for the USB connection, or for your own music source.  So, I plugged my small clip-on iPod shuffle into the music input, and my Ultimate Ears headphones (which I had found useful for walking recently) into the headphone socket.

Press play on the iPod and the music comes through loud and clear.  Switch the miCoach unit on, and over the music comes the voice of my coach.  “Welcome to miCoach, select a workout” – So I press a button to choose my first workout, which is not really a workout, but an adjustment, for the system to learn about me.

In addition to this I have strapped to me the heart rate monitor (around my chest, the thing that looks like an elastic belt), and attached to my shoe the pacer, that monitors my pace and steps.

After syncing together, I press GO!  Over 12 minutes this coach guides me through a hard workout.  “walk for 3 minutes”, then “increase to 4 out of 10”, all the way up to “9 out of 10” nearing the end.  I’m exhausted.

When I return home, I plug it in, and see a graph of my heart rate on screen.  Very effective way of seeing how I went.

I’m now ready, ready for the training that could come.

For weeks after that, I let the coach take me through my paces.  Generally, at the level I was at, I ran at “blue zone” which is how the pacer describes a brisk walk or a light job, for long periods, with “green zone” bursts in between, which is a faster paced jog.

Moving from 15 minute sessions to 23 minute sessions as the weeks went on, I truly found myself to be more comfortable with what I was doing.  I even found myself jogging round the banks of the Yarra River at 6am on a recent trip to Melbourne.

And it worked.  With very little change to my diet (cutting the chocolate and coke) I was able to drop 4kg’s. 

My problem is time.  I seem to put more time into other things than I do into my own health and fitness.  So I’ve lapsed a bit of late.  I wanted to write this having lost 10kg’s.  But in fairness to Adidas, that could be some time away.

This is not a weight loss device, it is a coach, a motivator, and I can imagine how the fit among us would be able to take this, use it to work up running patterns and build their fitness and endurance for a set goal.

My main problem with the device is that it relies on me to pick it up, turn it on, and await my instruction.  What I really need is for this device to wake me up, get me out of bed and then tell me what to do.  Perhaps miCoach 2.0?

Over the many weeks I used this device, I noticed a load of great improvements.  The website where you keep your log (and a written diary and maps of your runs if you choose) was improved, as was the actual coaching.  It now gives me “time to go” and “half way done” type instructions, not just “go faster, or slow down”. Which is great.

If you are a runner already, and have aspirations of perhaps doing a longer run, a half marathon or more – perhaps it’s worth looking at what this level of constructed coaching could provide for you.

If you are someone who enjoys a brisk walk, or jog, this device will help you monitor your calorie burning, and perhaps make better use of the time you are out there on the road or ovals.

There are plenty of devices that can record your path, tell you where you went – but will they help you get to where you want to be?

I’m going to give my miCoach a name.  Perhaps a more personal attachment will make me respect it a bit more, and see me back on the road jogging and on the road to a bit more weight loss.

For more information, or questions, follow me on twitter @trevorlong