I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, how could this be possible? Why would Garmin allow this? Better yet, why would Nike allow this? Well, for all of you Nike+ users who have hundreds of miles logged on your account, but have now purchased a Garmin GPS (which has its own website, Garmin Connect, for uploading running data files), boy do I have a surprise for you! You don’t have to give up on your Nike+ account! In this hack I will show you how to easily connect your Garmin GPS/Heart-rate Monitor to Nike+.
Supplies Needed:
- Garmin Watch – Ranging from $130 to $450
- Nike+ – Free
Level of Difficulty: LOW – I considered making the level of difficulty “monkey”, but decided that was too insulting to monkeys. Seriously, if you have a Garmin and a Nike+ account, you should have no trouble figuring this one out.
Before I get in to the specifics I want to thank the blog awsmithson.com. The owner of that site developed this hack, and we are so grateful for it. The only disappointing part of switching to a Garmin GPS for Meagan was that she would lose the hundreds of miles she had logged on Nike+, and now she doesn’t have to!
Step 1:
- Go to the web application, http://www.awsmithson.com/tcx2nikeplus/ and type your Nike+ login information into the appropriate fields.
Step 2:
- Go to Garmin Connect and login.
From here you have you two choices so I will offer two options for steps 3, 4, & 5.
Step 3 – Version 1 – The easy way – The recommended option – Privacy settings public:
In order for this option to work, you have to be willing to open up your security settings a bit. Simply go to your account settings by using the drop down menu on your username in the top right corner. Once there, click on the privacy settings and change the section “Who can see your new activities?” to “Everyone”. This allows the script written by awsmithson.com to access your run on the Garmin Connect website and push the data to Nike+.
Step 4 – Version 1:
Go to your dashboard tab on Garmin Connect and open up the most recent run (a click will do it) that you have uploaded from your Garmin GPS/Heart-rate monitor.
Then, copy the 9-digit number at the end of the URL in your browser.
Step 5 – Version 1:
Go back to the web application, check the “Garmin Activity box”, and paste that number into the text box. Assuming you have already completed step 1, you should be ready to press the “convert and upload” button. Congratulations, you have officially moved your Garmin GPS/Heart-rate watch data to Nike+!
Step 3 & 4 – Version 2 – The ever so slightly more difficult way – Privacy settings private:
If you would prefer to not change your privacy options, you can do this conversion a slightly different way. If you’ve only just signed in to Garmin Connect you should still be on the Dashboard tab. From this view go ahead and click on the run you would like to have uploaded on to Nike+.
Once the run activity has loaded you should notice that in the bar just below the data/time, activity type, and event type, there is an export button. Go ahead and export the run as a TCX file.
Step 5 – Version 2:
Go back to the web application, check the “Garmin TCX file” box, click browse, and select the file you have just downloaded. Assuming you have already completed step 1, you should be ready to press the “convert and upload” button. Congratulations, you have officially moved your Garmin GPS/Heart-rate watch data to Nike Plus!
This thing works like a charm! Not only is it able to bring over your pace, time, and distance but it can even sync the heart rate and map data. The only glitch we’ve found is when you sync your Garmin Connect activity to Nike+ it subtracts .01 miles from your mileage, probably due to rounding happening somewhere in the conversion process, but we’ve been able to remedy this by just running an extra .01 miles (pretty tough, huh?). Enjoy! Let us know in the comments if this worked for you or if you have any other suggestions for this hack.
Thanks again to awsmithson.com!
Steve is an Executive Recruiter at Robert Half Executive Search in Madison, WI with a business degree in Information Systems and E-Commerce from the University of Toledo. Steve loves spending his time away from work; running, gaming, watching movies, checking out new social networking tools/sites/start-ups and blogging.