If you have an iPod nano and a pair of shoes that can accommodate just a speck of a sensor in the sole, you can have the most rigorous and pleasurable fitness regime that you have always craved for.

The Apple Sport Kit, which has hit the US market this month, allows your shoes (Nike is recommended) to talk to your iPod nano. The sensor uses a sensitive accelerometer to measure your activity. The data are then wirelessly transferred to the receiver on your iPod nano. As a result, information on your pace, the distance travelled and the calories burnt appears on the iPod screen. A computerised voice also tells you whether you are making a good job of your running.

The list does not end here. Switch your iPod on and iTunes takes over, automatically assessing your ‘run data’ and sending it to nikeplus.com, which keeps a record of every step taken. Therefore, you can regularly analyse your performance.

In fact, nikeplus.com helps you to keep in touch with runners from every corner of the globe. So you can use the website to challenge anyone, anywhere, to a virtual race!

The official gear for the project is the new Nike Air Zoom Moire line of running shoes, priced at $100 (Rs 4,500 approximately) a pair. The Apple Sport Kit’s removable sensor can be used with any compatible shoes ? even with your pair of Khadim or Bata shoes.

Apple has already filed a patent describing how an iPod might automatically adjust the tempo of the music to match the pace of the exercise or vice versa. Maybe some day your iPod could even be programmed to warn you if you stray from your fitness regime.

The Apple Sport Kit costs around Rs 1,500.