Help with Nike+iPod, New Gym, Running Goal Question

My Nike+iPod is still not recording my runs accurately. I don't really want to go get a new iPod and I'm considering just getting a new Nice+iPod to see if that resolves the issues. Basically, it only records the time accurately. It does not seem to really recognize the receiver on my shoe and is not recording the distance or speed correctly whatsoever. This morning the treadmill said I walked/ran 2 miles in 30 minutes. The Nike+iPod recorded my 30 minutes as .24 miles at 64.something minutes. WAY off. I know the treadmill isn't entirely accurate, but it's more accurate than that!! Any ideas?

On another note, this morning I was able to move a little slower in my daily routine because I had my yearly physical at 9:15am instead of having to rush off to sit in traffic to make it to work at 8am. So I decided to try the new 24 Hour Fitness by my house instead of the older one by my work that I've been going to thus far.

OH MY GOSH! What a difference!! This 24 Hour Fitness (For those in the Houston area, it's the new League City location) was awesome! It's been around less than a year, so the equipment is all pretty much brand new and none of the little fitness tools have been stolen yet :P It was cleaner and quieter and just an overall pleasant environment. Now, for me to go to this one on a regular basis, I will need to get up 30 minutes earlier each day to get in my full workout that I'm aiming for (30+ minutes of running or 3 miles, whichever comes first and an hour of weights and toning). This means getting up at 4:30am! Ye gods, that's early. I'm thinking I'm going to try it for a week and see how it feels. Especially next week when that arctic cold front moves in and it's freezing that time of the morning!!

Another question for the runners out there: When you first start out, should you be aiming for a distance goal or a time goal? I can run for about 15 minutes on the treadmill at a steady jog, which is just under a mile, but I'm not quite up to running longer than that. So... should I just do 30 minutes on the treadmill, which is right at 2 miles for me, or should I be aiming for 3 miles on the treadmill (5K) without worrying about the time and just continue to increase my running vs. walking ratio and speed until that 3 miles fits into my 30 minute goal? I used to be able to run a 5k in about 40 minutes and I'm working my way back up to that. So... ideas?

HUGS to all and have a healthy day!