Christmas gifts don’t have to be unimaginative books, CDs or socks.

Everyday we’ll suggest original stocking fillers for the active person in your life.

Today technical essentials for the modern athlete.

In the past we were quite happy to go for a run or a cycle, time ourselves with a stop watch and guesstimate how far we travelled using a road atlas and a ruler. We entertained ourselves on route by admiring the scenery or chatting to our club mates and we were motivated by self satisfaction of our achievement when we got home.

But now going for a simple run or bike ride has got technical. So here are some technical ‘essentials’ for the modern recreational athlete – All perfect gift ideas whatever your budget.

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First of all we now need music for entertainment and motivation. Personally I prefer to listen to music at the tempo I’m aiming to run at, whilst others like to listen to music with a running in the title such as Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen. If you can’t decide on your own running playlists then there are enough readymade playlists and podcasts to buy and download from Nike Running - Nike Running - The Loop - Nike Running - The Loop or iTrain.com giving you motivation whatever the sport.

Next we need the mp3 player. iPods have become the staple accessories for the recreational athlete. You first begin with an iPod shuffle to listen to music. Then you think you can’t run without the Nike plus attachment to measure your pace and how far you have travelled, with the added excitement of Paula Radcliffe congratulating you at the end that was your longest ever run.

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But why just measure how far you have cycled or ran, why not map it? Subscriptions to online services such as MapMyRun.com allow you to map your route, measure the elevation, record your training in a log, suggest alternative routes from fellow athletes in your area, and calculate the calories burnt.

Then we have the iTouch with all the great sporting apps. Measure the distance to the hole in golf, download a free weight program for the gym, monitor your calorie consumption, and use the GPS in the iPhone to go geocaching. The advert says ‘there is an app for just about everything’ and they are probably not wrong.

Of course the essential piece of equipment to make use of these programs and gadgets is a computer and PC World have a great selection on offer this Christmas.

If you already have a home computer chances are it’s already overworked with school projects and research, or filled with holiday photos. If you are logging all your training on there you need ensure your files are backed up on some portable storage or external hard drive, so if the worst does happen you still have all your data. The elegant Western Digital 320GB My Passport Essential hard drive combines a new gloss-black case that fits smoothly in your hand and pocket with mega-capacity for all your digital content.

If you have a laptop for work, your IT department probably won’t allow you to download so many non-work related programs and software. So you may have to invest in your own laptop or notebook. If you want a great affordable all-round laptop PC world have an Advent Roma 1000 laptop for just £350, with 3GB memory, 160GB Hard Drive and the new Windows 7 Home Premium. It’s also great for watching movies at home either on its 15.6” screen or through plugging it into the TV.

If you are looking for a gift for someone who is always on the move, then what about a Netbook for downsized computing. This Dell Inspiron Mini 10v Netbook boasts a fast Intel® Atom™ Processor, 1GB RAM and 160GB of data storage space for all of your MP3s and images, and training software, making it perfect for computing on the move. Whether sharing you routes with team mates down the club or for constant downloading and feedback from your training gadgets.

When you have discovered a new training route, you may want to take a copy of the route with you on your next outing to ensure you don’t take a wrong turning and get lost. So the wireless HP Deskjet F4580 Multifunction Inkjet Printer is a highly affordable all-in-one printer, scanner, and copier. Perfect for home use and providing excellent print quality.

So there you go. My Christmas wish list technical gift suggestions, all essential, I think you would agree, for the modern recreational athlete.

UPDATE PC World have a new discount code that is now live!

Offer: 5% off on Laptops and Netbooks orders over £249. Code: PCW5. Expires: 23:59 18th December 2009