My favorite running apps
I love that Christine can run without her phone or any encumbrances. As it turns out, I’m the opposite. One reason I need to wear my overlarge men’s vest is because I use not one but two running apps on my iPhone for each time out (and I love it).
MapMyRide/MapMyRun offers me a cumulative view of how far and fast I’ve been running. I shudder to think about turning it off because I have 348 miles collecting in its virtual memory. It makes me proud. Other features I like about MapMyRun? The little lady inside will whisper splits and pace in my ear or just tell me to turn around because it’s been 15 minutes. There are many other bells and whistles I have not explored and don’t use such as goal setting or calorie input.
My profile screen, check out that total!
The details for my recent workout
My stats for the last few workouts
Recent running routes
Strava is a new love of mine, and she’s been with me for about 78 miles. The little app brain doesn’t speak to me but she makes me go faster because she tracks my personal-records for each segment of my morning jog. She shows me pace and elevation over the course too. If I had more friends on Strava, I could also compare my stats with theirs. Instead, I run with a friend and my husband can see that she ran just a little bit further than me the other day because she took it to the end of the turnaround, and I stopped at the car. Busted. Nerdy good fun, just the same.
Strava profile screen with my highlights
Strava screen showing my route and pace
Ok, if you’re a true numbers geek, it might bug you to see that for the exact same run, my two beloved apps gave me different scores for nearly every dimension. To this, I shrug and say, “I can’t obsess about every detail.”
Strava cheers me on for my personal bests
Each morning before I set out, I activate these two apps because I like to get credit for my effort. Do you run with any apps that you love?
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I like the Nike+ Running app but I don’t like that you can’t manually enter in a run {i.e.: a treadmill run}. I just downloaded Runtastic Pro {it’s FREE today only} and I’m going to give it a go. I like MapMyRun, as well.
OK, I like data…hmmm.
I still like the looseness of just running with a stopwatch and making my goals based on that, but lately, I’ve been thinking of running with my phone, primarily as a safety precaution. I will definitely check this out if I decide to hit the pavement with my phone. Do you find one or the other as more of a battery drainer?
Data is so fun…
I have not noticed that they drain my battery overly much but I suppose it has to do with your cell and GPS coverage as well as the length of your run.
For about three miles in the Berkeley flats, I go through about 10% of my battery.
Great feedback on these two apps!
I used to love MapMyRun. It really helped me keep pace during my first two 5k’s. When they changed over to the subscription service in order to access that wonderful coaching feature, which used to be free, I deleted it. Can’t afford to pay a subscription fee right now.
Instead, I downloaded RunKeeper, and have been using it to track my runs. It offers similar feedback, and has some really nice comparisons to the previous week/month that encourage me to do better than I did last week/month.
I just downloaded Runtastic Pro on the day it was free, and I like that it will connect to MyFitnessPal and automatically log my workouts.
I have a crush on my Map My Run app. I LOVE when it tells me how far and how fast I’ve gone each mile. It makes it soo much easier to just run and not stress about how long I’ve gone.