I have been working on a review of a new-ish app called Charity Miles. It is a running/walking/cycling GPS tracking app for iOS and Android that turns your activity into a charitable donation. I will be publishing my thoughts in the next few days, but I got an email from them today about a “Challenge” that they are doing with their users and I thought it was worth sharing pre-review.
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So if you are interested in joining in download the app (iOS or Android) and get moving!
Like a lot of people, I use my phone to track my workouts. I may one day get a dedicated GPS watch/unit but for now I’m sticking to the toy that I already have, as it seems to work pretty well for me. I use a HTC Inspire 4G Android phone personally, but there are apps available on all of the major smartphone operating systems that will run the apps that I am going to cover or others much like them. Please note, I am just giving you some info on the apps that I happen to use. I have tried just about every application for activity tracking that is available for the Android platform and there are a number of good ones but these are the ones that I actually use regularly.
The new face of Endomondo (8.0)
My primary app is, and has been for quite some time, Endomondo. It didn’t used to be particularly pretty but its accuracy was as good or better than any of the other and it gave me my mile splits, a decent web interface to track my workouts and let me easily export my workout data so that I could use it elsewhere. (more on that later) Beyond that I didn’t really care. It does more but that was all I was concerned with.
Endomondo got a big update yesterday which makes me even more crazy about it. (Its also what gave me the idea to write this post in the first place.) It still does all of the same things that it did before but the interface is vastly improved and they added some things that I really like. First among the changes (for me) is the ability, much like a dedicate GPS device, to configure what information you want shown on the main screen. The app will show 4 of the 11 different metrics that are available (speed, pace, average speed, average pace, calories, heart rate, average heart rate, goal and cadence) on screen at one time in whichever order and combination that you choose. This isn’t intended to be a comprehensive review so I am skipping over a number of functions that Endomondo also does very well because I simply don’t use all of its bells and whistles but I will say that for tracking my running and cycling (again, more later) I think that is the best all around option on the market currently.
I’ve been using Strava for the past couple of weeks when I ride my bike. I’m still undecided as to if I will continue or not. The app itself works very well for tracking my rides but that wasn’t my main reason for downloading it. I was more interested in the social aspects of using Strava. I am not a competitive cyclist of any sort at the moment so it is thus less compelling as that is the focus of the “social network” part of Strava. I will also say that I am also not really taken with the interface. Much as the original Endomondo interface, it works perfectly well but seems inelegant. Strava can be used to track activities other than cycling but I far prefer Endomondo for my running. I may very well drop Strava but not because it is lacking in some way just because I prefer Endomondo.
This is more game than fitness app but it has some of that rolled into it too. Zombies, Run! is an interactive story game set in a post zombie apocalypse world where you are a “runner” or messenger/gofer/pedestrian rescue person/etc. for a small outpost. The story segments are fed to you in between songs from your phone. I am not particularly impressed with the accuracy of the GPS tracking but the story is fun and compelling and makes the miles roll by a little easier. I typically run it along with Endomondo. (Zombies, Run! for fun and Endomondo for tracking)
Dailymile is my exercise related social network of choice. If you want a place to keep all of your hard work and get tons of positive reinforcement then this is the site for you. I record my workouts with either Endomondo or Strava, export the GPS files from them and then upload them to dailymile.
I will be playing with the recently updated mapmyrun/ride and the just released for Android Nike+ apps in the near future. I just can’t resist trying new toys.
If you’ve been following me for any time at all than you’ve probably noticed a few mentions about the Leelanu Trail. It is one of the trails that make up the local multi-use trail network developed and maintained by TART Trails. (For the record – I don’t work for TART, I’m just a fan, so I’m happy to big them up now and again.)
I do nearly all of my running and cycling on these trails so I was excited to hear, earlier in the year, that a large unimproved section of the Leelanau Trail was going to be paved. I was particularly eager for it to be done because while I like running on all sorts of surfaces, my bike has skinny tires and only really works on pavement.
Yesterday was the first day since the paving was completed that I had a chance to get out and ride that was cool enough for me to not spontaneously burst into flames.
I have to say that the ride was lovely. Visitors and residents in my rather pretty part of the world have yet another route to explore to enjoy the scenery. Here are just a few of the sights from my ride.
A cherry stand. Sadly not open for business. (I assume having to do with the cherry crop being ruined by the crazy weather this year)
A cool drink of water and a sit down. I took advantage of the drink but was too eager to explore the rest of the new trail to sit down.
I almost rode past this without even seeing it. Next time I may have to take a closer look.
What’s this? A bridge??
Cool bridge over the road! Yes, I’m a complete dork, I got excited. I’ve never ridden my bike over traffic before.
The prize at the end of the trail!
The charming little village that you see in the photo above is Suttons Bay. I think I will be making this ride a regular thing. I got in about 25 miles on my bike, got to see some beautiful scenery plus Suttons Bay has a number of good restaurants to add some extra incentive. Since this is already sounding a bit like a tourist brochure… Check out traversecity.com for more information on all of the cool stuff to do around these parts. The Grand Traverse/Leelanau Counties Area has gotten a number of accolades recently. (I borrowed the following image from there.)
Since I started this blog, I have been almost exclusively running for my exercise. I’ve developed a real fondness for the activity in that time but running wasn’t my first love when it comes to physical activities. (no, not that either) Many years ago I went through a short obsession with cycling. I though I’d share a bit about that and introduce you to an old friend of mine.
When I was 14 I got my first job. I was a dishwasher in a Polish restaurant that sadly no longer exists. (Great people and food!) One of the things that went along with me getting this job was that my parents got me a bike. My very first grown-up bike. (I was already over 6 foot at that point) For any bike geeks out there – it’s a 1986 Fuji Allegro 27″ Frame (equivalent to a 61cm) with 27″x1-1/8″ wheels. It’s actually a little bit too tall for me. (I didn’t keep growing as much as we thought I might have)
I got it both for getting myself back and forth from work and because I had hoped to use it for some touring riding with a friend. It did admirable duty for the first thing but I never got a chance to try it out for the second. After being used quite a bit from when I got it until I turned 16, my bike entered a period of dormancy. For a while, I barely remembered that I owned a bike, let alone actually rode it. What got me riding again was an irresistible force for a teen-aged me, a girl.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I don’t remember her name anymore, but the spring and summer after I turned 17 and moved from my home town of Gaylord, MI to the somewhat larger Traverse City, MI, I rode hundreds of miles on my bike with her.
She was much more adept on a bike than I was and in better shape than me. I therefore was unprepared for the suffering I had ahead of me. To get to and from her house I had to ride about 4½ miles up and over a far larger hill than I had ever climbed on a bike. After our first ride, which I recall as being long, I went home completely wiped out. I woke up in the middle of the night in pain. My legs were so tight that I could barely move. I dragged myself into the bathroom, climbed into the tub and eventually fell asleep again in icy cold water. Things got better after that and after a couple of weeks I actually got to the point where I enjoyed my warm up climb. This went on through the summer and early fall until we drifted apart. The following summer I continued riding some on my own but I never got back to the kind of mileage that I had the year before. After that my bike went into storage.
More than 20 years later my dad mentioned to me that he had run across my bike, which was stored in his pole barn, and wondered if I would like to dig it out and do something with it. I couldn’t resist seeing what I could make of it.
As you can see, it definitely needed a fair bit of work. I mounted a new rear dérailleur, replaced the cables, put in new tubes and replaced a couple of spokes that had gotten broken. I had to get a new seat and post as the old ones had disappeared at some point and put on new bar tape. A tune-up and lubrication later, my old friend was roadworthy again.
25+ years after I got it, I rolled along on my bike feeling free again. (and a little scared at first, I hadn’t ridden a bike in over 20 years!) I started slowly. First 4 miles, then 6, then 8, then 12, then 17, and most recently 30. I was so pleased to see that it comes back far easier than I had expected. I’m sure the improved physical condition that I’ve gained from running has been a great help with that, but there is also a feeling of getting back something that I had lost that has spurred me on.
I’m not certain that my old friend will be able carry me everywhere that I now hope to go with my cycling, but it got me on the trail again to something that I can definitely see being a constant for me going forward. Plus, now all I have to do is figure out swimming beyond the doggy paddle and maybe I can add triathlete to my resume as an athlete!
I wasn’t able to do much of a run yesterday due to a case of “Dead Legs” but I saw some pretty flowers and a scary sign.
Pretty Flowers
I have absolutely no idea what kind of flowers these are but they were pretty so I took a picture.
Fulton Park (Note the red sign on the post…)
Fulton Park is, from the Traverse City Parks guide, “A short bike ride from Downtown heading north towards Greilickville along the TART Trail, Fulton Park offers an outdoor “nature” experience that includes a self-guided interpretive trail through the woods!” The important thing to know about it from a runners perspective is that there is an approximately 1/4 mile loop around the park which runs through woods and wetland and there aren’t generally too many people to have to work around.
Yikes! Rattlesnake!
Here’s what kept me from visiting the park yesterday. There is only one kind of poisonous snake in Michigan and they are very rare but I am insanely afraid of snakes.
I was hoping to get in a tough workout today to help offset a weekend spent hanging out with friends. Quick digression – drinks at Tandem Ciders (Awesome!), lunch at Stone House Bread Cafe (great salad) and swimming in Lake Michigan is a really nice way to spend a Sunday!
So… I decided to try doing my first brick workout. A “brick” is doing 2 of the 3 triathlon activities back-to-back in a workout. I chose to do a bike/run workout. I did the bike and run parts of a sprint triathlon which is 12.4 miles of cycling and 3.1 miles of running. I have never run right after cycling before and it was every bit as hard as I expected. (Side note – I did a bit of cycling way back in my late teens but I just started back at it again a few weeks ago.) Part of why it was so tough was the heat. I am not good with heat and the 84º that it was today turned me into a dripping mess. Still, it was a great workout and I was pleased that I got through it.
I do have “Do a Triathlon” on my bucket list. So this was a good starting place. Now I just have to learn to not swim like a spazz.
One of my favorite “Signs of Spring”. One of these days I hope to make this my first marathon.
