Needing an app to keep track of your running, walking or biking? If you want something you can use to track your run, walk, bike, hike, cross country ski or wheelchair event, and so much more then you need the RunKeeper app! If you want to check it out just look on the right side bar of my blog and you will see the widget there with my activities.
RunKeeper helps keep track of your workouts.
I have found this website and iPhone app to be very useful for me in keeping track of how far I walk each day and it lets me know if I am going too slow or if I've improved my pace. In the past I used a hand held GPS unit to measure the distance of my routes but apparently it was not as accurate as I thought! The phone app uses the phone's GPS technology to track the fitness activities. Once a workout is completed the data is synced to the RunKeeper website automatically, no downloading or syncing your phone to your computer. That is a big plus for me because I don't have to remember to upload my activities and it automatically updates my widgets I have on my blog. WOW, what a deal! Plus, as soon as you finish an activity you can post your workout data to Facebook and Twitter with one push of a button. If you happen to work out indoors or are unable to receive a GPS signal you can manually enter your activity information on the app. I can't wait to try this when we get our awesome new Tour de France training bike even though the bike has Google Maps routes I still need to keep track of my workouts on RunKeeper. We should get it in about 2 weeks according to Pro-Form so stay tuned for my review!
What else can the phone app do?
You can download your exercise playlist and play it in regular mode or shuffle while you work out. You can also choose to have coaching chime in according to the setting you choose. One example is the "2.25 mile workout" which has you running/walking steady 1/2 miles, then slow 1/4 mile, then fast 3/4 mile etc with a warm up and cool down 5 minutes each. A coach voice will come on and your music (if you use the playlist on your phone) will quiet down so you can hear her. She will push you or tell you to pick it up just as if you had a personal trainer right there with you. Pretty darn cool. You can even add your own workout and develop the whole routine.
The phone app and website have many options for sharing your workouts.
There are three options for sharing your activity information. You can share to: Only me, Street team, or everyone. The only me option is obvious, you share your activity information with no one. As for Street team, here is the definition from RunKeeper - "Your Street Team is a collection of friends and other active RunKeeper users that you connect with to help motivate you." Lastly is everyone and that too is self explanatory.
What activity information can you share?
1) Your activities - such as your run, walk, bike etc.
2) Your activity map - the GPS street map of your route. This should only be shared with yourself or if you have a street team you may want to share with them. I don't believe allowing everyone out there to see where you run or walk is the safest thing to do. I'm not sure you can allow everyone to see just one episode or if it gives them access to all of them. It might be fun to share a great downhill ski on a double black diamond run so everyone can see! Or if I ever ran the Boston marathon I would surely want to share that route! (ok, that's not gonna happen I am sure).
3) The other share settings you can customize are your background activities, sleep, nutrition, and body measurements. I don't know about you, but I don't need everyone seeing my body measurements!
What else can I do with this app/website?
Glad you asked! There is much more you can do with the website.
1) Search for a route near you. Simply put in the activity type (walk, run, etc), the location (city, park, green space or trail, etc) and route distance. What comes up are routes other RunKeeper users have uploaded to the site. This could be very handy for anyone that travels and wants to find some good routes they can use for some exercise. When the results appear you can add any of them to your routes and have it ready to use.
2) Find a race near you or wherever you will be or you can create an event yourself. The race choices are running, cycling, walking, and triathlon.
3) Sign up for a fitness class - "FitnessClasses are classes that you take with other RunKeeper users following training programs developed by expert coaches." These do cost and range from $9.99 to $24.99 and are taught by experts like Olympians or trainers.
On the Activities page of the website (after logging in) you can view your routes mapped out on a Google map. Below the map is a graph showing your pace and the elevation and the really cool part is you can put your cursor at any point on the route or graph and as you move it along the graph shows your stats along the route. I can see the how much my pace slows down as the elevation goes up. Check it out, it's fun.
At this time RunKeeper is only compatible with iPhone 3G/3GS/4, as well as Android and Windows Phone 7 devices. But doesn't that pretty much include most of the smart phones out there?
*Disclosure - I am not in any way affiliated with RunKeeper or it's parent company FitnessKeeper and was not asked or paid to do this review, it was done on my own. *
