Runkeeper Tracking Screen

Just a quick post about a nice piece of software I got for the iPhone today.  It’s called RunKeeper, and is an application that uses the iPhones built-in GPS to track you on a run or cycle ride or similar).  It works out your distance, average speed, and graphs your elevation, as well as plotting your course on Google maps.  It works extremely well, and allows you to submit your run after you complete it to the online repository.  You can then view it there plotted on the map, or use the site to compare subsequent runs.  

Runkeeper Run Summary

The shots here don’t really do it justice as such, as they arn’t ‘in use’ shots – but they do give you an idea.  For a better shot, see the website at http://www.runkeeper.com/.  The bottom shot shows the summary screen on the website once you’ve uploaded your track.  

What does this all mean?  Oh yes… I’m running again!  About bloody time…!  Felt pretty good actually.  Thought it would kill me, but it didn’t!   As you can see from the shot, i did 2.29 miles in just under 29 mins.  Not too fast, but not too slow either!  Just gotta keep it up now, which is definitely the hard part! 

Shot of the summary of a run on the website

I decided, about the middle of last year, to get myself in shape finally. I always used to be fine – years of karate, cycling and fencing saw to that, without me having to think about it too much. Thing is, when I got my first job, I got my first cash, which led to my first motorized transport (a Suzuki AP50 scooter to be precise). This, coupled with long hours (damn you Dixons Stores Group!) led to a rapid decline in the amount of exercise I was taking, changing me from a pleasantly plump 13stone(ish) to (at the max) around 16 and a half stone.

Fat? Yeah – I was most definitely fat. Problem with that is that it spirals you downwards in an ever accelerating cycle of fatter-less exercise-fatter-less exercise, and so forth. Gets harder and harder to motivate yourself to get sorted. Well.. last year, I decided, finally, to give a big push that would get me out of the rut. In order for this to be successful, I needed a reason. The obvious one? Well.. health of course. My mum is diabetic, as was my grandad before her. Trouble is – if you feel ‘ok’ as such, this is a very difficult thing to keep in mind as you slog through what inevitably ends up being a boring-as-hell regime of exercise.

I needed something different… So, I set forth on the idea that I wanted to become good (or at least passable) at something that I was CRAP at. The thing that immediately sprung to mind was the demon running. It was dismissed as fast as it came.

Over the next few weeks, the laughable idea that maybe I could do it started to creep into my consciousness. I mean… I was crap at it – the first prerequisite. The second prerequisite was that it would help me to get fitter – which it fulfilled with flying colours. Why not eh? I mean, at least if I failed, I could say I failed with a bit of Gusto, rather than wimping out before the first hurdle (or before the hurdles had even been put out on the track!).

I scoured the Interweb and found This (click shot for link) :-

Cool. Running. Running, cool?

Nah – surely that could never be. Surely. No. No way.

But – I sit here (on my still fat(ish), but definitely-getting-there arse), and can testify that it DOES WORK. Its the first time I’ve done anything structured in regard to running. It starts out slow – literally one minute run, 90 secs walk, for about 15 mins. Over 9 weeks, it gradually works you up to running 5Km (about 3 miles) without stopping.

Yes – you read right…

Hmmm…

Like I said – skeptical as I may have been, I persisted with it. In a nutshell, if you feel like you’re not ready to progress to the next week, simply repeat the same week until you feel you are.

And here I am today – running 40 mins (approx 3 miles) without, as I mentioned, stopping. If I can do it – any bugger can, so try it – you might (as I am unbelievably) like it.