There’s no doubt running apps make the whole business more interesting and helped me get into running. There’s a lot of them out there, but I use Runkeeper and Strava- here’s why.
Pretty much all of the apps out there have tracking, maps, stats and some motivational features. They also have their own algorithms for smoothing out GPS points, deciding how often to request a point, dealing with the curvature of the earth, and so on - which explains differences in their distance calculations, despite using the same GPS source from your device.
For a short time I tried runs with both Runkeeper and Strava tracking my activity at the same time, to compare the measurement - with a view to sticking with the one I thought was better. It was inconclusive: at worst there was a 10% variance, but it was never a case of one always thinking you’d run further than the other. In the end I decided to use Runkeeper as my main app, but to also periodically send the data to Strava via tapiriik.
So what was it about Runkeeper which made the difference for me?
- The audio prompts, which offered the most flexibility - for example you can set them by time, by duration or by a combination of both; and if you really want to you can have a drill instructor voice barking at you when you drop below your target pace
- The free training plans, which I’ve found to be very good (if hard to follow religiously). In time they got me through my first half marathon and first marathon
- The ability to fix GPS errors using the web site. I use this only occasionally, but it does come in useful to fix problems like this one below,(Liverpool image) which will skew your averages and so on. And remember, if you succumb to the temptation to use this feature to try and boost your distance or speed, you’re only fooling yourself…
A diversion into the river Mersey
I’ve also since discovered that their customer service is excellent - both on email and twitter - and they have a sense of humour too.
@markbarlow That sounds odd, sorry about that! Try a safe reinstall following these steps: https://t.co/gmJ49xeIYr.
— Runkeeper Support (@RKSupport) May 19, 2015
@markbarlow @Runkeeper bagkeeper!
— Erin Glabets (@ErinGlabets) February 11, 2016
And equally, why bother sending the data to strava too?
- For the social features, especially as when I started running it was part of a collective team effort to rack up some miles
- I have a few keen cyclist friends, who are all on there
- The segments feature is clever and a lot of fun, from time to time I take a look at that. It reminds me of foursquare, but requiring more effort to get a crown than just checking in somewhere every day
photo by Quinn Dombrowski