Social Networking that gets you up off the couch!

I have been exploring apps which you can use running, the winner for me at the moment is the Nike+GPS app. Nike released it on the 6th September 2010 - so it is very much in it's infancy and already they have put out an update to enhance the app (introducing the Facebook Cheer Me on Feature). There are quite a few apps available, I have compiled a list of the ones I am familar with below.

These are the running apps in the iTunes store that I am aware of:

• Nike+ GPS - $2.59
• Roadbud Pro - $13.99
• Runkeeper Pro - $13.99/FREE option too
• Runtastic PRO - $8.29
• Runmeter GPS Running Stopwatch - $6.49
• iMapMyRun+ - $6.49
• LogYourRun - $4.19
• Get Running - $4.19
• WalkJogRun Running - $4.19
• Kinetic - $4.19
• Strands - FREE
  
• Personal Running Trainer - FREE
• miCoach - FREE
  

For me I have chosen to use the Nike+ GPS app.



The Nike+GPS has a ton of features:

• tracks your run and maps it using the GPS built into you iPhone (no cellular data required)
• posts your run to the Nike website
• displays your route, elevation and pace for the whole of your run
  
• posts your run to social networking sites (twitter & facebook) if you want it too (this can be disabled).
  

• gives you voice feedback on your distance & pace through you headphones while out there running
• you can hit the "boost" button to hear your power song when you are having to dig deep

This article compares the Nike+ app with Runkeeper. Two of the leading running apps in the iTunes store.

For quite sometime I have been logging my runs on the DailyMile website. To date I have ran 2,163km. It is hard to desert that site when I have logged a lot of "hard yards" and it turns out I don't need to as there is a Sync feature on the DailyMile site so it will automatically update when I post my run data to Nike+. Which automatically updates from my iPhone as there is a built in Sync feature, as long as your iPhone has a wifi signal (or cellular data) it auto syncs when you finish a run. It is all too easy!

The DailyMile site is a tidy way to keep all your running data together and they go to the trouble of giving you a few extra pieces of data like how many donuts you have burnt off and how far around the world you have traveled! It turns out when you have ran 2,163km you have burnt off 699 donuts.



Links to other reviews:

• AppAdvice - posts about the new "cheer me on feature"

Other health centred apps:

• WiScale - track your body composition - FREE