Let’s face it, I’m no Mobile Farmer when it comes to Smartphones. I just graduated from my so-called “dumbphone” last November and even though my Blackberry has smartphone capabilities, it’s far from meeting that potential in the hands of this guy.
Earlier this year I announced my plans to participate in a Tough Mudder competition to support the Wounded Warrior project, those plans have yet to become a reality until I can dig up the funds for a registration fee and travel. However, I have found a Warrior Dash, smaller race to support St Jude, here in Nashville in September. This one seems much more a reality, both financially and travel-wise. I rally picked up running (I say “picked up”, it’s more like sporadic in the world of fitness, but this is my blog, so my terms) when I started college and needed a way to “run” away from the text books on occasion. When I moved to Oklahoma, that running picked up as I moved to a paved road that was easy to run, and in Texas a 7-mile track around a park helped move things along. What I’ve really missed out on to keep pace with my running is a workout partner… I either run too fast or don’t have a consistent enough schedule. Well… There could be an app for that!
I found Endomondo last week when it popped up on a fellow farmers Facebook page. I downloaded the app on my Blackberry and finally tried it out. I have a few crop fields behind my house and the perimeter roads make a perfect track. Last night I tracked 5k on the app to see how it works.
I don’t have a screen shot of the app, but it’s pretty simple to use. The app tracks the duration of your run, distance (km), calories burned (kCal), and average speed (min/km). There’s a host of workouts to choose from; I selected the basic run, but you can choose to set a target distance, duration, calories burned, or complete a set route. You can also connect and compete with friends who use the app as well. Haven’t decided if I’ll upgrade to the Pro, not sure what it can offer me that I’ll utilize.
Oh, 1 VERY important thing. Apparently there’s a lady in there that yells at you every milestone completed. At the first kilometer mark I about died and ducked for cover when she shouted my completion of the 1st km. Next time I’ll turn the volume down.
The Endomondo website is easy to navigate. I have set routes around the field perimeters. This one is 4.41 miles by best guestimate. The little dots represent the completion of each mile. This particular route laps the big field twice.
Here is the map of the 5k run I made last night. As you can see the blue dots again represent each mile completed. On the lower horizontal bar, the map shows pace and elevation. There’s a blimp where the lady scared me at each kilometer and again where Pistol found a skunk and tried to play with it. On the right verticle are my workout parameters (don’t judge me on the pace, never claimed to be a professional athlete! :D)
The online version also gives workout summaries by a number of parameters. This shot is by month. The only thing I dislike is the bottom row which dictates how many burgers I’ve burned. (There’s an entire new soapbox on why fitness and athlete websites refuse to accept beef as part of a healthy diet! Message me if you’re dying to know my thoughts before I get around to writing a post)
Apparently I burned 3 burgers on my runs so far. Good thing I got all of that zinc, iron, protein, and essential vitamins out of them first! I like to think of those calories as the SunDrop and Honey bun I had for breakfast. My goal is to make this into no less than a 5 mile run by the end of next month. Think I can do more?
Are you a fitness guru? What are your thoughts on Endomondo? Do you have a (free) Blackberry fitness app that works better?
Related articles
- Running my first half marathon (pnwrancher.com)
- Facebook Open Graph Gives Endomondo Workout (allfacebook.com)
- Top Fitness Apps for Those On The Go (letstalkandwalk.com)
