February 7, 2009

RunKeeper Review, 1.87 mile run?

My last run I used the Fitnio application, which showed a similarity to Favorite Run regarding my distance. Last night I used RunKeeper and something interesting happened ... the mileage was different. At first I thought it was screwed up and that the Fitnio application was better, but now I think I might understand what happened:

According to Favorite Run, my route was a total of 1.96 miles
According to Run Keeper, the same route was a total of 1.87 miles

In the beginning of my run I screwed up the Run Keeper system, and accidentally hit "stop" and then "resume". The cool thing is that it mapped me in between those two points and counted the mileage so I think it came out about even.

I havent used Fitnio for this route, but plan to next time. From what I can tell though, Fitnio is mapping me according to a street map (which is why it compares to Favorite Run) and RunKeeper is working more like a Garmin and tracing my actual running path. As Fitnio does not offer a map of my route I am not actually sure how it is determining my distance. Both programs link into the iPhone GPS system, so I would assume that they are similar ... but results so far indicate perhaps they are not.

Because of the map feature alone, I am leaning towards favoring Run Keeper. In addition, the online version of the program will chart out weekly and monthly totals by activity (running, cycling, hiking, skiing...). On my next time out I will retrace this same route with Fitnio and compare an actual route-to-route comparison just to be sure!

Training Log
Time:23:16   Distance:1.87 mi   Pace:12:26
Again, this run went pretty smoothly. 2 miles isnt as big of a stretch for me as I imagined it would be...but I cannot imagine running an extra mile to make it 3. I'm definitely pretty pooped at the end.

I can imagine this software being incorrect with mileage beause of problems with the GPS, but have to assume the time is accurate. I used to run a lot faster (obviously a lot has happened since then) but still didnt feel like I was running as slow as 12:26 a mile. If I adjust for the distance to equal Favorite run, my pace is still only 11:52. There was a lot of ice, snow and water out that I had to slow down to navigate over (almost lost a finger the other day, didnt want to break my leg this time!) but still...12 minute miles seem really slow to me. I guess thats the point of training, right? Eventually to get back to my former self I need to get myself back in the habit of running, building both my physical and cardio strength. Expect to see quicker paces soon!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm Jason, the founder of the company behind RunKeeper. Thaks for trying us out! Just a tip, whether you use Fitnio or RunKeeper, make sure you turn wi-fi off before use, as this will make for optimal results. Good luck with the training, keep it up!

Jason
info@runkeeper.com

Jess said...

Huh, I've never heard of either GPS application. I just use my Garmin.

Wayne said...

Keep up the great work!

I'm Wayne from Fitnio. Thanks for giving both apps a try. I wanted to let you know that there is a lot more data on the Fitnio website than is currently displayed on the iPhone. I found your earlier Fitnio run and you can see it at:
http://www.fitnio.com/map.htm?key=1hiqdf1

Please let us know if you have any questions or comments.