Friday Favorites: MapMyRun

This post contains a quasi-review of a product. I was not compensated in any way for this post; the opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.

It's officially the end of week one of my 31 day running and writing challenge and I'm feeling great! Here's a quick round-up of my week:

Total time run: 7 hours, 3 minutes

Total distance run: 23.5 miles

Total days run: 7 days

Whew! 🙌

This chart doesn't show my Thursday run because it was a treadmill workout and I had to log it manually, but I was pretty stoked to record my fastest mile time...ever! (Yeah, I'm not highly motivated for PRs; I just like to run easy).

Long run, fartleks, fastest mile time, and spiders: it's been quite a week. I can't wait to kick off next week with a 6 mile run in the morning, assuming Hurricane Matthew doesn't wreck any more of my plans (ahem, CHARLESTON BIRTHDAY WEEKEND!)

So how have I been tracking my runs and putting together data on my distance, time, pace, and more? I use MapMyRun. It's an app that tracks runs, routes, and metadata about workouts. 

I started using MapMyRun in June 2010 when I found the need to plan and track some of my aimless wanderings. Most people probably start tracking their runs for dietary or training purposes; I needed to track my runs so I wouldn't get so horribly lost on my jaunts about town. I used MapMyRun to plan routes through neighborhood streets in advance and to track later where all I meandered to figure out how far I ran (just because I was curious). Once I got a smartphone I downloaded MapMyRun's android app and tracked my runs via GPS. When I finally bought my GPS watch in 2014 I set it up so that my GPS watch synced automatically with MapMyRun.

Since I started in 2010 it's been over 2000 miles and almost 650 hours of running and working out. MapMyRun is just one part of the MapMyFitness app suite which includes MapMyRide for cycling and MapMyHike. Tracking on one app puts the data on your collective calendar so you can always see all your workout data in one spot. Being able to go back and look at my historical data without having to dig through a paper training journal is invaluable to me as I continue exploring my passion.

If you're looking for a way to track your runs check out MapMyRun, or similar apps RunKeeper (which several of my friends use but I've never tried) or Strava (which is popular with my cycling friends). But if you go with MapMyRun, find me on the app and friend me so we can cheer each other on!

There are tons of other features of MapMyRun like training plans, challenges, etc. How do you track your runs? Do you have a favorite app or training journal? Let me know in the comments!