Absolutely Awesome Apps...Pt 3

So this is my final installment on iPhone apps for now. If you have any apps that you think about absolutely amazing...then let me know and I'd love to take a look at them!

For today I wanted to focus on the other set of apps that I use very often. Since back in the fall I began running and the best way for me to keep track of all that was to download an app with gps. Back when Renae and I were first married she introduced to me to MapMyRun.com which is awesome for those of you who street run. Then about a year and a half ago Renae and I started going for evening walks. I wanted to track my fitness, so I looked up Map My Run in the App Store...and BOOM! there is was...and for FREE!!!! The free app does a lot actually, the only thing as of right now that I think the paid app does is skip the ads...which aren't bad at all.

Anyways, today's focus is on fitness apps:

Map My Run App

Here is the loading page...great app!

Once it's loaded, and you need to set up a free account online, you can access your info on the homepage. I honestly just used the profile and the workout sections.

After you choose to do a workout you will see this screen appear. This gives you a very accurate GPS signal. When the dot is red, it's searching and isn't accurate...once it's green you are good to go!

You can toggle between the Map and Stats buttons. I didn't realize this until a couple of weeks ago. The stats can be changed and set however you would like them to appear. I usually just wanted to see the overall time and the distance. If you have a compatible heart monitor, the app will record the data.

When you are done and click stop it will immediately record your workout...ask you a few questions about it...and sync it to your online account.

It'll give you a little play by play workout detail, and at the bottom of this screen will allow you post your results on Facebook or Twitter.

You can also check out the course map and elevation for a more in depth look.

 Nike Plus App

My friend Andy got a nice Nike+ watch for Christmas and so he urged me to join him with an account. I told him I wouldn't buy the app because it was a few bucks...well he gave me some quarters and I downloaded the app...and thankful that I did!

The first page you come to shows you your totals and averages so far. As you can tell I only had one run...now I have a few more and it totals the miles, runs, duration and calories...and shows me my average pace. You can check out some of the other fun parts of this app...like challenging yourself or your friends (by playing Tag).

You set your music and get yourself ready for the run, and it will bring you to this screen. When you are ready, and it has a GPS signal (top left) then you are ready to hit the big green button and run!

After you run it will lead you to mark what type of run it was (road, trail, indoors), how you felt, the weather and it records the route on a map. This page shown above will show you all the runs that you have completed so far. So for now, I see all 6 runs that I recorded.

Here is a picture of the map, indicating where each mile was located. On the website it actually will allow you to scroll through your run and show you all the pacing, distance and elevation information.

If you toggle over to the "Pace" tab up top, it will show you the pacing throughout the run. Obviously the green is faster and the red is slower.

I haven't done this yet with Andy, but I am planning on it. Here you can play "tag" with your friends on Nike+. You can set it by distance or by longest timed run. Either way it's a great way to challenge each other and stay motivated. There are many more things on this app, and the website, which are really neat. One of my favorite things is that you can have a person update you on your run ever 1/4, 1/2 or 1 mile. Also, when you  set records you can have a crowd start cheering for you!