One Thing Leads to Another

Runner’s Log

In February of 2003, I went to a Valentine’s Day party with the intent of finding a boyfriend or at least a date. Well, I didn’t find either that night, but rather, ended up meeting a guy who talked me into running what would be the first of many marathons. Three years later, I did meet my husband- while training for a marathon- so I guess you can say that indirectly, that Valentine’s Day party was effective.

On a totally unrelated- yet similar- note, Mike Fikes created a really cool running app in a roundabout sort of way. Mike was trying to find a good way to track the mileage on his running shoes so he’d know when to replace them.  He couldn’t find an app he liked in the app store, so he decided to write his own.  And so, Runner’s Log was born. Runner’s Log is available for your iPhone or iPad, and not only provides an excellent way to keep track of how many miles you’re logging in your shoes, but also has a ton of great features that allow you to track your runs easily and quickly.  Runner’s Log has many great features :

• View a calendar showing which days you ran recently.
• View statistics and charts of weekly, monthly, and yearly progress.
• Map your regular routes—their distances are automatically computed and entered.
• Track the total mileage put on your running shoes (which typically last 350–550 miles)
• Record the results of a running session in a matter of seconds.

How it works:  

When you return from a run, use Runner’s Log to record your session. The date, route, and shoes used are all automatically filled in based on defaults. The time spent on your last run for the route is also presented as the default. Simply adjust the minutes or seconds and you are done! Your pace will be shown to you.

 To plan a new route to try in your neighborhood, go to the routes tab and bring up the map, which centers on your current location. Simply tap points on the map in order to create your route. When done, the route distance is automatically computed. If you run this route frequently, you can set it as the default.

 This feature came in handy this weekend while I was up north… I wasn’t sure of the mileage and wanted to quickly find a ten mile route. I mapped my route seconds before my run, then clicked on my tunes, and was off.  That beat the days of sitting in front of my computer to map out my run, or drive the route first.

Back to the shoes:

Runner’s Log makes it a cinch to keep track of shoe mileage. If there are unlogged miles on your shoes, you can easily add them to the total tracked. If you rotate shoes, you’re able to track each pair separately,  and you can choose a pair of shoes to be the default for new running sessions. When a pair is ready to be retired to “lawn mowing only” status, you can mark it as such.

Love the calendar feature:

The calendar features a cute little runner icon that shows which days you ran recently. This gives a great visual, making it easy to decide if you should run or take a break.  You can also view statistics and charts showing weekly, monthly, and yearly summaries of your distance, time and pace, as well as the accumulated mileage put on your shoes.

Runner’s Log is clear, easy to use, and has all of the features that runners need. Created by a runner, for runners.  What more could you ask for?

Check out Runner’s Log today at the App Store!