Identifying your running goals
Whether you are training for a marathon, a 5k, or running in your neighborhood, running apps are a must to keep track of your progress. Goal setting and achievement are key aspects of running. Receiving real-time feedback of your performance offers you the satisfaction and motivation to improve.
Though each runner has their own performance interests in mind, running apps offer various metrics that make tracking progress possible for short and long term purposes. This information is useful for guiding your goal-setting and improving the specific skills you wish to build upon, such as running longer distances or increasing your speed. Identifying your ever-evolving personal running goal is essential to reaching your own version of success as a runner.
Tracking your running progression
Different running apps and wearables track metrics to increase awareness of your progress; each program is different and may be targeting one type of runner over another. Some running apps and wearables are meant for daily use and activity tracking, while others are more performance-based in what information they provide to their users.
In the upcoming paragraphs, the following running apps and wearables will be compared to one another and should help you to determine which one fits your running needs best: Strava, Asics Runkeeper, Garmin, Nike Run, and Apple Watch. Each program will be discussed based upon the presence of the following metrics: real-time cadence, cadence upon completion, real-time pace, average pace upon completion, accuracy, manual or automated pausing, stride length, elevation, music, and total distance.
Strava:
Strava is used by over 100 million athletes in 195 countries. It is a very popular option for those seeking a program that will amplify their running performance analysis. Strava has the ability to sync with your phone, GPS watch, head unit, heart rate monitor, and power meter. It is capable of recording over 30 types of activities, so it is a good resource for those who are physically active in a variety of ways. Advantageous measures it tracks are real-time pace, average pace upon completion, elevation, and total distance.
At this time, Strava does not track your real-time cadence, cadence upon completion, or stride length. You must utilize music through an external app, and the ability to pause a workout is controlled manually. The accuracy of Strava’s tracking, 98.5%, is high. Additionally, Strava does in-depth run analysis within a runner’s recorded running periods through measures of run pacing and heart rate “zones” tracked within the total distance.
A notable feature of Strava is the Strava feed, which allows you to share tracked results with friends and followers, comment, and react to others’ results. You can also organize club and group events, upload photos and captions to share, and compare results on leaderboards. In regard to safety features, Strava utilizes the “beacon feature,” which allows you to share real-time locations with loved ones when needed. This is particularly important when using Strava’s extensive route and trail resource, which is the largest of its kind and can help runners determine popular spots to explore.
Asics Runkeeper:
Asics Runkeeper is another popular option for runners to track their progress. Runkeeper’s traditional platform offers runners plenty of options for recording the details of runs: it shows you the average cadence upon completion, real-time pace, average pace upon completion, elevation, and total distance. When enabled, runners may have the pause feature automated for convenience.
At this time, Runkeeper does not document your stride length and requires an external source for music, but overall the app is highly accurate in its recorded measures of location and pacing. Other information Runkeeper provides to you includes calories burned during a run, enableable audio cues, the ability to “fix GPS” to increase reliability of GPS readings, and opportunities for participation in virtual races with others in the Runkeeper community.
Runkeeper also offers an upgrade to its users called The Runkeeper Go subscription which comes with the ability to create training plans and receive real-time updates and progress insights.
Garmin Connect:
Garmin Connect, otherwise known as Garmin among current users, is viewed as an option primarily for runners pursuing higher-intensive training results. Its programs, available for various compatible wearables, differ based upon the specific model that an individual has. Newer wearable models have a larger scope of features that enable you to get a more in-depth perspective of their training results.
There are multiple types of Garmin wearables that enable you to track cadence upon completion of a workout. With the Garmin Speed Sensor 2 and Cadence Sensor 2 specifically, there are advanced capabilities that allow you to view real-time cadence data on your phone based on ANT+ and Bluetooth broadcasting.
For other wearables, real-time cadence is shown as an average over the past five seconds of recorded activity; Garmin programs record ground contact time as well. You can see average pace upon completion of a run; real-time pace is rounded and averaged to the pace over the last five seconds, similarly to the collection of cadence data in most of Garmin’s devices and can also provide split averages. Also, you can view your vertical oscillation with a Garmin Running Dynamics Heart Strap.
Garmin’s measurements are highly accurate as it uses location services to obtain results. You can pause the program manually on devices and wearables, and elevation is tracked on devices and some wearables. Stride length is recorded in real-time and as an average. Like the other programs discussed thus far, you must use music through a source outside of Garmin’s technology.
Other notable features Garmin offers you are step and distance challenges, badges for accomplishments, a morale-boosting community to engage with, the Garmin Coach feature, and the ability to create training plans.