Gadgets and other tools to keep track of your running!

Finally! Some time to write! It's been a busy weekend! We had my brother in law in town and it was wonderful to see him :) It's hard when your schedule is different. I found myself eating a lot :( and I definetly did not do that great! However what's important is that I can pull it back together! I did some grocery shopping this morning to get some yummy healthy food back in my fridge! I feel much better!

So... what I wanted to chat about today was things you can use to help keep track how far you are running and other cool things to use to track your runs and or other work outs. I am a visual person so I really need to see what I have planned for the week as far as work outs or goals that I have.

I have used several different things to keep track of my runs and also be able to track the distance. I have used http://www.runnersworld.com/ and http://www.activetrainer.com/ both have some really good tools!

Runner World is the website that I first started to use and it was the place that I found the training program that I posted in one of my first post to really start running! It's Packed full of some FANTASTIC information for training, eating weightloss and so on! Take a peek and it I think you will really like the information.

My favorite website is http://www.activetrainer.com/ I LOVE LOVE this site! It's free to sign up and gives you some GREAT things to use!

There is a Calendar option... So you can plan your runs then also document on your runs, you are able to document the time  and miles it took you run or walk or bike :) and you can get your pace. I also would document my weight on this calendar for my weekly weigh ins

There is a "Training Tab" I have'nt used that one to much.... but there are some plans you  can purchase if you want to... if you are going to go off a plan I would talk to people around you and see what they used.

My FAVORITE section is "Routes" Its just like google maps... however you can track your routs. So if you want to see how far you run was or plan a run you can use this tool... just type in the address that you started at and go from there. Once you get there you will see how it works. From what I have been able to tell it is really pretty accurate! You can then save your route and also share it with others :)

The "Reports" tab is cool! Especially if you are a number person. You can really see you imporvments!

There is also the "Tool" section! There is a cool place that you can use to keep track of how many miles you have ran in your shoes :) YES!!! even if your shoes seem fine, if you have ran a certain amount of miles in them ( I can't remember how many)  you need to get new ones. This is more if you are training for runs :)

I have used a few apps on my I phone.. so far I havent found one that I am overly amazed with.. however if you have any suggestions or are using some now please feel free to share!

I also use my Nike plus. I plug it into my Ipod and have collibrated so it will track my miles. This is BY FAR my very most favorite running tool. I have compared it to the "Routes" section and it's pretty acurate. It's only about $25.00 for both pieces; the part that fits into your Nike shoe and the part that fits into your IPOD.. guess what it also works with your I phone :) the only reason I don't use my I phone is because I want to save the battery on my phone especially since I run alone. So after you have ran you can then plug your ipod/iphone to your computer and then it will sync it to the nikeplus website and you will get to see a graph of your pace and it will also save your run for you! http://www.nikeplus.com/ is a cool website that will also help you reach your goal

You also always use a regular calendar :) I do encourage you to keep track! I LOVE LOVE going back and seeing how much I have imporved with my running :)

I will also document my weighttraining days!

So... I hope this give your some ideas on how to document :)! As always keep me posted!