Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

The iPhone has gotten a lot of publicity because there are so many applications that can make it a great workout partner. One I covered is RunKeeper:

• Starling Fitness » RunKeeper: It’s like a Garmin on your iPhone

It looks like Blackberry isn’t being left behind in that arena, however. Wendy Bumgardner, at About.walking talks about how to use your Blackberry to track your workouts:

• Turn Your Blackberry into a GPS Pedometer/Speedometer

Within minutes of hearing about it, Wendy had downloaded a program called AllSportGPS.

What do you get? A constant readout of your current speed and average speed for the session, plus accurate distance, plus a map of where you are and where you might be going! And when you’re done, it automatically transmits it to a web site where it is saved for posterity, and you can choose to keep it private or share it with the world. But wait, there’s more! A graph of your speed throughout the workout! An elevation profile for your workout so you can brag about the steep hills! A map of it all – and since it uses Google Maps, you can select a street view, satellite view, or topographic view.

It looks even better than Runkeeper because it also logs elevation, so if you happened to be running hills in San Francisco, you would get those extra kudo points for that as well as distance and speed. If you own a Blackberry or Motorola Smartphone, check out AllSportGPS for your workouts.

Mana Energy Potion sponsored a treadmill modification to complete a race in World of Warcraft.

• [:Mana Energy Potion:] | RL Race Across Azeroth

What they did was modify some inexpensive treadmills to simulate pressing the “W” button.

Then they had a virtual race across Azeroth, which is an area in the game, World of Warcraft. Do you think running in World of Warcraft with these treadmills will be easier or harder than running in a real forest? You can see how they did here:

In the end, they ran 1 mile in the game, but only ran 1/2 mile on the treadmills. The game had them running at 12.0 mph, but the treadmills logged only 6.0 mph. So, running in World of Warcraft is still easier than running in the real world, even with fancy treadmills.

The race was sponsored by Mana Energy Potion, which is a high calorie energy drink. This may seem like a good promotion for fitness, but in actuality, they are promoting a drink that isn’t very healthy, so be forewarned.

Via: Play Girlz: Exercise World of Warcraft Style

The iPhone Apps Store daily brings us new things that make our life better. Podphile recently reviewed RunKeeper, which is like a Nike+ app that runs on the iPhone and tracks your runs using its GPS features.

• Podophile » Blog Archive » Running With iPhone: RunKeeper Review

The review said that it works pretty well, but my iPhone thinks I’m in Minnesota instead of Utah most of the time, so I wondered how accurate it could possibly be when the iPhone GPS is THAT off. I downloaded the app and tested it compared to my Nike+ in the most difficult GPS area that I have found on my iPhone: my neighborhood.

Quite frankly, I was impressed. Not only did it give me the same accuracy as my Nike+ (which has always been good enough for me), it only took a couple of tries to get a GPS satellite signal. As I walked, I was happy to see that the mileage, pace and speed matched my Nike+ pretty well. So well that I secretly worried that it was just getting the signals from my Nike+ receiver in my shoe instead of the satellite signal. I couldn’t wait to get home and see if Runkeeper mapped my run around a neighborhood in Wyzata, Minnesota.

As soon as I got home, I checked my run on the Runkeeper website. The map showed me doing my run in Salt Lake City, where my home ACTUALLY is instead of Wyzata, Minnesota, where the Google Maps app on my iPhone thinks I am. I would show you the map here, but then you would know exactly where I live and I’m a little uncomfortable with that. Rest assured that the map was eerily accurate, right down to the spot where I crossed the street. I’ve tested it many times near my home and it takes about five minutes to get a GPS signal, but when I tested it in Las Vegas, last week, it only took two tries to get the signal.

The map is pretty accurate. It usually thinks I’ve crossed a street when I haven’t, but most of the time it’s right on. Here is a copy of my quickie run around the trails by the Las Vegas Hilton.

The coolest part of all is that I didn’t have it sync my iPhone to get my data to the Runkeeper website. It sends it directly from my iPhone. It also saves it on my iPhone so I don’t have to go to a stupid website just to see my runs. You would think that was a no brainer, but the Nike+ system has a problem with that and they’ve never fully solved it.

I was totally impressed with Runkeeper and the $10 price tag was MORE than worth the money. There are a few things that I wish it had:

• Calories burned: It doesn’t list the calories I’ve burned on the run and I can’t put my weight into the software to do it. My Nike+ does this calculation for me and it has been pretty accurate. I like the simplicity of Runkeeper, but that is one feature that is REALLY important to me.

• I can’t use it on my treadmill: During the hot days of summer and the freezing days of winter, I use my treadmill ALOT. Runkeeper won’t work on a treadmill (of course), so the Nike+ still has more usability for me there.

• No Challenges: The Runkeeper site is very minimal. That is a VERY good thing because it loads quickly and is very easy to use. The only thing I would add to it is the ability to host challenges like I can on Nike+. That was the KILLER feature for me and it’s what keeps me coming back to the bloated Nike website every day.

If you own a 3G iPhone and regularly go on walks or runs outside, then you owe it to yourself to purchase Runkeeper. For only ten bucks, you can add the functionality of a Garmin or a Nike+ kit without all the extra gear taking up space. I can’t wait to see what the future has to offer for Runkeeper!

Update 09-01-08: After two weeks of using RunKeeper, I’ve found that if I turn off 3G before running the software, it will find the satellite signal almost immediately. There must be something wrong with iPhone’s 3G that is interfering with the GPS signal. RunKeeper runs perfectly if I turn off 3G before I use it.

Laura,

I went looking on the Nike site for some running shoes. Yes, I’m out running now. I’m working my way up using a podcast for interval running and my goal is to run a 5k in November.

Anyways, I was looking at shoes and the Nike iD caught my eye. I had no idea what that meant, so I clicked on it. You may know this already, but it allows you to customize each shoe with up to eight characters. Each shoe can be something different. These are too expensive for me to get right now, but I’m wondering…

What would you put on your shoes?

Take care,
Ernie

Ernie,

It’s SO good to hear from you! I’m glad you’ve advanced from running in place with the Wii Fit to running in the “real” world. Congratulations!!

I must admit, I’m attracted to the Nike ID shoes. Mostly because it allows me to choose my own colors of shoes. To answer your question, I would LOVE to put the words “Femme Fugit” on my shoes. It means “She Flies” in Latin. Unfortunately, they only allow eight digits, so I would end up putting “Moncur” on them just in case my personally designed shoes got mixed up with someone else’s. Here are the shoes that I designed for myself:

Ironically, I just bought a new pair of shoes from Nike. My old ones were over a year old and WAY over their mileage (they should be changed every 400 miles). I bought the Air Max Moto+6 (Nike XD 324492-162). It looks like this:

The funny thing is, I tried on four pairs of shoes that looked EXACTLY like this at the Nike store in Las Vegas. One felt like something funny was in my shoes along the inside of my foot. That one was for overpronaters, but I don’t have that problem. Another one felt like it was going to scrape my back heel raw when I walked on their treadmill. After trying the Vomero, the Equalon and the Pegasus, I can’t believe how different all those shoes felt because they all looked the same to me.

So, given the chance to choose my own colors and personalized message, I would pass it by just to get a pair of shoes that fit perfectly from day one. Fortunately, I was able to find that this time. Who knows whether they’ll still be around next year when I need new shoes.

You didn’t tell me. What would YOU choose to put on your shoes? I would suggest “Homme Fugit,” but it doesn’t fit either…

Best wishes,
Laura

If you have an iPhone, there is an application that can track your Weight Watcher Points as well as calculate the points for certain foods. You can find out more about it here:

• Park East, Inc. » iPoint Calculator

You can easily add what you ate and save your favorite foods so you can easily add them the next day. Right now, it only keeps track of one day and then you have to clear it to start again the next day. Additionally, the activity points don’t deduct from your used points. They also don’t account for Flex Points. You have to work them into your daily points total.

Park East, Inc. have the following updates in the works:

• Weekly point recording
• Ability to export your log to formatted email
• Addition of other fields, such as “oil”
• Flex points (which will deduct from)
• Exercise points (also will deduct)

I have seen other programs like this for the Palm format that have been served cease and desist papers by Weight Watchers in the past, so hurry and download iPoint before it mysteriously disappears.

I have been running for years. The BEST jogging bra I have been able to find has been the Champion Action Shape Sports Bra. I have tried every kind of jogging bra out there and this is the absolute best. Here are the reasons:

Keeps everything in place

The most important reason to wear a sports bra is to keep from bouncing. With the Action Shape bra, I never have to clutch my arms around my chest during the fastest part of my run in an effort to prevent pain. EVERYTHING stays in place.

No Uni-boob

I know it sounds vain, but I don’t like the Uni-boob effect that I get with some other jogging bras. I don’t like the rubbing between my breasts (not to mention the sweat) and I think it just looks ugly. The Action Shape separates enough to make me comfortable.

No chaffing

Chaffing is the other reason to have a sports bra. My most sensitive areas are my nipples, where the straps hit my shoulders, and the bottom elastic on my ribcage. I have never had chaffing with the Action Shape, no matter how long my run. I can’t say the same for any other jogging bra I’ve tried.

They last FOREVER

THIS is the BEST feature of the Action Shape bra. They easily last a year or two. I usually buy three bras, wearing them each for two workouts a week. I wash them in the washer and dryer without taking any unusual precautions and they last forever.

Here are the disadvantages:

You can’t wear it without a shirt

For all you nearly-nudists at the gym, this sports bra LOOKS like a bra. Despite the discreet bra hook coverup, it really DOES look like a bra, so you can’t bear your midriff with this sports bra without looking like you’re just shirtless.

The velcro shoulder strap adjustments can go awry and scratch your back shoulder

This is VERY rare, but the velcro that holds the bra straps at your desired length can get damaged and curled after MANY washings (I’m talking a year’s worth). No matter what you do, it will always turn wrong and scratch up your back shoulder. This is nature’s way of telling you to buy a new bra.

In the end, the Champion Action Shape bra is the best bra for running out there. I live in CONSTANT fear that Champion will discontinue them. I bought my first Action Shape bras at Lady Footlocker, but they stopped carrying those particular bras. Now, I buy them from Amazon.com here:

• Champion Women’s Action Shape Sports Bra at Amazon.com

Nora at Complete Running wrote a review of the Nike+ Sportsband. You can see it here:

• Nike+ Sportband Review : Complete Running Network

Positive Aspects:

• It can be used without having to be plugged in to music
• It’s sleek and not heavy.
• It tells displays time, distance, and pace.
• At $59, it’s cheaper than a Garmin.

Negative Aspects:

• The connectivity is not always great
• Difficulty installing the software to work with the sportsband
• If you don’t wear Nike shoes, you have to get creative.

I didn’t know that the Nike+ Sportsband didn’t use iTunes to sync with Nike+. THAT is the deal breaker on a gadget like this. When will Nike learn that they should leave the computer programming to Apple? They obviously didn’t learn it when they built their website and they are making the SAME mistake with the Nike+ Sportsband. If you are looking for something to log your runs, you’ll do better with an iPod Nano and the Nike+ kit instead.

This exact incident happened to me when I was playing Wii Fit the other day. I am so surprised when Joy of Tech gets things so right every time:

Of course, it didn’t ask me where my “obese husband” was, it asked where Elvis was. Mike and I set up our Elvis Mii on Wii Fit so people could play the game without playing as one of us. As cool as the Wii Fit is, it’s not really set up for party games. It’s more of an exercise game, so when our friends want to see what it’s like, it bugs me if they play using my Mii. Of course, it has been weeks and weeks since Elvis has played, so the Wii Fit balance board asked me where he has been.

I didn’t have the heart to tell my imaginary trainer that Elvis is dead.

As if I wasn’t excited enough about my Wii Fit, it looks like Raymond Raving Rabbids are going to use the Wii Balance Board for their next big game. Here is the promotional video:

I LOVED the Rabbids in their last two Wii games and I can’t wait for this new one!

Here is my previous review:

• Starling Fitness » My Arms Are Killing Me

I have been regularly exercising with my Wii Fit and running in place every day. I really like the Island Lap in the Aerobics section of the game. By accidentally running too fast, I found myself following the yellow dog while running on Wii Fit Island the other day. He takes you on a completely different route on Wii Fit Island. This person on YouTube filmed it:

You can also follow a chocolate lab and I was passed by a white dog, so I’m going to try to follow him next. It’s fun to discover these hidden routes in this game. I had no idea that running in place could be so fun!

Here’s a video of kids following the chocolate lab:

Here’s a video of the same kids following the white dog:

Apparently there is also a black dog that you can follow. You should mute this video so you don’t have to listen to the racist kids.