Tag Archives: National Running Day

Celebrate National Running Day! 7 Apps To Help Track Your Run

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Happy National Running Day to you! Any big plans? Long run, short run or first run?
national running day
Remember how I celebrated in 2011? How about 2012? This year, I do plan to run–a little bit, on the treadmill at my gym after I lift weights. :-) Hey–I’m still getting it in!

However you choose to celebrate, hopefully these apps will be of use to you. Compiled by my guest blogger Marcela De Vivo, she’s gone through and listed seven that are worth trying out!
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7 Apps To Help Track Your Run

Whether you’re just starting to run or are a veteran runner with many miles under your belt, apps for your smartphone make it much easier to track distances, calories burned, train for particular goals and even track wear on your shoes.

The following apps have been popular in running circles because of their effectiveness in helping you train. Here are some of the top picks for the top 7 apps to help track your run:
nike running app pic
1. Nike+ Running App

The Nike+ Running App maps your runs, tracks your progress and allows you to easily share your runs with friends and family through social media. It also tracks distance, pace, time and calories burned—at the end of a session, you can see your run mapped out with pace-based color.

To help you train, Nike+ Running App’s accelerometer will make sure you keep your speed constant. To help motivate you through a tough run, you can set up the app to get cheered on by your social media crowd, or play a “Powersong” for that extra push at the end of a run. Nike’s running app also tracks indoor vs. outdoor runs, as well as your performance in different weather. The app does not require any other accessories to work—just activate it and take your phone with you on your run.

2. RunKeeper

One of the most popular running apps, RunKeeper enables GPS tracking, distance, speed monitoring, calories burned and an activity log for most sports, including cycling, hiking, skiing and swimming. This running app also allows you to share your progress with friends via social media. You can also sync and access all your data to RunKeeper’s website to monitor progress online.

3. MapMyRun

Even though the name implies that this app is only tracking your running route, you can also use MapMyRun to record total distance, calories burned and elevation at which you ran. One of the stand out components of this app is that you can also log your caloric and nutritional intake for the day. As what we eat can affect our performance, knowing what you ate on a good-performance or bad-performance day can help you tweak your diet to improve your run.
adidas micoach
4.   Adidas MiCoach

The Adidas MiCoach offers more features, more structure and real-time feedback than Nike+, including ideas and plans on how to improve your run. As the name implies, you can use this app as a personal coach to build speed or endurance or both. With real-time coaching and training plans, MiCoach guides you through a workout designed to improve your overall running performance.

This app also tracks distance, pace, calorie output and heart rate, and your data is shareable in social media outlets. Added bonus: with the MiCoach Speed_Cell, the app will track your shoe wear and tear, and will alert you when it might be time to get a new pair.

5.   Interval Run

High intensity interval training (HIIT) is all the rage in running and exercise enthusiast circles as it improves cardiovascular endurance and muscle strength faster than steady state exercise. This app helps you integrate interval training into your usual program with a voice that comes on to tell you when to change pace. It helps you start running (Couch to 5K), train for an event (Gateway to 8K) and Tabata (HIIT) programs are available for any level of runner.

6.   Runtastic

Popular in Europe, Runtastic is a host of apps that provides fitness plans with voice coaching, and tracks speed, elevation, and distance data from outdoor activities, like running. It also includes motion-activated programs now for indoor exercises, like pushups and pull-ups.

With the launch of heart rate monitor with GPS watch, armband and chest strap and a fitness channel on YouTube, Runtastic helps you become a more well-rounded runner.

7.   Endomondo

Endomondo allows you to create routes with tracking duration, distance, and speed. One of the most social running apps, not only can you challenge yourself using this program, but you can also nearby challenge friends—you can see other people’s times on routes and compare to your own. You also can cheer each other on through this app. Added bonus: you can track your levels of hydration, ensuring that you don’t dehydrate during an extended run.

Use these apps to either start a running program or improve your performance. Convenient, easy to use and beneficial, these running apps are a must-have for anyone interested in running.

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Marcela De Vivo is a freelance writer in Los Angeles whose writing covers everything from technology to health. She loves sharing her favorite tips for staying healthy and likes to keep up-to-date on her health and beauty tricks by reading different fitness and beauty blogs.

I Run Because…

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…I can.

There are so many more reasons. I could try to list them all but you have things to do today besides read this post and I have things to do besides type until my fingers cramp up. :-) Because yes, yes there are THAT many reasons why I run.

A few are:




I run all the time so one specific day is no biggie normally, but this one was. On this National Running Day, I ran because I could not run on this date last year. {Why? Click here to read last year’s post all about it!} I was quite peeved not to be running on a runner’s holiday of sorts and vowed to be able to run next year. Today was “next year,” so I knew I had to give it my best!

I woke up at 6am to feed my sister’s kitties. I thought, “Hmmm, I could give that early morning running stuff a try.” After all, I kept reading tweets about how everyone had already logged their miles by that time. Exhausted by just scrolling through Twitter on my phone reading all of that madness, I went right back to bed after the feeding. Nope, STILL not an early morning runner, not even on National Running Day.

After getting up again at 9:30am, I figured I should don my new Lululemon Marathon Crops and get in the spirit as I fully woke up. I also made a hearty breakfast as I always do before I log some miles.


I know this looks like a lot of food, because well, it is. Two eggs, three pieces of turkey bacon, a wheat Bagel Thin, and a large mug of coffee. I’m not messing around when I say I need a FULL breakfast in my stomach to power my runs! I tried running a few times with just some coffee and a ‘lil sumpin-sumpin in my tummy–OH THE HUMANITY. It was DISASTROUS!

I set out with the goal of running at least 4 miles. I didn’t run Monday or Tuesday, and with my goal of 20 miles a week, I needed to kick it into gear. Sooooo, secretly I knew 4 wouldn’t cut into my total enough and hoped for more. But I’d do what I could.

It was the most beeeeautiful day out. These are some views during my run around my sister’s neighborhood.




As I ran I heard:

– One girl tell her friends I smelled bad, actually it was “Oooh, she stink”
– Two cars honk their horns at me
– One guy say something about “all dat ass”
– Someone in a car shout Run Forrest, Run
– One girl {bigger than I ever was} say I wasn’t running fast enough
– One guy try to get my attention with a “Hey Shawty”

And I saw:

– A total of 5 cars pulled over by cops in separate traffic stops–the police were totally cracking down on non-stop-sign-stoppers and speeders today!
– FedEx Field {Was hoping to run into RG III, but no such luck}
– Several clumps of geese droppings
– My Nike+ GPS watch show my highest outdoor run reading EVAHHHH.

I was totally smiling but cut most of my face off! Arrgh.

Woooot!! Yes, I’ve run 7 miles before, but never OUTSIDE! That’s right–I clocked a 7.27 mile run outdoors on National Running Day!! Now that’s worthy of some celebrating! And I was only going to do 4? Haa! Pshhh. Whatevah.

I had to give myself a thumbs up for that.


Oh–but real quick–what’s up with people shouting things? Yinz know I don’t run outside a ton, so this is just taking some getting used to. The grammatical errors/Ebonics was enough to make my ears bleed!!!!! Normally I can’t hear anything over my headphones/music anyhow, but since I’m trying to be safer AND I’m outside Washington, DC, and don’t want to end up like Chandra Levy, I tried to listen more to my surroundings.

Sooooo…..

I was proud that I smelled. That meant I was really working hard!
And I’m glad that either through squats or/and running, my booty is bangin’.
Yes, I’m slow, but I’m two years in the right direction past that chick.
The screaming of Run Forrest may have inspired me to channel him and do just that!

National Running Day, you were a total success. I’ll see YOU next year! Stinking, sweating, bangin’ ass and all.

How did you celebrate today? :-)

No Pain, No Gain? Say it ain’t so.

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No thanks.

Here it is more than halfway through National Running Day, and the only running I have planned is that of my bathwater this evening. As I mentioned in my post earlier, that wasn’t through any choice of my own. It was decided for me, by an earlier choice to not listen to my body and to push through the pain. “I’m a runner now. That’s what runners do, right?” I thought.

I see so many articles, posts, tweets, statuses and quotes about pushing through the pain. “NO PAIN, NO GAIN.” It’s downright impossible to be in this sport and not hear those words, read them on the back of a t-shirt, or see them plastered all over magazine ads. And I fell right into that belief. I thought I had to push myself to the brink of exhaustion, very rarely take a rest day, and run just one more lap even though I was quite sure my leg would snap in two. That’s how heroes are made!!

Haa. And that’s also how Cherie gets a tibia stress fracture injury and has to miss out on 8-12 weeks of running. I’m not saying it should be easy! If it were, I don’t think it would rightfully be called ‘WORKING out’. I want to break a sweat, I want to push myself a little further than I did the day before and I want to get stronger and faster. But I need to be smart about it. I now know that when my body is saying I need to take a break, then I NEED TO TAKE A BREAK.

So I’m thankful for this forced day of rest on National Running Day. I’m looking at it in a way that seems to be often forgotten and learning some things I’ll never forget.

How are you celebrating? And do you listen to your body when it’s telling you to take a break?

No running on National Running Day? Blasphemy!

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No crying, so Suck It Up, Buttercup!

“If you run, you are a runner. It doesn’t matter how fast or how far. It doesn’t matter if today is your first day or if you’ve been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run.” –John Bingham

Happy National Running Day! I’m going to celebrate it by…not running. Which is how I celebrated last year. Only last year, I was not a runner. Last year, I didn’t know there was such a day. But what a difference a year makes.

This year, I couldn’t wait for June 1st to arrive. “I’m going to make a whole day of it! I’m going to run on the trail by the lake in Carrboro, then I’m going to try a new park in Chapel Hill, then I’ll go back and swing by Fleet Feet to look at new shoes, then I’ll head over the to the school track and test out the new shoes, and maybe when I get home, I’ll get on the treadmill and…” My, oh my, I planned to run ‘til my feet fell off. That’s what the day is for right?

Umm, no. The day is about bringing awareness and appreciation to running and shining a well-deserved spotlight on this fantastic lifestyle. It’s a great day for veterans and novices and everyone in between to express their love for it and share their experiences, knowledge and passion with others.  It’s not a day to think you are suddenly an Olympic track star, if you surely are not, and proceed to run like a maniac to prove you are a runner. oh Cherie….

Seeing as how I’m only on Week 2 of wearing this walking boot and not being able to run, I have no choice but to cancel my running itinerary. Thankfully there are a lot of fantastic ways to celebrate National Running Day besides actually running. I’m going to read the many back issues of Runner’s World (that I found for a steal on eBay) to educate myself a wee bit more. I’m going to work on a comeback running program to slooooowly get into the swing of things. And I’m just going to be appreciative and reflect on how far I’ve come from last year at this time. Because let’s face it, the only time I would have run then was if I were being chased by a chainsaw wielding killer. And probably not even then.

So on this day, run for me! Let me live vicariously through you. Just don’t overdo it, okay? No use in us both being injured…