Running with my little bro, virtually
November 10, 2021 6:43 AM Subscribe
My brother and I were at the NYC marathon last weekend, watching and cheering, and in a moment of temporary insanity made a pact to run it in a few years together. Now we’re in dire straits… Help. Looking for an app to share our progress with each other!
I’m looking for an app (iPhone / multiplatform) which would help me and my family / friends share our fitness activities with each other to keep us motivated. We used to use Runkeeper years ago, but the interface wasn’t optimal and just wasn’t that fun to use, so we stopped after a short while.
Is there an app that you use for this? Would be great if it can auto-track runs, but also have a way for us to manually input different kinds of fitness activities. (Am trying to get my parents to exercise more too, and log their walks and hikes). Would also be interested to hear if you have alternative systems (messages, private Instagram etc) that work for you. Thanks MeFites!
I’m looking for an app (iPhone / multiplatform) which would help me and my family / friends share our fitness activities with each other to keep us motivated. We used to use Runkeeper years ago, but the interface wasn’t optimal and just wasn’t that fun to use, so we stopped after a short while.
Is there an app that you use for this? Would be great if it can auto-track runs, but also have a way for us to manually input different kinds of fitness activities. (Am trying to get my parents to exercise more too, and log their walks and hikes). Would also be interested to hear if you have alternative systems (messages, private Instagram etc) that work for you. Thanks MeFites!
Best answer: Yes, Strava is the industry leader. It allows you to link with other users and share your automatically recorded and manually entered activities with each other. Can 76 million users be wrong? Well, possibly, but it's a good place to start.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 6:57 AM on November 10, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 6:57 AM on November 10, 2021 [3 favorites]
Best answer: I use a Garmin Vivoactive 4 to track my activity (runs/hikes/bikes/strength work) and through its interface, I also upload my activity to Strava. I use Strava to share with other folks.
posted by TORunner at 7:10 AM on November 10, 2021
posted by TORunner at 7:10 AM on November 10, 2021
Best answer: Strava (with workout tracking from a watch or phone Strava app) is how my friends and I do this. It is free for what you are looking for.
posted by charmedimsure at 7:17 AM on November 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by charmedimsure at 7:17 AM on November 10, 2021 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I don't think they're as good as Strava, but in the interest of completeness, a lot of sporting-goods companies have their own versions--Nike+ Run Club is the nicest I've seen, but Adidas Runtastic and UnderArmour Map My Run also exist.
posted by box at 7:27 AM on November 10, 2021
posted by box at 7:27 AM on November 10, 2021
Best answer: I use Garmin Connect to share with friends. You have to use a Garmin device (I think). I tried Strava, but the gamification and social-medianess was a little much for me. There might be a way to cut all that back, I never looked into it.
posted by Gorgik at 8:13 AM on November 10, 2021
posted by Gorgik at 8:13 AM on November 10, 2021
Best answer: As everyone has already said, most people use Strava to share their runs. I'm a recent convert to running and I wouldn't have made as much progress as I have so far without the Nike+ Run Club app, which box mentioned above. Highly recommend their (free) guided runs and their (also free) training plans available as PDFs for a variety of race lengths. I'm just completing the 5k plan - they break it out week by week up to the race date, suggesting different guided runs for each day. I print out the schedule and check off with a pen as I go through, but your style may vary.
Good luck! If I ever do a marathon, it'll be NYC :)
posted by jacquilinala at 7:50 PM on November 11, 2021
Good luck! If I ever do a marathon, it'll be NYC :)
posted by jacquilinala at 7:50 PM on November 11, 2021
Best answer: Yeah Strava.
I use a Garmin watch which uploads to Garmin Connect and also syncs to Strava. If I don't have my watch with me, I can upload direct to Strava from my iPhone. I can manually add entries from a range of sports. I prefer Strava to Garmin - more people, better UI IMO, and it's not tied to Garmin.
You can follow people, but can also set your account to private so that you can approve followers.
There are privacy settings that will let you obscure the starting point of your runs (because people can see your routes, so it's quite easy to work out where someone lives by where their runs start). It also used to have a cool, but privacy breaking, feature where it would show you people who you passed, and then you could see details of their runs (this has led me to have interesting chats on Strava with people, but equally the potential for harm is fairly obvious).
posted by Pink Frost at 4:04 PM on November 12, 2021
I use a Garmin watch which uploads to Garmin Connect and also syncs to Strava. If I don't have my watch with me, I can upload direct to Strava from my iPhone. I can manually add entries from a range of sports. I prefer Strava to Garmin - more people, better UI IMO, and it's not tied to Garmin.
You can follow people, but can also set your account to private so that you can approve followers.
There are privacy settings that will let you obscure the starting point of your runs (because people can see your routes, so it's quite easy to work out where someone lives by where their runs start). It also used to have a cool, but privacy breaking, feature where it would show you people who you passed, and then you could see details of their runs (this has led me to have interesting chats on Strava with people, but equally the potential for harm is fairly obvious).
posted by Pink Frost at 4:04 PM on November 12, 2021
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posted by gaspode at 6:51 AM on November 10, 2021 [5 favorites]