Fit'n'Food Scoop: Map My Run

The pic has nothing to do with this post, really... but it's my friend Craig and I mid-Mammoth Mud Run and it seriously rocks.

I LOVE THIS APP.

You put it on your iPhone/iTouch, start it up when you begin a run, and it not only GPS maps the route, but it also tracks your pace per mile, the length of your run, calories burned… everything.  Even better, it yells in your ear every mile so you know how you're doing.  "Average pace, nine minutes, fifty-six seconds per mile.  Miles completed, two-point-zero…"  It also lists your miles per hour speed, and your current pace.  When you're done, you can post the whole magilla to Facebook.  You don't have to, of course, but since I'm running partnerless at the moment, I appreciate the online support.

The other thing I love about it?  It continues to run seamlessly in the background while you play with other applications, so you can flip over to the iPod app and change music at will — VERY important for someone like me, who craves musical distraction while running.

I ran the Disneyland Half Marathon on Sunday, and in addition to keeping me on pace, the app proved something I had always heard: in long races, runners tend to go further than the actual race mileage.  While road races are measured correctly, an individual runner will also move laterally to avoid other runners, they might take the long way around corners… there are any number of ways they might inadvertently increase their distance.

Personally, I ran 13.5 miles instead of 13.1.  Sounds negligible, but it totally makes a difference, especially when I eschewed taking pictures with the characters in pursuit of a good chip time.  I ended up finishing in two hours, fourteen minutes — just under a 10-minute-mile according to Map My Run (the math works when you include the extra .4 miles).  I'm very happy with it… but I'd love to break two hours one of these years.

Runners — do you use this app?  Do you use a similar one?  How do you track your progress?

Just two months till the NYC Marathon!  Can't wait!