Map My Run

We have a saying–or, rather, I have a saying–"If you don't blog it, it didn't happen." 

The "it" in this case is referring to a workout. Whether it's a run, a spinning class, a bike ride, or yoga, if you don't blog it, tweet it, or put it on Facebook, it doesn't count. 

Of course, I am being somewhat facetious here, but there is a tiny bit of me that holds tight to this. It's not that I have a need to be a show-off, but I do like to log my activities...and it keeps me motivated. The time that I was off with my sprained ankle was made even worse by the lack of things to record in my workout log. All of those blank spaces staring back at me. Gah! I was so happy once I could go back to filling in the details of my daily activities.

At the time, I was using a site called "Voomaxer". It was a pretty straightforward application that allowed me to enter the time/date/duration of my workouts, plus it kept track of my equipment* for me. Voomaxer met my basic logging needs for almost 3 years, but it has recently been changed to a less user friendly format and, to add insult to injury, has apparently eaten all of my old logs. So much for monitoring my progress. 

It's not all bad news, though; today I started using Map My Run (and iMapMyRun on my iPod) and after logging my first three workouts, I think I have found my new obsession. Despite the name, Map My Run isn't just for runners. The exercises available on the site and in the app cover all of the bases (including s-e-x), whereas Voomaxer only allowed me to log running, walking, cycling and swimming. There's also plenty of room for customization and with MMR, I am even able to do crazy stuff like break-out my road cycling from my spinning. Not a big deal in February, but it's going to be great when we are back out on 2 wheels in the summer!

Once we're back outside, I think I will also get lots of use out of the route-mapping feature. I've used it in the past to measure my runs and bike rides, but it'll be neat to see how it integrates into the logging. In the meantime, to keep myself busy and extra-motivated, I have signed up on the site for a Shape 30-day workout challenge. All I have to do is log 15 workouts in 30 days. Piece of cake! Speaking of cake (oh, I remember cake...), MMR also figures out your calories burned for each workout, summarizes your stats for the week, categorizes your longest/furthest/hardest workouts, and gives you nice little, encouraging messages like "Good job!" 

And, to satisfy my "If you don't blog it..." tenet, it will even post to Facebook for me. Ok, so maybe I am a little bit of a show-off.

*Yes, I name my shoes. And my bikes.