A review of Runtastic's story running

I've seen the "story running" tab in my Runtastic App, and because I didn't have any idea (or curiosity) what it was I didn't bother to use it... until now.  Since today was pretty much a recovery-type day for me (considering how much hard running I did in Vancouver last week), I figured I'd run for about 30 minutes at a relatively conservative pace.  Naturally, though, I through my plans mostly out the window and did a "fartlek" session using the Story Running feature of Runtastic.  This particular program was of the coaching variety and featured non-descript gym music you might find in Berlin.  The narrator guided me through the oddly named "fartlek" session [note: Fartlek is a Swedish creation, and according to a Google search, is defined as "a system of training for distance runners in which the terrain and pace are continually varied to eliminate boredom and enhance psychological aspects of conditioning"].  At first I had a little trouble determining when to start increasing my effort because, and maybe it's just me, the narrator was a little vague about giving the command.  I'm hesitant to criticize too much, but I will say that since my splits are being timed, it seems rather odd that the timer begins before the programs expects you to actually begin running.

The interface is similar to a normal running sessions, though the voice coach is muted by default (probably a good thing).  Overall I'm intrigued by the idea of story running, though it remains to be seen if any of the other offerings are better/worse than this.  We shall see.

Runtastic Mountain Bike and Road Bike Apps: Useful?

Okay let's talk cross training a little.  One of the toughest parts of trying to track a bike ride is knowing how many calories you're burning.  There are quite a few apps on the market, but today I'm going to talk about Runtastic's Mountain Bike and Road Bike apps, which I've used extensively over the past month.

For starters, I tested the Mountain Bike app while riding an old BRC mountain bike with studded tires, and I tested the Road Bike app on my 2016 Kona Dew (a hybrid bike) also with studded tires.

If there's an obvious difference between the apps, it's in how they count burned calories.  Clearly my hulking BRC bike requires more effort to ride than my Kona bike, but twice as much?  Therein lies my first problem... I'm using a hybrid bike, which is clearly a more laborious ride than a road bike.  So I'm going to calculate my calorie burn at about 1.5x of the Road Bike read out.  There, problem solved... I hope.

Now, let's take a look at the interface of both apps (Road Bike is in red, Mountain Bike is in Brown):

So for roughly the same route, I appear to be much faster on my hybrid bike than on my mountain bike, yet, the calorie burn on my mountain bike is more profound.  Again, let's remember, we're estimating that I burned about 325 calories (not 217).

As with Runtastic's flagship app, the "voice coach" announces a number of different statistics (pace/time etc) every kilometre (or mile), which is pretty interesting if you're into challenging yourself to go faster.  The app is also pretty accurate with elevation, distances and speeds.

Where the apps fall short, however, is with heart rate tracking via Apple Watch.  Unlike Runtastic (running) for Apple Watch, you cannot begin and end bike rides via Apple Watch.  The upshot is that you need to use a separate heart rate monitor if you want to track your heart rate.  So far the only workaround I can think of is using the Activity app that comes with Apple Watch and using it to track your run as well--doing so will give you your average heart rate.  It's then a simple matter to find your maximum heart rate using the Health app on your iPhone.  Hopefully, though, Runtastic will make its cycling apps available to Apple Watch.

The apps are useful if you're training and need to keep an eye on your kilometres.  After all, if you want to fuel properly it really does help to know how much energy you need.  Of course, you can do this all without apps as well.  Your choice.

5 things to know about Runtastic Interval Training

 

The Interval Training feature of the Runtastic App is buried in the menu to the extent that I've only used it twice.  In fact, the first time I used it there was no audio support (you need to have voice coach activated, or else hold your phone in your hand in order to know when intervals are beginning and ending).  At any rate, last Thursday I did 40 minutes of interval training (albeit, half of that was warming up and cooling down).

Here's what you need to know:

1. The audio coach will announce each interval for you, and in doing so provide a heads up before the interval is to begin and before it is to end.  It's really hard to screw up.
2. You can design your own interval sessions or use one of the incumbent sessions
3. Forget Apple Watch.  If you're using Apple Watch to monitor your heart rate, you need to use Apple Watch in order to begin a Runtastic session.  Alas you cannot (as of now) start an interval session using Apple Watch.  As a result, you cannot have heart rate data recorded by Runtastic during interval sessions--unless, of course, you use a separate bluetooth heart rate monitor.
4. You can perform intervals by either time or pace.  In my case, I alternated between 1 minute of nearly all-out sprinting and 1 minute of recovery "shuffling".  I probably covered about 220-250 metres during each intensive run--roughly a 4 minute per kilometre pace.
5. Gear. This may seem like a no brainer, but it's probably a good idea to wear "performance" shoes as well as calf compression sleeves if you're new to interval training. I found a bit of soreness in my soleus muscle post-run--in fact, that soreness lingered for two days. 

Running with an Apple Watch

I should preface my thoughts about the Apple Watch by saying that last night I drove to "Big Mac" (i.e. McPherson Avenue) for an evening run and ended up running into a group of runners from the local Running Room run club--they graciously allowed me to join them. 

As always I used Runtastic, but this time I used the "Workout" app on Apple Watch to track my run. Aside from keeping a constant lock on my heart rate (and thereby producing what I think is a more conclusive calorie burn), the app also provided a few interesting post-run metrics (splits, distance etc.).  Where the Workout app falls short is that it doesn't provide any maps or location data (not to say this information is not recorded), which happens to be something about Runtastic that I really like.

But the utility of the Apple Watch is in the fact that you can leave your phone zipped away.  This is a big deal if you're running during a Canadian winter--phones have a habit of freezing when it's cold enough.  Since the Apple Watch will allow you to control both Workout and Runtastic apps, you really don't need to take your phone out.  The watch is also in contact with your skin, which produces heat, and this helps the watch to avoid freezing.  Last night's run was in the -15C to -18C range, so I'm impressed that the watch held up over the six kilometre distance.