Miles to Go: Range of running apps provide encouragement, motivation

Editor’s Note: Over the next 16 weeks, Assistant News Editor Katie Shepherd will be training for the ASICS L.A. Marathon and writing a weekly column chronicling her experiences along the way. She’ll be reporting on the science and health aspects of endurance training as well as featuring students and L.A. residents who are taking on similar challenges this year.

Running in the 21st century is an interesting experience. Even as the familiar world of Westwood flashes past, instead of hearing the hum of car engines and the chatter of people on the street, I hear the beat of music in my ears.

The ubiquitous presence of technology penetrates into the area of fitness on a regular basis. Forget listening to your iTunes library while you run; technology now allows us to put microchips in our shoes that record our every movement and wear “smartwatches” that monitor everything from heart rate to the number of steps you take each day.

My iPhone is home to many apps that I’m experimenting with as I train. I’m a fan of MapMyRun, an app that uses the GPS tracker in your phone to record running routes and lengths.

But now I’m looking for more interesting apps to keep better data on my running or entertain me when the concrete buildings of Westwood start to look a little bleak and boring.

Personal Running Trainer is an interesting addition to my basic mapping app because it has some features that help build consistent pacing and motivation to finish a long-distance run. The app works with your own music and plays feedback over your tunes when your pace is lagging or to let you know when you’ve hit a mile marker.

The app also includes several training programs, for races as short as a 5K to a full marathon. The only caveat is these programs cost a small amount of money – less than $10 each – so it’s not the best if you’re not willing to drop a little money on a more personalized running schedule.

Another great motivational app for running is Charity Miles. The app keeps track of how far you run, and for every mile you rack up, a corporate sponsor will donate a small amount of money to a charity of your choice. Sometimes it’s hard to lace up a pair of running shoes and hit the pavement, but a nice reminder that the miles will help people in need could help push you out the door.

RunKeeper is another app that helps keep track of how far you’ve run. It collects a lot of information on runs, including split times, and displays all the different runs from the week in a bar graph. It’s inspiring to look at the bars grow over time and see how much farther the distance grows week after week.

There are dozens of other apps that I’m hoping to try out over the next three months. Zombies, Run! is one I’m truly looking forward to: The app simulates a zombie invasion and urges users to run away from an impending attack and complete tasks with audio commands through your headphones. It turns training for a race into a game, which may be a nice reprieve from the repetitive runs that mark most of my days.

Still, even with all the fancy apps designed to monitor training and drive runners to go faster, longer and better, my most trusty app is still the plain music app pre-installed on my phone. The best part of most of these apps is that you can still use the music app at the same time. And listening to a great playlist just makes running a little more fun.