My Fitness Apps: RunDouble

So as I mentioned earlier, I've started running again.  I actually ran cross country for a year in high school once I'd stopped playing volleyball, which is pretty funny if you know me and how much I hated running. I think I cut a minute off of every race, because I really had no idea how to run.

Add to that the fact that I had a pretty major surgery in March, and I feel a bit like I'm starting from point zero. But, I've found this really nifty tool that seems to be helping with that.

From RunDouble

Enter RunDouble. It is an app that, after doing some research, I downloaded onto my android. I believe it is also availble for the iPhone.  It takes the Couch to 5k plan and puts it on your phone. It is also available for 10k, half, and full marathon training plans, but obviously I'm starting at the beginning.

Here's how it works. You choose either a timed or a distance plan, and off you go. The whole point of the couch to 5k is to alternate running and walking to build up your endurance. What I love about this app is that it keeps track of which one you should be doing, and notifys you with a buzz and verbal signal to switch. I just finished the 2nd (of 3) workouts for the third week, and so far so good. I've been using the timed app, which is nice because I know how long I'm going to run for. That said, I'm not yet running fast enough where I get to the 5k distance. Hopefully that will come within the next few weeks.

Note: the first two weeks with the app are free, after that it is paid. However, I got the whole thing for free as part of AchieveMint. I'll get into that in another post though :)