Jess is participating in the Little Rock Half Marathon and is scared out of her mind. She’s never done anything like this, but is chronicling the whole process, blisters and breakthroughs, right here on Little Rock Soirée. Start with the first installment here.
Ok, everybody. I have now officially broken the one month seal on my half-marathon training, so I feel like I definitely have the authority to make the following statement.
Running is hard.
I know. It’s like a fact fork in your outlet brain. So far, we’ve proved that I clearly need all the help I can get, whether that be from expert runners, the shoes on my feet or a half-Powerade-half-Sprite Zero slush. Don’t ask questions; just go get one.
Because it’s 2014, I figured it was also important for me to enlist the help of my robot super space computer, or iPhone for short. I perused through endless tech websites, all boasting that they had the list of apps I just had to have.
I won’t pretend that I downloaded them all and tried them out first because that $1.99 price tag cuts into my slush fund. However, I can tell you the apps I use to get me going and what I like about them.
Runtastic: This has been my go-to app. It covers all the basics like distance, time, calorie counting, average pace and GPS without any of the annoying junk. My body is already wigging out enough as it is; I don’t any flashing lights or sirens, unless they’re coming to scrape me up off the road and take me to El Porton.
You can also connect Runtastic to social media to share your stats for a little added accountability. There’s even an option to choose a “powersong” from your iTunes library for an extra boost when you need it. Sometimes all it takes is the first few bars of the Mortal Kombat Theme to get you through the dark times.
The Nike Running app is very similar and, like Runtastic, offers more cool stuff when you upgrade to the pro version. However, after a glitch caused it to not actually track my run a couple times, I moved on to greener motherboards.
Sworkit: Their tagline should be “A fitness app for people who have too much to do but can’t stop over-committing.” Call me, Sworkers.
This app is basically a mobile library of exercises you can do using only your body weight, no equipment needed. Choose your time duration and style of exercise (cardio, yoga, strength, etc.) and the app will guide you through each timed step.
Sometimes stuff happens and you absolutely can’t make it out to run. This is a great option for squeezing in some cardio instead, or even for full yoga sequences on off-days.
Podcasts: Now I’m a music lover, but it takes a whole lot to distract my brain from the strife of what the rest of me is going through while running. If you can just select a Sleigh Bells station on Spotify and go, more power to you. I need podcasts. I need to think and laugh and engage to forget. If you’re looking for suggestions, The Relevant Podcast and Radiolab are both great ones to check out. Bonus: Most podcasts are free.
As you can see, I keep my app purchases pretty basic, and I like it that way. I would love to know what apps you guys are loving, so send them my way.
Until then, I’ll leave you with a treat I came across during my research. It’s called Zombie Run. It tracks your run while also narrating a horror story, complete with gruesome sound effects. If you move too slowly, zombies eat you. This is a solid option for those of you for whom the only reason you would possibly be caught dead running would be to avoid getting caught by running from the undead.
Downside: I would die so fast. Upside: Judging by my post-run state, I would make a pretty stellar zombie.