Happy Wednesday, guys! It’s been raining almost non-stop here for the last two days here in the DFW area. Since we don’t have a gym membership anymore, that means that I haven’t been able to run since Monday :(. We need the rain really bad since we are in a drought, but I am really itching to get out there and run.
Fortunately, I was able to get in some running last Saturday, Sunday and Monday. It gave me a chance to try out a new running app that I found called iSmoothRun.
Now, I love using the RunKeeper app, but the iSmoothRun app has some pretty cool features that RunKeeper doesn’t have. On Sunday, I tested it out at the track, but forgot to allow permission on my iPhone, so it only tracked my time, not my distance. Oops! I may not be the fastest runner, but know I can go farther than 0.04 miles in 27 minutes. 🙂
Anyway, I fixed that problem, and I tried it out on a 7 mile run around the neighborhood and a 3 mile run on a nearby walking trail.
This app has a lot of fancy features like cadence tracking and also comes with a metronome to help you raise it, so that you can keep running injury free. I honestly can’t say that I understand about the whole cadence thing, but it might be something that I would be interested in learning about in order to make me a better runner.
One of my favorite features about this app? You don’t have to hit pause and restart whenever you are out running and have to stop for traffic or whatever. You have the ability to set it to pause after so many seconds of inactivity. That is one of the things that bugs me about RunKeeper. I usually carry my phone in my Spibelt, and if I want to pause it while waiting to cross the street (which I have to do several times on some runs), I have to unzip it and pause it. I usually just let it keep running because it’s a pretty big pain. Yes, I could wear it in an armband which would be easier, but still a pain. Major kudos to iSmoothRun for including this awesome feature!
I currently use the free version of RunKeeper which has audio cues that tell you your average pace, split pace and time. To have that feature, plus audio cues for cadence, heart rate, etc., you have to upgrade to the Pro version of iSmoothRun, which is $4.99. I understand that the free version is more like a trial, so you can test to see if you would like it before buying, but it would be nice to have the audio cues for average pace, split pace and time in the free version like RunKeeper has. Still, that whole auto pause thing almost makes up for that fact.
If you do upgrade to the Pro version, you can export the info to running sites like RunKeeper and DailyMile.
Not into running? This app also works with your cycling and run/walk training.
All in all, I think that this is a very cool running app that could be a very beneficial tool in helping people become better, faster runners. If you are trying to take your running to the next level, I think that upgrading to the pro version would totally be worth the small fee.
* I have no affiliation with iSmoothRun. I just like to pass along great healthy living apps when I find them. *
