With countless running apps available to download, it’s hard to find ones that are suited to specific needs.
Search ‘running’ in the App Store or Play Store and you’ll find hundreds of apps. There are apps for pairing devices, apps for logging your runs, apps for comparing your distances with others, even apps for gamifying your workouts. If you’re looking for a running app, then, you’re spoiled for choice. But no one will ever simply say to themselves “I want a running app.” An app for what, exactly? The possibilities are almost endless. I’m in a bind. I need an app to help me retrain after an injury, but I don’t want a generalized running app, because I’ve already got too many of them, and I’ve tested loads in my quest to run the entirety of Route 66 in two years. It’s impossible to know if there’s actually an app out there that fits my needs, because there are so many jack-of-all-trades platforms. It’s made me realize that there are far too many generalized running apps out there, and maybe not enough for specific tasks. As detailed in my last running column, I’m recovering from a foot injury, but in less than five weeks I’ve also got a half marathon that I need to train up for – I’m going from zero to 13.1 (or 21.1 if you want to be all metric about it) in a month. That’s a totally plausible goal: when I started writing my running columns at the beginning of the year, I ran my own half marathon without training for it just to prove to myself that I could. But it was tough going, and I turned in a pretty poor time compared to actual organized half marathons I’ve participated in.
