A Combo of Running and Technology? I'm sold.

To be honest, one of the things that really got me hooked on running was that I could integrate technology into my new weight loss routine. Initially, this meant the Nike+ system and an iPod Nano. Of course, that meant I got to buy an iPod Nano - my iPod mini with a black and white screen seemed sooo dated - and a funky Nike+ dongle. After every workout, I eagerly checked my stats, and studied the wonderful graphics of the Nike site.

Unfortunately and eventually, my Nike+ chip died, and I couldn't be bothered to replace it. I'd moved on to a Garmin 405 - what a piece of crap! - and then did a "downgrade" (but really so much of an upgrade) to a Garmin 305. The satellite tracking and Garmin web site are top-notch. Of course, along the way, I'd also become quite a fan of my iPhone, but have yet to really embrace running with the phone, due to it's bulk and my serious fear of killing the phone from excess sweating.


Yet, even though I don't really want to use my iPhone for running, I've come across a few good apps that can help complement my Garmin. One that I'm currently looking at in my quest to find a decent, flexible training plan is the SmartCoach from Runner's World. I'm not really going to give it a full review - there are plenty of those out there already - but from what I've seen so far, this might be exactly what I'm looking for.

The price is perfect - Free! - and so far, all I've had to do is answer some basic set-up questions - what day do I want my long run to be on, when is the event I'm training for, what's my typical 5K time, etc. - and it spits out a training plan to get you where you need to go. In my initial test, I set up the info for the Angus Glen 10 Miler, and it 'customized' a plan for me that actually seems like something I can follow.

I'll keep you posted on how it works, but for now, I'm quite satisfied.