My Stats and Patterns

Runners (and most athletes, I think) become a little obsessive over their stats. How can I beat my best? How can I stay on track to meet my next goal? Luckily, there are tons of ways through the internet to do this.

I keep track of my mileage on Nike+ and on DailyMile, but I've been using Nike+ longer. Obviously, because of that, it has my total mileage while DailyMile only has my most recent runs (within the last year or so). I use the DailyMile widget on my sidebar, but only because Nike+ doesn't have a widget compatible with blogger.

I like both these sites for keeping track of my running, but I like Nike+ a little more. The reason behind this is that you can input your info into DailyMile, and you can cheat it a little bit. I like that Nike+ takes the info directly from the chip, and therefore can't be faked.

I also like the levels it uses to show you your progress. Everyone starts at yellow (0-30mi) and then moves through orange (31-154mi), green (155-620mi), blue, purple, and then black. Nike+ allows you to set up challenges, goals, and a training schedule; because it connects through your iPod, the trainer can actually talk to you during your run.

DailyMile is a nice, easy way to keep my facebook, twitter, and other runners who use the website updated on my progress, but Nike+ is a better tool for my own personal use.

My Stats

Total mileage according to Nike+: 237.46
Total mileage according to DailyMile: 192.18

Fastest mile: 8:20
Fastest 5k: 28:09
Farthest run: 13.1 miles

I run the most often in the summer. My biggest problem month seems to be October. Obviously, the plan is to change that this year!


ABK