C25K

C25K gives you definitive amounts of time for walking and running. Break it down and log the walking at X MPH and the running at X mph. You should be able to time yourself someway (watch, running app, etc.) so you know how fast your are walking (15 min/mile) and how fast you are running (14 min/mile). Don't be shocked if you are walking faster than running at first (LOL - I was)....this will change as you progress through the app. I completed C25K a couple of years ago (at least twice) and now have no problem running 6 - 8 miles regularly (okay, slowly) without a problem. C25K turned me into a seasoned runner that has me using running as my "go to" exercise. Feel free to send a friend request - I love to help new runners in their journey! Run strong! - Doug

I just tracked however many minutes walking and however many minutes jogging each day. Another option is to use an app like Runkeeper which will give you a read on time, distance, and calories burned, and just enter the calories manually. OR you can use an app like that to find out about how fast you walk and run, and then log x minutes running and y minutes walking each day. I think I just guestimated how fast I was going for a long time until I started to get into the longer uninterrupted runs and starting using Runkeeper to track my time and distance.

Good luck on C25k! I started it at the end of October, finished it up in the winter, and am now training for a half marathon. It's a really great way to get started!

MisRka wrote: »

I downloaded the runkeeper app and programed in C25K weekly runs. Its syncs my runs with MFP and gives stats for time/distance/speed and estimated calories burned. There are also a few other similar apps that will do the same thing.

I've been wondering about that to be honest. The calories runkeeper gives me seem highly inflated, and even if I assume they are gross calories, and thus I calculate the BMR over that duration out it still seems high.

There's a spreadsheet on google docs somewhere which shows activity factors for a huge amount of activities. That data can apparently be used for scientific research. If I use that I get 138 calories for brisk walking and 15x for slow running for week 3 instead of the 214 runkeeper gives me.

edit: here https://sites.google.com/site/compendiumofphysicalactivities/Activity-Categories/walking

yirara wrote: »

There's a spreadsheet on google docs somewhere which shows activity factors for a huge amount of activities. That data can apparently be used for scientific research. If I use that I get 138 calories for brisk walking and 15x for slow running for week 3 instead of the 214 runkeeper gives me.

Given that the first four weeks are in the order of 200cals per session and the latter weeks are about 300 then 25 either way is lost in the noise.

I tested all of the apps above, along with others, and they're all reasonably close to one another. My Garmin is probably most conservative.

That said, it depends what one wants to track. For me it's routes, pace, distance and performance improvement over time. Calorie expenditure is less important, so I generally assume 100 cals per mile. As I run generally hilly routes that's a clear underestimate though.

Of the apps above my recommendation would be Endomondo, but it was consistently the highest calorie estimation as well.

yirara wrote: »

Ok, I edited a tiny track now that had 16m total elevation. Now that all the points are on the road (even if the location of the road is wrong on the map!), the elevation is indeed only 1m. So their elevation model does include houses and trees, or maybe cars parked along the road. Hmpf.

Sounds like your mobile is the issue rather than the app, although RK does have some issues with the elevation model your description of the data points suggests problems with the GPS input rather than anything else.