Software and Running = Part 3

Continuing review of the equipment I use to create, track and record my workout efforts.
Here is a review of SportTracks software.

While I really like the Runners Studio software for tracking all the workouts, races and planned races when I started it did not do quite everything I wanted, such as data import from Garmin, create maps of routes, etc. Even though many of those items are available now, I still put the data into another program, SportTracks. The approach taken with this software is a little different, it is open for the user community to create “plug-ins” much like the WordPress blog software allows. This allows the creativity of the entire user community to think up ways to enhance and improve the basic software. (Not that it is particularly lacking, just that 5,000 heads are better than one.)

The software with all its plugins (currently there is something like 42 different ones listed) makes for a lot of options! The downside to all this is, for me anyway, not as intuitive use as Runners Studio. Using a series of views, each one which can do different things requires some clicking around to get it to show what you desire it to. Then within the view there are options also. You have to pay attention to all the “triangles” which you use to open up the different options. I wrote in to the forums asking about editing an event after searching for some time, the answer, which was polite, but made me feel sort of dumb, just click on the triangle after the “Event” and make your choice. D’oh.

After months of use I still find the ability to download data from a GPS you wear on your wrist and create a map of the activity accurate to within feet of where you walk on the entire planet to be pretty amazing. ????? ?????? (maybe I am just easily impressed or amazed.)

Sport Tracks is really good, but have not found a good way to schedule future races in it. There are some plug in’s that will let you do it, but not the way I want it, and even if you get it, you have to dig down through several menus to find it. Conversely Runners Studio puts them right on the home page so you can see them quite easily. Actually there is not a good “home page” for Sport Tracks, maybe something that could be considered. ??????????? ??????? A simple overview of the major things tracked. Weekly mileage, shoe use, upcoming races, even maybe a way to check which things the user would like to see. Sort of how iGoogle page creation works.

You can check out what they have to say about Sport Tracks and download an evaluation version from https://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/.

There are several other solutions, most of which are web based. These have the advantage of access from anywhere, or any computer, the down side of not being able to access from behind a firewall (like at work) or if the site decides to go to a paid version, or worse close the doors. ????? ??? ???? Your years of data could be gone. They may be nice and allow an export of all the data, but then again . . . or even if they do would it be in a format compatible with another program.

Until the final waypoint is created,
George

Next TCX Converter.