My Not-So-Congratulatory RunKeeper App

An interesting thing happened this morning at the completion of my 6 mile easy run. I met my 2014 mileage goal. Yes, you read that correctly. On October 27^th, I have run enough miles to achieve the goal—New Years’ Resolution if you will—that I had made for myself on January 1^st. Say what?!

Sure, this goal was set when I wasn’t sure that I would even run a fall marathon; which of course the marathon is the main cause of my mileage increase. I had entered the NYC Marathon lottery in December of last year, but did not know the status of that race entry until March. In April when I settled on the Richmond Marathon, I knew the annual mileage goal would be exceeded, but I never knew by how much. Clearly, I will be coming up with a couple hundred “excess” miles. Bring it on, I am ready!

If you were a “fly on the wall” & watched my running partner & me this morning, you would be laughing hysterically. For you see, I am a creature of habit & store all of my miles in an app called RunKeeper. I have used this app since I became more serious about running—specifically, post-twins. I also run with a Garmin GPS watch, the 640 model to be exact, but there is something about watching my “activities” & miles accumulate in that RunKeeper app. Call me crazy, but I am a numbers person. So, when I discovered that my goal mileage would be achieved today, Julie & I were anxiously awaiting what would occur on my smartphone when I clicked “DONE” for today’s miles. Would the phone start cheering? Would it have little green men jump for joy for me? Would it spontaneously combust?

But alas, when I tapped the finish button, NOTHING occurred. My previous goal page was no longer present & I did not see any green happy men. No applause. Nada. Really?! Okay….. That anticipation was clearly for nothing. So, I got in my car & went on my merry way. At least I knew I had accomplished the goal. I received appreciation on my achievement from my awesome running partner, but nothing from my beloved app.

RunKeeper, you must do better! Do you not realize how long it took me to log those 1,040 miles??? I think you should take pointers from a water drinking app that Julie has begun using. It gives her applause with each glass of water she downs. So she gets applause numerous times each DAY. Ten MONTHS of running & I get nothing.

So, does this mean I get to take the rest of the year off….. umm, not so much. I’ll continue to push through this marathon training & enjoy my fall/winter miles that lie ahead. Will I disown my dear app? Ehh, no. I am too loyal for that. I will add that when I opened my email, I was greeted with this lovely message:

BUT, I still think RunKeeper should step up their goal-completion-congratulations!! Give us tiny green men. Or make fake, loud applause. Have balloons pop out onto the screen. Something; it would be better than nothing!

 

Do you have an app or piece of technology that you’re loyal to, despite its’ shortcomings?

Do you use a running app on your smartphone? If so, which one?

Are you in the process of completing a mileage goal for 2014?

 

I hope you have enjoyed the sarcasm & playfulness of today’s post. I really wish RunKeeper could see something like this, which might motivate them to improve upon their “goal completion” portion of the app! Happy Monday & Happy Running!