CouchTo5k
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Abvio Runmeter 5K enters Couch to 5K arena
I've been using Runmeter GPS for years as my primary walking and biking tracking tool. Today, Abvio announced its new 5K to Marathon Runmeter GPS (US$2.99), which adds run/walk training to this popular app. Training options include 5K, 10K, half-marathon, and full-marathon plans. The app is a build-on to the existing Runmeter GPS app, and will offer all the same features shipped in the original Runmeter. Your three dollars buys you all that plus the 5K training on top. The 5K version installs as a new app. Will data transfer? An Abvio spokesperson stated, "You could transfer your database between apps, it's not a limitation, it's just that you don't need to. Once you have one of our apps, you don't need another." Runmeter stores all your workout data, plus it can interface with biometric sensors. Audio alerts and announcements help you pace yourself; sharing options let you send your workout info to friends, and import tools allow you to bring in routes. If you're looking to get off the couch and get on the track, give the new Runmeter a go.
Fitter, Happier: an eight-week exercise in using technology to help lose weight
For 27 years he ate what he wanted and avoided exercise like the plague. Can an arsenal of fitness gadgets make this human healthier in just eight weeks? From the snake oil salesman to the Thighmaster(TM), science and technology have promised the end of obesity, ill health and lethargy for centuries. Today, weight loss gadgetry is all around us, with affordable commercial systems available from Nintendo, Nike, Adidas and countless other manufacturers, all promising their technology will turn us into paragons of healthy virtue. How is it then, that for all of this, we live in an age where a quarter of the American population is obese? Do any of these seemingly endless health aids actually work? Will a $200 wristband or a $100 pedometer cause you to banish microwave dinners and saturated fats, take up regular exercise at the gym at least three days a week and sleep well with no bad dreams? Or has the health industry made technology another ineffective distraction that only provides you with a vague sense that you're doing something positive? Is the real answer what it's always been: go for a walk in the trees and eat your greens?
