Neat tool for runners/ hikers/ cyclists
 

I'm sure this is old news for some, but I just stumbled on the gmaps pedometer.

It's a simple tool that allows you to measure distances in Google Maps, which is nice for keeping track of your runs, as well as calling bullshit on your friends' claims of how far they really run.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/

Hm.. this might sound really dumb, but how is this that much different from just regular google maps point to point? It doesn't seem to give much different results in terms of distance..

This allows you to freestyle your routes through unmarked trails etc. I don't think you can do that with the regular point to point can you? Isn't that just actual road based? I'm a noob with this stuff.

mapmyrun.com is good for plotting your runs as well.

There are several many apps now for the iPhone that will track you run and graph it. You can also get watches that will do the same and they will also track your heart rate (depending on model) as well so you can relate it to your run. Several runners at my work have "toys" like this and it is cool to see the data you get from them.

With all this gadgetry, going for a run isn't as easy as it used to be! My wife has a heartrate monitor watch, and the few times I've used it, I did find it to be a real eye opener for comparing what I felt was a reasonable target heart rate, vice what my ticker was actually doing.

thats cool that you can see the topo/elevation chart and calories burned etc.. too.
this thread is approved by me
you should see the new nike+ shoes that transmit data to your ipod

I'll likely never own Nikes or an iPod. What data does it transmit to the Mac junkie?

the jist of it from wikipedia:
its able to store information such as the elapsed time of the workout, the distance traveled, pace, or calories burned by the individual wearing the shoes, and display it on the screen or broadcast it through the headphones of an iPod
Nike+iPod for the Gym allowings users to record their cardio workouts directly to their iPods. all that is needed is a compatible iPod and an enabled piece of cardio equipment. the seven largest commercial equipment providers are shipping enabled equipment (Life Fitness, Technogym, Precor, Star Trac, Cybex, Matrix and FreeMotion. The models of compatible cardio equipment include treadmills, Stationary Bikes, stair climbers, ellipticals, and others such as Precor's Adaptive Motion Trainer (AMT). Once the user syncs an iPod with iTunes, the cardio workouts are automatically stored at Nikeplus.com, where each workout is visualized and tracked based on the number of calories burned. The calories are converted to "CardioMiles", at a ratio of 100:1, allowing cardio users to take full advantage of all the tools and features of Nikeplus.com, and allow them to engage in challenges with other runners, walkers and cardio users, using a common currency

Guys on another forum do Nike+ challenges, pretty cool.

We had a "biggest loser" type challenge, helped motivate me. We lost about 250lbs combined in a few months. I dropped about 15lbs during that, 25lbs since spring.

^nice work dude, that just strictly from excercise or some big diet adjustments as well?
I'm down 12lb in the past 3 months or so with pretty minimal effort, thinking i should almost start trying lol

Nice, I dropped down to 195lbs (from around 265-270lbs) and was stuck there for a while and recently started the P90x program and already dropped another 5-10lbs in the last 40days. We should have a "biggest loser" meet!

I am starting the p90x program soon. Any tips?

dude it so easy to cheat wiht that thing

frist there 2 ways of cheating put it in your car wheil driven around or tie it to dog and let him loose

lol

Dude, that's awesome! I'd love to see what it would say about a ride on my dog's back during a 2 hour ball toss session.

hahah, strap it the the collar of my boston terrier and let her loose. Thing would go into fits!

I dropped about 55lbs since supercruise days. Mostly not drinking calories and not eating so much, been pretty damn lazy.