When Nike Plus first came out I was a huge fan. I loved the new online social component which the program offered. I started a challenge at my office and we competed to meet our goals together. At the time, Nike didn’t offer a heart rate monitor and therefore I was often wearing a Nike Plus and a Polar HR monitor. Sure, looked kind of ridiculous with two watches but I am a data geek and I saw no other option which provided the data I needed and a social component. All in all it was satisfied with my setup until my training became a little more involved.
As I began to race more and look toward more specific triathlon goals I realized I would benefit from a more scientific arrangement of my data, one that Nike wan not offering. I made the jump to Garmin with a Forerunner 310XT. This device has been great for collecting my data and helping me to recognize my areas for improvement. Scientifically, I appreciate the device.
More so lately, I am noticing my friends posting their workout information on Facebook. I enjoy seeing what they are doing and offer occasional support. I was feeling a little left out by not being able to share all of my hard work. I am proud of what I am doing and could use a little virtual encouragement now and then.
After holding out and receiving no sign from Garmin that they had an interest in going social, I turned to third party apps. I’m not too impressed with most of the Facebook third party apps which exist. Most apps are time consuming to build and without corporate backing often lack the high level user inference to which we have grown accustom.
With nothing to loose I turned to the App directory and began to freely give away all my information to anyone with the tag “Garmin.” The first few apps I tried didn’t even really function. I eventually stumbled upon an app called My Motion Based. Once in the app, users enter their Garmin connect name and the information is automatically populated. This is much easier than anything else I have seen out there. I am excited to see this technology and am looking forward to sharing my achievements with friends.
Do you use social media to publish your workout information? Which app do you use?
