Online Training Logs Redux, Part 2: RunningAHEAD

Yesterday, I opined on Training Peaks.  My conclusion was that while Training Peaks is a good online training log, there are other logs that are much, much better.  I was motivated to find something more full-featured since I had been using the Runner's World Online Log (RWOL).  After my experiment with Training Peaks, I noticed something at the bottom of the splash screen for the RWOL:

click on photos to enlarge

See the red arrow at the bottom?  It points to where the RWOL is actually powered by RunningAHEAD.com.  Out of curiosity, I surfed over to RunningAHEAD (RA), and what I discovered was that RA was very much the same as RWOL, but it was (a) newer, and (b) had way more features.  Since both logs were designed by the same person, it was a fairly easy process to import my RWOL into RA (something that wasn't available with Training Peaks).  So, here's my review of RunningAHEAD

RunningAHEAD

What I like about RA is that it is really simple to use, but offers a ton of features.  The homepage of my log is shown above.  It's got everything you need to log workouts quickly.  In the green box, I have options of logging a run (or a swim, bike, weights, walk, or "other"), logging equipment, creating a route, and uploading GPS files.  On the left (in the red box), the tabs take me to all parts of my log: workouts, routes, PRs, etc.  And in the middle, we've got a quick summary of my training.  It's highly customizable, so what you see here is just my setup.

I'll use this as an opportunity to say that RA is not just for running.  RWOL treated swimming and cycling pretty poorly.  On RA, you can log all the detail you want for swimming and cycling, and all those fancy charts and tables on the homepage can be created for those sports too.  I've even got a "swim" box on my homepage.

Logging a run is really simple with RA.  In the red box that I've highlighted above, you've got all the important information to log a run quickly: type, route, distance, time, and shoes.  That's all you need.  And, it knows that a 2 entry time (XX:XX) means minutes:seconds.  But the beauty of RA is that there's so much more you can track.  It can track weather conditions, run quality, run effort, weight, and heart rate.  A really cool feature is shown in the green box.  If you're logging a race, you can put in all your finishing stats (overall, gender, and age group), and then track your progress over time.  Neat stuff.

One of my main requirements for a log is the ability to track speedwork.  I've got that in a blue box above, and more detail below.

This workout is from when I did 6 x 2 Metrodome laps about a month ago.  I can easily put in each rep or interval, and write a quick note about it if I choose to do it.  My favorite feature is the Auto Sum, where you can have it sum times and distances for any or all of your recoveries, intervals, or rest periods.  That sum is then placed in the main workout time and distance fields, and you don't have to worry about adding 6 laps of 605 meters, 6 laps of 305 meters, etc.

The route mapper is the best I've used out of ANY mapping program.  Yes, it beats MapMyRun, Training Peaks, Runner's World, Dailymile, and others.  It's got a really clever "follow roads" feature with 4 options:

1. Do not follow roads.  Pretty self-explanatory.
2. Follow roads on foot.  It ignores things like one-way streets.  This is useful if you're running on a one-way street the wrong way, but you're on the sidewalk.  Or if you're going down one side of Summit Avenue, but it's opposite the direction of traffic.
3. Follow roads on bicycle.  Here, it follows all traffic laws, but avoids highways.
4. Follow roads in a vehicle.  Follows all traffic laws, and takes highways.

It's also got all kinds of analysis tools.  As an example, here is a plot of my pace over time, but only for my long runs.  Being able to label runs let's me do something like this really easily.  I could do the same for tempo runs, fartleks, etc.  There are countless other things you can plot: pace, distance, time, pulse, weather, effort, weight, etc.  The bar graphs even look pretty (see the second image in this post).

For those of you who are really "techie" when it comes to running, this has got some features for you.  If you've got an Android phone (the iPhone is so 2007...), there's a free app, "Handy Runner" that logs your runs via GPS and uploads directly to RA.  Simple as that.  If you've got some other GPS device, you can upload those files into RA too.

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As you can tell, I really like RunningAHEAD.  The developer (a guy named Eric), is very present in the forums and is making changes/updates constantly.  You can tell he's really involved, and this is very much his "pet project".  And that's really the main difference between RunningAHEAD and Training Peaks.  Training Peaks is a behemoth that's created to get you to pay for the extra features.  RunningAHEAD is free log created by a runner for runners.  I'd never consider paying for the "premium" features on Training Peaks, but you can bet that I'm going to donate to the RunningAHEAD cause.

So, faithful readers, do you use Training Peaks, RunningAHEAD, or some other log?  I hope I've given you a useful peek into two logs, and I'd be interested to hear what you have to say about them.