Like most Web sites today, MapMyRun.com requires a brief registration process to gather information and allow you to use all of the functionality of the site. The registration process takes about two minutes and is simple and straightforward. They do ask for a bit more information than most sites, but they do use the information (like your address) to make things easier for you—they need to know where the maps should usually start and it saves you from having to reenter it every time you create a route. Additionally, the entire service is FREE.

The core feature of the site—route mapping—is straightforward and simple. After you register and enter your address, the site allows you to draw a route directly on top of the map, point by point and street by street. As you draw your route, it tracks your mileage, shows you the route elevation change, and allows you to enter locations for water stations, first aid stations, and other points of interest along the route. You can choose from three different map views while entering your routes—Streets, Satellite, and Hybrid (a combination of Street and Satellite). Entering the route is made easier by a nice “Auto Center” feature that moves the map along with the route as you click out your way. This is something I have not seen on any other route mapping site and I really, really like this feature—it is a huge time saver.

Once the route is complete, it can be saved and either made public, allowing everyone to search, find, and use your route, or kept private, just for you. You can easily link to and bookmark your favorite routes by naming them like this: Aaron’s 6-Mile Route. Another great option is to embed your route directly in a Web page. They do provide the code to do this, but at the time of this post, I couldn’t get it to work— it could be a problem on my end.

In addition to the base route mapping functionality, MapMyRun.com also adds a whole bunch of other really useful, nicely integrated, relevant functionality into the site. MapMyRun includes the following:
Search for Runs: If you travel frequently and find yourself in unfamiliar surroundings, this little feature will prove very valuable. This allows you to search for runs by location and keyword. It also allows you to limit the search to only runs you have entered.

Daily Log: The daily log allows users to enter information once a day about a variety of personal data. You can track how much sleep you got, the quality of your sleep, your morning and evening body weight, morning and evening resting heart rates, and few other key data points.

Activity Log: The activity log lets you translate your entered routes in to actual workouts and track them on a regular basis. On page 1 of the “Add Activity” section you can enter start and end times, the type of workout (run, hike, bike, etc.), quality, effort, and the shoes you were wearing during the workout. Page 2 moves on to distance, route (linking in the routes directly from the site), total time (hh:mm:ss), heart rate, pace, and speed (in MPH).

Calendar: The calendar is pretty basic, but holds promise. If they at some point allow users to import their Google calendar or bring in outside data or export data out in someway, this could be a useful enhancement. Right now the Calendar just shows activites. There is no functionality for workout planning or having events in the future.

Races and Events: This seems to be a “coming soon” feature and as of right now, it’s really not working. The concept is great though—this allows event directors a place to easily map and store their event routes and information, and it allow you a place to go search and find the information you need to prepare for your upcoming 5K or Marathon.

Running News: This is a content section for running news and information. The Running News section, like the Races and Events, seems to be still a work in progress. Right now they are linking to CoolRunning News but Iím sure more content will follow.

Map Import: You can import map data from a GPS or *.GPX file or directly from gmap-pedometer if you have existing routes in that service. This makes moving over to this service quick and simple.

In this end, this site is still a work in progress and has few rough edges. However, if they continue to smooth things out, it has great promise and I think will prove to be a valuable asset for any runner. Take a look for yourself, see what you think and let us know your thoughts!

This sports podiatrist has pooled together information from many of his colleagues and physiotherapists to offer you essential information on how to prevent and treat running injuries. Many of the running tips and lessons are from his experiences as a runner and a sports podiatrist so that you too can run injury free and enjoy it!

The menu on the side offers links to information on

• Foot Pain
• Lower Leg Pain
• Upper Leg Pain
• Upper Body Pain
• Training Routines
• Miscellaneous

All but the last two cover topics on injuries. Training routines span tips on programs from beginner to advanced levels of running.

Miscellaneous covers topics such as Winter Training, which hopefully we won’t need for much longer. Me, I’m looking forward to Summer Training, so I’m gonna skip over and read that one first.

Here’s hoping you all have a healthy training season!

We are always looking for Web sites with great advice, tips and information for our readers or a blogger with an interesting story to tell. If you’ve got a Web site or blog you would like to see featured, leave a comment with the details.

The Road Runners Club of America is the national association of running clubs, running events, and runners dedicated to promoting long distance running as a competitive sport and as healthful exercise. RRCA’s mission is to represent and promote the common interest of its member clubs, events, and individual runners through education, leadership, programs and other services.

• Looking for more details about RRCA? Select one of these links from the menu bar.
• Looking for a club in your new location? Select Clubs and click the state you live in for a list of registered running clubs.
• Looking for a race? Select Calendars. Then select the state to find events in that area.
• Coaches works the same way. To find a registered coach in your area simply click the state you live in.
• Services covers a number of topics from insurance to fundraising.
• They offer programs from coaching to kids running.
• Under “Running” find have tools and information for beginners, children and adults.
• “Rescources” contains items from managements to subscription.
• Finally, there’s “shop.” Now who couldn’t use a little retail therapy.

My favorite area is articles. Here they have information, tips and humor. Below are a few of the ones I read.

Humor

• Ever wonder what could go wrong at at a race? Then read Who Let the Cows Out.
• How come the U.S. is still using miles if they were supposed to go metric by 1980? Read more in If 5k Equals 3.1 Miles Then 26.2 Miles Equals?.
• What every runner needs to know: The Art of Spitting and Dancing the Jig.

Training

• Something more of us should do: Marathon martyrs—It’s Time To Put Your Feet First.
• Go figure: Less is Often Better!

We are always looking for Web sites with great advice, tips and information for our readers or a blogger with an interesting story to tell. If you’ve got a Web site or blog you would like to see featured, leave a comment with the details.

Well I stumbled onto the answers for some of these questions at a fellow blogger’s site, Running and Rambling. (Donald has occasionally written for CRN.) If you want the answers, check out Donald’s February 5th post—a lesson on hill training 101.

Donald’s other posts cover some great tips for training that are helpful for those running a marathon soon and his ramblings never fail to entertain.

We are always looking for Web sites with great advice, tips and information for our readers or a blogger with an interesting story to tell. If you’ve got a Web site or blog you would like to see featured, leave a comment with the details.

They feature activities such as

• Running
• Cycling
• Climbing
• Walking
• Paddling
• Triathlon
• Adventure

You can use the menu bar on the left to navigate these choices. When you are in the activities listed above, there is a tab style menu bar along the top for navigation.

Links on the left of the home page also connect you to

• Expert Advice – Read expert advice, Training plans, and Meet the experts.
• Event & Clubs – Take part in an event, Charity events, Find a local club, and Promote a club or event.
• Shops – Special offers, Shopping partners and Find a local shop.
• Holidays – Late deals and Holiday partners.
• Classifieds – Find a local shop, Shoe fitting experts, Sports injury specialists, and Foot care specialists.
• User Admin – User login, Update a club or event and Update your advert.

Within each activity there are links similar to those listed above but they are specific to the activity you are surfing.

You can subscribe to a newsletter or sign up as a member and reap even more benifits. Membership is free. The site is in the UK but offers lots of great info to athletes the world round.

We are always looking for Web sites with great advice, tips and information for our readers or a blogger with an interesting story to tell. If you’ve got a Web site or blog you would like to see featured, leave a comment with the details.

The site answers question on topics including: Marathon Training, Triathlons, Nutrition, Running Shoes and Apparel. There’s even a site map that lists everything the site has to offer. Didn’t find the answer you need? Select the Ask Us a Question link and get your answer.

We are always looking for Web sites with great advice, tips and information for our readers or a blogger with an interesting story to tell. If you’ve got a Web site or blog you would like to see featured, leave a comment with the details.

Joggler says “While I’m not unique, I am rare. An endurance joggler who has been joggling marathons since 1996, I’m on a quest to joggle 44 marathons. I do it because I can and it makes people smile.” I have to admit it would definitely make me smile to see him run by.

So hop on over or should I say juggle your way over to Just Your Average Joggler and find out more.

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We are always looking for Web sites with great advice, tips and information for our readers or a blogger with an interesting story to tell. If you’ve got a website or blog you would like to see featured, leave a comment with the details.

• Home – Always a good place to start. There are a variety of quick links to the latest forum topics, featured races, training tips and more.
• Races/Results – Offers details on a variety of featured races. Looking for a challenging off road race? You might want to check out the Jay Marathon, a 30.5 mile race of which three miles is in a brook.
• Training – A variety of training plans and tips.
• News – Has links to news about running and races from around the world.
• Resources – Offers everything from running logs to calculators. Use the calculators to determine pace, metric conversions and more.
• Community – The world-famous Coolrunnng forums! A list some of the current topics in the discussion forum. A subsection, Viewpoint, takes you to a long list of articles.

You can also customize your start page, and keep your running log online.

Got a Web site or blog that might be of interest to our readers? Leave a comment with the details.

That said there is still an abundance of information that is free for the taking. The colored area along the top provides links to the main areas available for free.

• Home – Offers a number of links in the menus listed on both the left and right hand sides of the page. There’s also a section for the Latest Features and Articles and you can even subscribe to them. Near the bottom are the Top Tips.
• Contact – Contains details on how to contact the club in a number of ways. I like that it also includes a link to submit your own tips or ask questions. You can even submit useful links. Of course, I had to submit the Complete Running Network. To see what links are already listed, head over to the links page.
• Product Reviews – On this page a number of products used by both men and women are reviewed. Ever have trouble deciding which sock to wear? Check out this review.
• Running 4 Women Club – Want to see more and pay the fee? Then check out this section. Here they list some of the great benefits of being a member—such as a buddy list, training logs, plans and more. If you do sign up let us know what you think by leaving a comment.
• Improve Your Performance – Here are a number of interesting articles on ways to improve your performance. Check out Tips & Tricks for some quick help. Did you know … “If you are trying to lose weight, make sure you get enough sleep. Chronic sleep deprivation hampers the body’s ability to process carbohydrates and boosts levels of a stress hormone called cortisol.”
• Health - Covers lots of female-related health issues such as “running while pregnant” to “eating disorders” to “injury cause and prevention.”
• Starting Out – Offers some great advice for those new to the sport or restarting after a long break. There are tips and articles.
• Events – Looks like they are still waiting to complete this section as there are no details or articles.

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Ever go for a run or a race and meet up with a great running group that you just knew you had to join up with? On New Year’s Eve I ran an 8km Resolution race that was by far my best race of the year. It was the most enjoyable and likely my best time. I owe the results mostly to an awesome running group called Blacktoes.

They are a local running group that formed through the local Running Room. What caught my eye was the group’s “Get on the Bus” clinic for the Bank of Montreal Vancouver Marathon.

What I really liked was their slogan “No one gets left behind. EVER!!” That hit home in the race I ran on December 31. I met up with the group at the start of the race. As we headed out a couple of the members stuck with me. They ran slightly faster, but still at a pace I was able to manage. They offered to slow down or walk when I needed to as well. Heh, this is great. Meanwhile up ahead were a few more of the group. I was surprised to see they stopped, hugged and waited for us. Again we ran together as a group and then the faster ones moved ahead. We found them waiting for us at several points along the 8km race. True to their slogan I was never alone and never left behind.

Wander over to their site for a look. The Clinic page gives the details about the Vancouver trip and some of the group’s philosophy. Check out the gallery. I’m still exploring the articles and race reports.

Got a site to recommend or a blog that inspires you? Leave a comment with the details.