Breaking Down The Best Running Apps Of The Moment
We identify some of the best fitness, nutrition, safety, music and social networking running apps currently available.
Get access to everything we publish when you sign up for Outside+.
So many running apps, so little time! We’re taking a look at some of the best running apps of the moment and assessing them to help you find the ones that’ll work best for your running goals and lifestyle. The following apps were ranked based on a combination of sales, reviews from users and informal polls on social media. Most are compatible with Android and iOS smartphone devices.
Fitness Tracking
Garmin Connect
Garmin practically invented GPS and has long been the leader in tracking technology and easy synchronization with its veritable fleet of compatible watches. Garmin Connect tracks almost anything run-based and uploads the numbers for easy and seamless analysis.
MapMyRun
A longtime favorite for navigating new places, MapMyRun makes it easy to follow routes created by other runners or to look up old routes you’ve traveled in the past with zero fear of getting lost.
Endomondo
Endomondo has one of the clearest and simplest designs for assessing “just the facts” of every run. You can easily set time, distance or calorie goals and let the app’s built-in audio guide lead you through a workout.
Music And Podcasts
Nike+
The giant in all things sports recently teamed up with music giant Spotify to create Nike+, which makes it easier for runners to access music and podcasts on the run.
Related: The Best Marathon Playlist Ever
Runtastic
This app uniquely offers 30- to 45-minute “story running” with downloadable podcasts and books for just $1 each.
Treadmill Trails
Featuring 22 great trail videos (and two new ones added each month), this app enables runners to view trail footage while listening to tunes from their own music libraries.
PaceDJ
If you want to tackle tempo runs to the rhythm of your own music, this is an app worth checking out. PaceDJ scans your music library and categorizes songs by beats per minute, allowing you to create playlists based on how fast (or slow) you want to move.
Nutrition
My Fitness Pal
A staple in fitness and nutrition, there are few apps comparable to My Fitness Pal when it comes to tracking calories, breaking meals down into macro and micronutrients and tracking workouts so that you can see how much or how little you should eat to stay healthy. This app is ideal for any runner with a weight-loss goal.
Weight Loss Running
This app designs a plan to keep you on track to reach your goals. In addition to tracking your runs, Weight Loss Running has a library of healthy recipes to browse through and rigorous diet plans that can be tailored to any goal.
Social Networking
Strava
Strava calls itself “the social network for those who strive,” and the app does not disappoint. You can track all of your activities and later upload, analyze and share them with those within your network. The social interaction possibilities are seemingly endless.
Runkeeper
Runkeeper has training plans from pros, tracks fitness plans and allows users to share or compete with friends while uploading run data. This app is a favorite among professional runners and athletes for its accuracy in pace, distance and step tracking.
Safety
Couch To 5K
We’re putting this under “safety” since it’s helpful for keeping new and experienced runners alike injury-free. Couch to 5K tells you exactly how much to run and rest, which keeps runners from doing too much too soon. Get ready for 3.1 in as little as nine weeks by doing the three prescribed 30-minute workouts per week.
Road iD
This company is known for creating the personal information bracelets that runners can wear in case of emergency. This new app brings additional comfort by allowing friends and family members to track their runner. It even sends an SOS if you stop running for five minutes or longer. Better get a move on!
Outside
In addition to tracking your runs, Outside gives you detailed weather reports so that you don’t get caught in storms or end up with heat strokes. Now if only we could control the weather itself…but there’s no app for that quite yet!
Related:
Strava’s Running Stats For 2017
