RunKeeper

As a work-from-home software engineer, Maxime Petazzoni didn’t get much exercising in. But new friends motivated him to start running, and after finding RunKeeper, this data freak became a marathoner in one year.

October 23rd is now, and forever will be, a date I remember. In 2010, this day saw my first step as a runner; in 2011, it saw my last step as a runner, only to be immediately following by my first step as a marathoner, crossing the Morgan Hill Marathon finish line. Before moving to the United States in September 2010, I was a work-from-home software engineer doing little to no exercise. I did go for the occasional run, each one weeks apart from the other, making them virtually useless. Once in the US, having friends suggesting to go out for a run greatly improved the frequency of my runs. As this became a more or less regular thing, I started logging my runs with my phone: first with MyTracks, but I quickly switched to the more integrated RunKeeper app and website. After importing my previous runs, I got myself an Elite account to access all the stats possible on my runs. Apparently there is a data freak in every runner. Or in my case a runner hiding within a data freak!

At the beginning of 2011, I took the resolution of running one half-marathon per quarter, as a motivation to ramp up my training. The 2011 Kaiser Permanente Half-Marathon was my first half-marathon race: after what felt like an eternity under 80F sun, I crossed the line in 1h54. “Not bad! And this running thing feels really good!”, I remember telling myself. My first running high. Still tracking almost religiously all my runs, I joined the Bay Area Runners and met a bunch of cool running folks. My monthly mileage tripled and my new year resolution changed from one half-marathon per quarter to one half-marathon per month.

In the coming months, averaging 75mi/month (not that much now that I think about it!) and doing weekly 10-12mi runs with the group, my half-marathon PR improved continuously: 1h45 in March in Los Gatos, 1h37 in April in Santa Cruz, 1h32 in May in San Jose. In June I tackled my first trail half-marathon in San Francisco in 1h47. Apparently a course with stairs has a serious impact on pace; who would have thought? But more importantly, this race made me realize I’d come a long way since the beginning of the year. Maybe the elusive marathon distance was not so out of reach after all?

Since there was only one way to find out, I registered for my first ever marathon: the Morgan Hill Marathon on October 23rd, 2011 and kicked off my training. With this new training schedule, now up to ~120mi/month, I improved my half-marathon PR yet again, this time breaking the 90’ barrier. Training through the summer, with friends, through long runs, races and hill workouts was a lot of fun, RunKeeper still tracking every single one of my steps. And then, in what felt like the blink of the eye, Marathon day was here. I had completed the 530 miles scheduled in my training. I was as ready as I could be. At 7:30AM, I activated RunKeeper, started my marathon playlist and set of for my greatest running challenge so far. As the miles passed, one after another, through the fun times and the hard times RK stuck with me, announcing my pace and distance, recording and streaming my progress in real-time.

After 23 miles and the rookie mistake of not eating anything during the race, I hit the wall. Hard. I was forced to walk to the next aid station a mile up the course. A few salty crackers and some fresh water later, I was back in the game and stormed through the last couple of miles, sprinting these last .2 miles and through the finish line in 3h38!

Looking back at my running history and all my running stats on the RK website, I myself have a hard time believing how much I improved and how far I’ve come, almost literally as I logged close to 1200 miles this year! And next year ought to be just as crazy: I will run one marathon per month throughout 2012… and maybe even something a bit longer?

Read the full story: “One year and 26.2 miles of running memories”!

- Maxime Petazzoni

Do you have a friend who’s a Fitness Freak? Send their story or yours to fitnessfreak@runkeeper.com

Like most of us, Hillary Honn put on some weight in her college years. Over the last year she shed the extra burden and develop a healthy lifestyle! She has racked up an impressive 177 activities, over 500 miles and 50,000 calories burned using RunKeeper.

I was skinny as a stick in high school. I was involved in sports year round, but my favorite sport was definitely track. I was a sprinter and hurdler. Then I went to college, and I proceeded to gain roughly 40 pounds. My life became about eating and drinking.

This year, I decided to get serious about losing some weight. January 30, I discovered RunKeeper and went for a 1.55 mile run that took me 25 minutes to complete. It was horrible; it was rough, but I was intrigued by tracking my activities via RunKeeper. Twelve months, 20 pounds, two 5Ks, a 10K, and a 4200K relay (team of 4) later, I find myself training for the Florida Beach Halfathon.

I started working out (running, elliptical, mountain biking) and tracking all my activities because I wanted to lose weight, and I was watching what I ate. It wasn’t until April, when I started to train for a 5K in June, that I got serious about running.

My running philosophy has changed a few times. For my first 5K, I just wanted to be fast! As I trained, I remembered that I was a sprinter back in the day. And I remembered that, even then in the my peak physical fitness, I was a very, very slow distance runner. While I was training for my September 10K, I stopped worrying about speed, and my only goal was to run the ENTIRETY of the race. For the 3 races I’ve run since then, I did manage to run the whole race. While I’m still holding on to that philosophy while I train for the mini, reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall has allowed me to expand on this philosophy. I now run because I LOVE TO RUN. I’ve stopped weighing myself so running is no longer a means to an end. Since then, my runs feel so much easier, and they have gotten faster.

I can honestly say that running has changed my life, and I am never looking back. I lived my life on a couch, with a cheeseburger and beer in hand. I don’t want to go back to that ever again.

I’ve got my Vibram FiveFingers and my Gatorade Recover, and I am going to be just fine.

- Hillary Honn

Are you a Fitness Freak? Send your story to fitnessfreak@runkeeper.com

Two years ago, Marvin Carey would sit on the couch with a cigarette and a tub of ice cream watching The Biggest Loser. After a remark from his daughter comparing him to the people on the show, which was later confirmed by his doctor, Marvin decided it was time to change.

I don’t know if you would consider me a fitness freak or not but I can tell you one thing, I have gained years of my life back thanks to my fitness activity in just the past 2. You see, I was one of the people that would sit in the chair with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and a bottle of Coke after I just smoked a cigarette. I would sit in that chair with my daughter and laugh at the “Losers” while watching The Biggest Loser. Well, one December evening back in 2009 I was watching the biggest loser while eating the ice cream and drinking a Coke and laughing at the people on the show when my daughter turned to me with tears in her eyes and said ” Dad, please stop, this isn’t funny. You are just as big as some of the people on the show”. I got mad and sent her to bed. A few days later and still upset at my daughters comment, I decided to step on the scale, the dial kept spinning. About a week later I had my yearly physical. I stepped on the scale, and then the nurse adjusted it and said: “wow, 320 pounds!” – that was where it all began.

I quit smoking on January 8, 2010 and joined the gym (Global Fitness in Fitchburg, MA) on January 11th. At first all I could manage was 20 minutes on the elliptical. I would be on that machine and looking into that group fitness room and think how much fun those classes looked. I could not go in there because I was afraid I was too fat and too afraid of what everyone would think. One day I finally decided to go in. I went into Group Kick (kick boxing kind of class) and introduced myself to the instructor Steve Smith, my life changed from there!

I have since lost 150 lbs!

I got the urge one day to go for a run, I did 3 miles on the tread mill and decided I should try a 5k. On October 2010 I ran the Miles for Myles 5k in Lunenburg and finished with a time of 30:05, not bad for my first run. Fast forward to April 2011: I started running again with my new smartphone and the app called RunKeeper. This year I ran in many 5k’s, 5 mile races, and I completed my first Half Marathon on September 4th in Swanzey, NH. My time was 2:01:38. On Monday December 12, 2011 (just this week) I started my training for the April 16, 2012 Boston Marathon! I am running for Team Mass Eye and Ear Charity (click do donate ). RunKeeper will be on for every one of the 468 miles worth of training runs I will complete and ESPECIALLY for the Marathon.

My wife and I both have changed our lives, she has lost over 120 lbs! Thank you for going with me on every mile I run.

See you in April at the finish line!

- Marvin Carey

Are you a Fitness Freak? Send your story to fitnessfreak@runkeeper.com

Reece Pacheco ran to keep in shape for the sports he played while growing up. Now, as an adult, he’s finding other joys in running. As founder of the awesome tech startup, shelby.tv, Reece has become quite the efficiency nut. With the help of RunKeeper, Reece is able to organize his workout info. and keep running fun as he moves through his busy life!

I’ve always been pretty cavalier about running. Growing up as a hockey/lacrosse player, I only saw running as a means to an end. Thought of running just to run seemed lame in comparison to the fast action of contact sports.

ANNNND it didn’t help that I was pretty heavy as a kid… or “husky” as most people called it.

But as I got older, I started to really appreciate the “runner’s high” and the feeling of pushing your limits as an individual, both physically and mentally, in running and cycling.

Still…I never tracked my data. I just ran hard and occasionally used the timer on my iPod, which in retrospect is just silly (especially considering how much of an efficiency nut I am–as an example, one of my favorite iPhone apps is Exit Strategy NYC, which helps tell you where to stand on the subway so you can exit the station as fast as possible. If you live in NYC, it’s a must-have).

Then RunKeeper came along and made it really easy to track my workouts AND see the aggregate data over a period of time. As a startup founder who’s constantly racing the clock, this became fun for me, especially while my company participated in TechStars – an intensive three-month program where every minute counts. I was living in Brooklyn, so I’d run or bike to our office in Union Square everyday and time my commute. I think my best bike commute time was just 13 minutes door to door (though it was 2AM on my way home, so there was no traffic to deal with).

It was also fun to see my top speed as I flew down the Williamsburg Bridge. I think I was usually around 30mph!

And over the summer, tracking my data got to be invaluable as I trained for a couple triathlons and road races. I always keep my phone on me while I’m on my bike, so it was great to have RunKeeper tracking my speed, distance, route, calories burned etc. When you don’t have to think about tracking the data yourself, it makes it really easy, but having the data available afterward is rad.

Whether in startups or in fitness, you need to pick a metric you want to improve and keep an eye on it. So thanks RunKeeper – appreciate your help on the fitness side. Now if only you guys could help me out with Google Analytics as well.

- Reece Pacheco

P.S. – When is RunKeeper going to track my surfing data? Any other surfers out there with me on this?

Are you a Fitness Freak? Send your story to fitnessfreak@runkeeper.com