This past wednesday marked National Running Day, and we had hoped  you would all do something great to celebrate! Many RunKeepers sent in pictures to show that you didn’t disappoint! Check out some of our favorites below. 

This is a common dilemma for anyone who runs a marathon, myself included.

In preparing for the big day, we get ourselves hyped up to such an extraordinarily high level, with all eyes on running the biggest race of our lives, and then, in a blink of an eye, it’s over. The marathon comes… and goes.  Back to normal life. Our brief stint as a “cardio super hero” is now over, and we rejoin the masses of normal people. How depressing.

I like to refer to this as a “runner’s postpartum.” It’s a helpless, dirty feeling. And, in my own case, having run the 2013 Boston Marathon several weeks ago, my own emotional letdown is further magnified by the fact that I was one of the 5,700 unable to cross the finish line due to the Boston bombings. So not only did I not officially finish, but now I have to deal with the emotional baggage of the journey being over.

I’ve tried to put my finger on it, and I think I have a pretty good handle for why this happens.

Here’s the deal.  When doing my long runs throughout January, February and March, I tend to be fixated on visualizing one thing only: the marathon finish line. Nothing else.  It’s about the chase, the mission just to get there, or as cliché artists put it “it’s about the journey, not the destination.”

After all, show me one person who tells you that when they run a 20 mile long run, they’re thinking about that work-related project due the week after the marathon… or about how they need to clean their storm gutters this summer. Nobody does! All marathon runners focus on ONLY the big day, and that’s why it’s so hard to cope when it’s all over.

So what’s the best way to overcome this and bounce back?

I guess everybody moves on in different ways. So last year I tried something new—and it seems to have worked for me, and most importantly, my fragile psyche.  I find that putting together a year-round race schedule is my ideal way to remedy this post-race let down while still retaining a little bit of “eye of the tiger.”  What I do now is I typically run a 10K in late June and a half marathon in the fall. This works for me because, when combined with the marathon in the spring, all represent three distinctly different distance events that require ongoing training.

My advice is to have your race schedule set even before embarking upon your 26.2 mile journey. Commit yourself to these events at the beginning of the year. This way when the marathon is over, you’re locked into your next event. No backing out when your office co-worker approaches you about your participation in the next big race.

If this doesn’t work for you, well, my next piece of advice is simple. See a therapist.

Tracy is a media professional and a comedian who has run the Boston Marathon 8 times. He blogs regularly at alongwaytoboston.com 

We are so proud of Simon! Watch his story on how his smart phone (and RunKeeper) have helped him overcome huge obstacles in his running journey. 

Consider this your first quarter progress report on how you all are doing this year with RunKeeper. Your grade? F—for freaking awesome! 

Together you’ve spent the equivalent of 177 decades working out from January to March (can you even wrap your head around that?) Those 8.4 billion calories burned stack up to about 58 million scoops of ice cream, and you completed some 3.1 million marathons between all those miles you ran, walked, biked, hiked, cross country skied (we’re talking to you, Sweden), and more. 

Speaking of Sweden, let’s congratulate them for their strong showing: two of the top five most popular cities on RunKeeper, and the No. 2 most popular country (again) in the first three months of this year! And big thanks to the Big Apple for getting a U.S. city to the top! 

Keep it up! At this rate you’re well on track to smash 2012’s numbers. 

Everyone’s passionate about their favorite running shoes, right? We were curious about how different shoe brands were represented in the RunKeeper community, so we asked you on Facebook about your favorite kicks. 

Here’s the exact percentage breakdown:
Asics: 23.1%
Brooks: 20.1%
Other (includes sandals, bare feet, Reebok, Puma, Skechers,and more): 15%
Saucony: 9.5%
Nike: 9.3%
VIbram: 7.1%
Mizuno: 6.1%
New Balance: 5.3%
Adidas: 4.3%

Where do you fit in? Are you loyal to one brand or do you experiment? Have you found your perfect shoe yet? 

To be part of other conversations like this, be sure to like us on Facebook! 

We’ve all been there. When faced with a busy week, nasty weather, or a very comfortable couch, it’s all too easy to lose the willpower to exercise. So, we turned to all of you for advice on what kicks you into gear when you want to do anything but run. There were loads of incredible responses, so we organized them into some common themes below. Take a look!

Music
Good music was one of the overwhelmingly popular ways that people get out the door and move. The Rocky soundtracks, electro house, Eminem, and pop music were all mentioned, but we were surprised with the large number of people saying that heavy and death metal gives them that extra push. Seriously, lots of Pantera mentions. Anyone else out there?

Getting dressed
For some, starting is all it takes. Even leaving out running shoes or tying up those laces gets many up and out the door before they know it. Another creative method was bargaining with yourself. RunKeeper user Robin says: “I promise myself I’ll just go half a mile or so, and then turn around if I still want to. I’ve never turned around.”

Loved ones
Friends and family are a powerful motivator for getting out and moving. For some, it was avoiding the health problems that have caused their relatives to pass away young, while others say they run so they can keep up with high-energy kids. Keeping running buddies is a great way to get over the running blues, and many of our users turn to their canine friends as their major source of motivation. We like how a user named Kate puts its: “Run my first mile with my 12 year-old dog. He still loves to run, and the joy is pretty infectious (and adorable).”

End results
Eyes on the prize does it for many—whether it’s a new race record, being able to fit into jeans you want to, beating those chronic health problems, or just the vision of being a healthier, fitter version of yourself. RunKeeper user Daniel takes a very literal look at the results he wants: “I reach down, and grab my burgeoning spare tire and say ‘be, gone thou foul assailant!’ and go running to bring it to pass,” he says.

Rewards, particularly of the food or beverage type, seem to be solid jump starters, too. Whether it’s a good coffee, beer, or the promise of chowing down at dinner, many users got that running into gear by promising themselves a treat afterwards.

Runner’s high
Running can draw out all sorts of powerful emotions. When tempted to stay inside, many runners force themselves to remember that feeling of euphoria and accomplishment that’s often described as runners high. Another RunKeeper users, Katherine, says she looks to her frustrations as motivation for getting out the door: “I think about a current event or situation that has me frustrated and then I work it out by leaving it on the pavement… the more of the frustration I dig into, the harder I run… and as I work it out and feel better I get a good happy run back home.”

Which one of these themes fires you or up the most? Or is there a method here we didn’t cover that works for you every time? Let us know in the comments or at community@runkeeper.com! And go out for a run while you’re at it!

This winter has been on the more extreme side in Boston, so we recently put together this guide for keeping up your relationship with RunKeeper when temperatures have forced you inside. Take a look! 

You can still manually enter your indoor workouts into RunKeeper, and keep tabs on yourself over time.

To do this: 
1. Select manual entry as your activity input. 
2. Choose your activity type and gym equipment. 
3. Enter in your distance, duration, and time! 

Without fresh air and the change of scenery, indoor workouts can be, um, dull. So, some tips for spicing things up:
• Mix up your treadmill run with some speed intervals
• Work out with an audio book and get smarter while you get in shape
• Snag one of our partner apps, like WeightTraining or GAIN Fitness, to track those bench presses
• And because nothing keeps you on your toes like virtual zombies hunting you down, listen to Zombies, Run! using accelerometer tracking (thanks to RunKeeper user @wesbechtel for that suggestion)

The upside of this season is that it’s the perfect time to kick off a training regimen for that spring race! Some of our more popular training plans include Beginner to 5k and Running 4 Fat Loss (both are eight weeks long), or if you’re feeling extra daring, you could shoot for our Beginner Half Marathon to Finish plan (16 weeks long).

What about you? How do you keep workouts exciting indoors? We’d love your tips! 

(Want more of these insights in your inbox? You can opt in to our RunKeeper e-mails by selecting the account tab in your RunKeeper settings, and checking off the “Newsletter” box. )

Name: David Tatum
Location: Vacaville, CA
At the start: Had never ridden a road bike, swam, or run more than three to four miles straight
Starting/Current Weight: 215 pounds/195 pounds 
Miles Tracked: 11,701 
Calories Burned: 924,767

My journey with Runkeeper started back in June of 2010 when my brother approached me and said he wanted to do a triathlon with me.  We had both been athletes growing up playing sports in High School and college but we had never ventured into the world of triathlons or endurance sports.  Training was slow and tough being that I had never run for more than 3 to 4 miles straight, never ridden a road bike before, and had never swam for long periods of time.  We trained together and eventually did our first olympic distance triathlon that summer.

After that we were hooked on the sport.  Runkeeper provided a great way for us to track our workouts and compare how we were doing against one another.  Over the past few years we have continued to use runkeeper as it has grown into a robust app.  My wife loves the elite version because she can now track me on my longer workouts to make sure I am safe.  I am also able to track my weigh and compare it to my training efforts now using the Withings scale.  My workouts have gotten so long now in training that i often have to manually enter in my workouts especially my bikes because my iPhone battery wont last as long as my workouts!  As you can see from my workout summary below I am almost at the 1million marker for calories burned which is pretty awesome.  I will be breaking that in a few months I assume.

Using Runkeeper I have completed several sprint and olympic triathlons, 2 Half Ironman’s, a marathon and my first Ironman, Ironman Arizona in November of 2012.  I finished in a time of 11:07:22.  I can remember back to my first triathlon with my brother, he mentioned that one day we would do an Ironman race together. I remember laughing at him and telling him that was a joke.  When I with Runkeeper I was weighing around 215pd and I am down to about 195 now.  It feels so great to be lighter and healthier.

This 2013 race season I have also picked up two amazing sponsores Hammer Nutrition and TriSports.com.  You can read all about my triathlon adventure on my blog here. 

Hammer Nutrion is an awesome company with the best products for fueling while working out.  You can get 15% off your first orders by mentioning this code #180970.

Trisports is also an awesome company that is a one stop shop for all your triathlon, swim, bike, run needs.  You can mention my name (David Tatum) and get a discount on your first order as well

We know that you’ve done some pretty amazing things with RunKeeper, but we wanted to paint the picture of the community as a whole!

Introducing the RunKeeper Community Rundown. This first volume digs into 2012, but you can expect more throughout this year that capture quarterly activity. 

So, take a look, soak in those numbers, and give yourselves serious high fives! Because 28.5 billion calories is more than 150 million slices of pizza. 

Oh, and let’s get Q1 2013 off to a running start, OK? We want to keep beating these records each year, right? 

Great job everyone! 

Hi friends. We’re very sad to report to you that a very beloved and active RunKeeper user, Ron Gehring, passed away last weekend in a tragic cycling accident. Active doesn’t even do Ron justice—he was a RunKeeper animal, having biked 12,000 km last year alone, and on track to run in the Australian Running Festival this April.

And he built real, meaningful relationships with his RunKeeper friends, which you can clearly see on the Facebook page created in his memory. Many of these friends have been tagging him in their workouts and some have started a fund to help his family, here. 

We think that one of the more important things you can do in the wake of any tragedy is educate others to prevent similar misfortunes from happening in the future. So we wanted to take this time to reflect on some safety tips to take into account with your outdoor workouts. 

• Run with friends (or pets!) for strength in numbers
• Wear reflective clothing when running at night so you are visible on the road
• We love music just as much as the next runner, but headphones can be a big distraction. Be sure to keep the volume low enough to be aware of your surroundings.  
• Cross the street carefully at crosswalks, and make eye contact with drivers to ensure that they see you and have stopped.

For those dealing with the extreme cold we’re facing in the northern hemisphere: 
• Dress in moisture-wicking layers, which you can shed as you heat up throughout the workout. Be sure to cover all extremities with a hat, scarf, and thin pair of gloves. 
• Keep an eye out for icy patches and shorten your stride to reduce the risk of slipping  

What other workout safety tips can you share with the community? We’d love the hear them!