In November last year I took the mad decision to enter the 2009 Paris marathon - to be held this year on the 5th April.  I can't say that I'm particularly looking forward to it but I have enjoyed elements of my training.  Two things have kept me going.

My running gadgets

Of course being a software developer I am naturally a bit of a geek (only a very little bit though of course). Therefore when I do my running training I must have either my iPod or iPhone with me.  Obviously they keep me sane by enabling me to listen to music, podcasts and audiobooks during my training but they also record my progress.  Here's a quick overview of how they work:

Nike+ for my iPod
This consists of a wee little accelerometer that you can attach to or pop in your running shoes and a Nike+ receiver which you attach to your iPod.  It records how far and how fast you are running or walking.  You can then sync this data with your Nike+ account via iTunes and get a marvelous little summary of how your training is progressing and a breakdown of each run.  Here's a pic from the Nike+ website for you to take a look at.  I'm a bit of a fan of RIA (Rich Internet Applications) and really like how the site utilises Flash in a useful and very pretty fashion.  The main disadvantage of the Nike+ system is that it’s not totally accurate but I can live with that as it still gives me a good idea of how I'm doing.

RunKeeper for my iPhone
I love my iPhone. Probably too much.  This free app is the thing I show to my friends when I want to impress them with how cool the iPhone is.  RunKeeper uses the iPhones GPS (Global Positioning System) capabilities to track your run, or in fact your walk, cycle, sky, whatever.  Then when you have finished your run you can view a highly accurate breakdown of not only your time and pace but also your route via clever use of the Google maps API.  You can also view this same data on the web using the RunKeeper dashboard site.  Here's a pic to give you an idea.  You can share runs with friends and also have RunKeeper auto-tweet your twitter account with your run data!  This kind of really useful mashup application gets me all excited about web development!  However, GPS tracking apps also have all manner of privacy implications - for example, in this article I have linked to a picture of my run rather than sharing the run itself (which you can do via the RunKeeper dashboard) because I don't really want the world to know where I started and finished.

It does get you thinking about the world of possibilities that GPS tracking opens up though.  At the moment you can only provide geo targeted content via websites by inspecting the users incoming IP address or by asking the user to tell you where they are.  However, with more and more mobile devices supporting GPS being available more possibilities open up for useful applications of this marvelous technology.

Finally this brings me to the second thing that is keeping me going through training - I'm raising cash for MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières).  I realised what amazing work this charity does when I worked on their website last year.  In emergencies and their aftermath, MSF rehabilitates and runs hospitals and clinics, performs surgery, battles epidemics, carries out vaccination campaigns, operates feeding centres for malnourished children and offers mental health care. When needed, MSF also constructs wells, dispenses clean drinking water, and provides shelter materials like blankets and plastic sheeting.

If you've enjoyed reading about my pain or would like to help MSF please sponsor me or donate directly to MSF via their website.

Useful resources:

Nike+iPod: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike%2BiPod
RunKeeper: http://www.runkeeper.com/
Sponsor me via Justgiving: http://www.justgiving.com/louiseryan2009
Médecins Sans Frontières UK: http://www.msf.org.uk/