The Nike sync is currently down. As of Sept 28th, new runs are no longer flowing through the pathways we use to retrieve your data. We’re not an official partner of Nike, and so we don’t have any recourse, but to wait and hope that they fix something.

This turn of events is all the more painful because I’ve just spent over a month working to make the Nike import bulletproof. We have a fair number of Nike users on Smashrun and, for many people, the data we’ve retrieved has become the sole existing record of those runs. It pained me to see the frequent problems and errors. So, I rolled up my sleeves and attacked the issue wholeheartedly. I invested an embarrassing amount of time in the task.

There are currently dozens of different sources for the runs that end up on Nike’s site: the watch, the footpod, the iPhone and Android apps, runs sent from Tom Tom, runs sent from Garmin, the Apple Watch, and even connected treadmills. Each of these sources have unique data signatures – the data is registered in the same fields but with different meanings. This means that each source must be handled differently. And, of course, these sources have also changed historically as old bugs were fixed, and new ones were introduced. In short, it was a fool’s errand, the deepest and darkest morass.

After spending a month in the weeds, building a matrix of kludges based on the different versions and sources, I can only describe the way the data is stored like this… Imagine you wrote a love poem, and faxed it to a machine running out of ink, somewhere in Glasgow. Someone picks up the printout, stuffs it in their pocket and carries it through a rainstorm to the nearest pub. Once there he hands it to the first person he finds who happens to have this terrible cold, and they uncrumple the soaking wet fax, with it’s smeared ink, and they read it in their thick Scottish brogue over a bad Skype connection to someone who’s hard of hearing. It’s kind of like that.

Ok, well, it’s not exactly like that. From the 1,000 foot view that Nike’s site gives you, everything appears to be in order. Yes, the graph goes up and the graph goes down, and indeed, it does change colors. Yes, there’s a map that shows pretty much where you ran. Yes, there are splits. But, no… those splits can’t be backed out of the raw data. And if you calculate the distance based on the GPS points, it won’t match the distance you’ve been given for that run. And the bits on the graph where it’s green don’t always match the places where you ran fast.

In practice, the data isn’t there. Not really. What you see on Smashrun, I think, is the best that can be done. And, for some device/software version combinations, the data should be pretty good now. But, looking back at it, no programmer who wasn’t also the founder of the company, would ever have been given the latitude to sink so many hours into this project. To be honest, it was as much a crusade as anything else. Runs are personal, the record of the run is personal, and that data is yours – you should be able to have access to it.

Which brings me back to the current situation. Nike usually stages runs from the main site to their API. But, at present, that’s no longer happening. I suspect that at some point, someone may notice and reboot a process somewhere and get things back on track, or the choice may be deliberate in which case the sync will be broken for good. I highly recommend supporting companies that believe in data portability.

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If you’re using an iPhone, iSmoothrun has a great app as well as a standalone Apple Watch app that exports to Smashrun (and many other sites).

If you’re using an Android phone then Sportractive, Caledos Runner, and Ghostracer all export directly to Smashrun (as well as other sites).

UPDATE July 11th, 2017

Nike seems to have made further changes, and as a result their API now returns an error rather than the GPS details for many (but not all) Nike users. We’re going to keep investigating, but since Nike is officially a closed platform, we have limited options at this point. I know how painful it is to have a great run, but the data is all locked up and inaccessible, so we’ll keep trying and keep you posted. If anyone has any info that might help please email hi@smashrun.com

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There’s been some changes behind the scenes with Nike’s platform this month, changes that unfortunately severely compromised the accuracy of the analysis we’re able to provide. But before I get into the specifics, I’m going to take a somewhat long and meandering digression.

Nike Running has always been a closed platform. You go out and buy a Nike Sportwatch, or an Apple Watch with Nike software, or you just download their app. You record your data on a relatively simple to use, relatively slick interface and the data is synchronized to Nike’s servers. Once your data gets there, it proceeds to live out its life quietly waiting to die in obscurity. There’s a rich ecosystem of powerful (and sometimes even fun) websites that you can use to track your running data provided, of course, that you didn’t record it with a Nike device.

It’s important to understand that when we talk about closed and open, it’s not really black and white. It’s really a spectrum of shades of grey. If, for example, “closed” indicates the blackest black, the kind of black you might find in the threads of a tie worn by Richard Roundtree at a funeral, held at the bottom of Krubera Cavern, at midnight, then, well, the Nike ecosystem is perhaps a shade of slate. Because, in truth, there is no such thing as a completely open platform or closed platform. There’s always some inertia to the free, unrestricted movement of your data. Since no company wants to be called out for locking up your data like some snarky dragon hoarding gold under a mountain, the techniques to restrict the movement of your data are often subtle rather than overt.

Here’s a few common ones:

• Provide an API, but restrict access to just a few “strategic partners” (Suunto)
• Craft a terms of service where the company is the owner of the data, rather than the user, and strictly limit what can be done with it. For example, prohibit holding it on a server for longer than 24 hours, or exported in any form to a company with a commercial product. (Strava, Runkeeper)
• Charge thousands of dollars to access the data in bulk (Garmin)
• Allow users to export the data, but only if they pay a subscription fee.
• Allow users to export data, but resample that data first, removing most of the recording so that only the rough shape of the route can be discerned (Runtastic)
• Export the data via an open API, allow users to download it one by one, or in bulk, but don’t seamlessly push it to other companies (Smashrun)
• Don’t have an open API, but also, don’t work to prevent sites (like Tapiriik) that benefit your users from helping users to get access to their own data (Garmin)
• Allow the export of data, but don’t invest any time into fixing the bugs in that export

In Nike’s case, they have an API, but they haven’t granted anyone access to use it in years. In fact they used to has have a function where any user could use the API to export a copy of their own data, but they deactivated it around the time the Nike Apple Watch launched.

So, there’s a kind of range from actively working against the export of your data, to failing to invest a ton of resources to facilitate it. Since the beginning, we’ve helped users to get access to their own data on Nike’s site. It hasn’t been easy, but they also haven’t made it impossible for us either. The Nike Sportwatch is an easy to use device. It’s a good entry level watch that was built for Nike by TomTom. The GPS is quite good, and it records 1 GPS point per second which is great, because it allows nice accurate analysis of structured training. You don’t need to read a manual to use it. You can start, stop, and pause and that’s pretty much it, but it’s also all that most people need.

From Nike we can get the GPS coordinates, but there are no timestamps. So we can tell where you ran, but not when you were there, which makes calculating splits a challenge. Luckily, if you record 1 GPS point per second you can figure out the timestamps just by counting the points. Pauses throw a wrench in that, but it turns out there’s a certain signature typical of pauses that can be used to identify them, and up until recently we used that to good effect.

This month, all of that changed. Nike went from providing 1 second recordings to 10 second recordings. Ten seconds is a long time. Try counting to ten now and imagine how far you could run. Ten seconds is a lifetime. It also makes it impossible to identify pauses, and it means that if you run for 59 seconds, for example, there will only be 5 points returned. The splits become a kind of wild guess. We released a patch yesterday, to try and improve the results, but it’s like trying to squeeze water from a stone, a particularly dense and dry stone, that makes your run look kind of squarish, think granite.

So a few ideas…

The Tom Tom Spark 3 is a great watch for the price. The Garmin 230 is an even better watch for a bit more money. If you have an iPhone, iSmoothRun seamlessly exports your data to nearly every running site on the planet and it’s a solid app for a one time $5 cost. If you have an Android phone, then Sportractive, Ghostracer, Caledos(beta) are all free and worth trying.

Running a couple of races this year? Need a little help staying on top of your training plan? Check out RunPlan! It’s a user-developed web app built on top of the Smashrun API. It’s sleek, extremely functional, and easy to use. Paul designed RunPlan to make custom training plans more manageable. It’s quite common for runners to create their own training plans on spreadsheets, but manually entering each run to see it within the context of of your training plan can feel like work.

Introducing RunPlan – a web app that migrates your training plan from a CSV or excel file and into a full-screen calendar with your training schedule plotted out… and it imports your runs from Smashrun including your splits and your route map!

You can quickly see when or if you miss any runs, how each week compares to one another, visualize how much or how little you’ve run according to your training plan, and even see if you exceed your planned distance during your training cycle.

You can also share your custom training plans with others. So, if you feel like sharing a plan that worked for you in the past, I’m sure someone else will make good use of it as well.

To get started, you’ll first need to create an account on RunPlan. Then, to create a custom training plan in the right format, you can download this example plan, modify it to your training schedule, and upload it here (https://runplan.training/app#/plans/edit/) when you’re ready.

Afterwards, you just need to link to your Smashrun account within the Settings > Sync Setup and you’re good to go! Just remember to click sync within RunPlan to import your runs.

If you’d like to share some feedback (and compliments!), feel free to reach out to paul@runplan.training.

This past week we’ve added a bunch of new functionality to the Smashrun API. We’re moving beyond import/export to try and make some of Smashrun’s unique functionality more accessible.

Some highlights:

• Stats by all-time / year / month
• Notables for a run
• Splits by kilometer or mile
• Return a route map as SVG, GeoJSON or a Google Maps formatted polyline.
• Get extended data about a run: sunrise/sunset, moon phase, country, state, city, treadmill, race, and cooper test flags, and much more
• Edit an existing run, and flag a run as deleted
• You can also now post FIT files directly to the API

If, however, you’re looking to just play with your data on a spreadsheet, remember you can always get a csv export you easily open in Excel by adding /export to the end of your url. For example: http://smashrun.com/your.username/export

Coming up soon:

Individual TCX export and bulk zipped export. If you’d like to beta test the functionality shoot us an email.

We’ve had our head down working on: Bulk export, Demographic ranks, and a greatly expanded API. And I’ll be honest. They are each complex challenges, but they’re also all just really very dull. Don’t get me wrong they’ll be great additions to Smashrun, but the work involved is just so exacting and tedious…

So, like a spoiled child avoiding his homework we played hooky for a day and made a new pro badge. It’s “Le Béret Vert” or as you may know it the French Foreign Legion. To qualify you need to run a at least 2,800 meters during a 12 minute Cooper Test.

The Legion itself, has a fascinating history. It has long been a beacon for the lost and abject, an opportunity for redemption and rebirth. They also get to wear really cool hats.

Note: A Cooper Test is just a 12 minute run at maximum effort. It’s used to estimate your VO2 Max. Usually you do it at a track, but any uninterrupted long flat path will do. To qualify for the badge you need to run for no longer than 12:05 and run at least 2,800 meters.

If you’re a Pro user and you tag a run as a Cooper test, you’ll see an estimate of your VO2 Max and how it compares to other people your age. Cooper tests are kind of like pain endurance tests. 12 minutes is just long enough that you can run at max effort the whole time without leaving anything in the tank. Then it really becomes a question of how much do you want to suffer to see what you’re really capable of at this point in your training. It’s a good way of seeing how your training is paying off in terms of raw cardiovascular improvement. But you’ll absolutely want to make sure you’ve had a doctor check you out first and quit running immediately if you experience any chest pain.