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.

Yesterday there were some changes made to the Nike API that prevent us from syncing Nike runs to Smashrun. We’re looking into a resolution and will keep you posted.

UPDATE

We’ve reached out to the people at Nike’s API partner program. The program has been closed for some time, but we’re hoping that they might make an exception. We’re waiting on their response now.

UPDATE

Nike import is BACK UP. Still unofficial, but it’s working.

Yesterday Garmin invalidated the passwords of many users of Garmin Connect. If you’re having trouble syncing you’ll need to first login to Garmin Connect. Once there, you’ll be prompted to reset your password. After that go back to Smashrun and update your password on the Settings -> Sync page. You should then be able to sync without issue.

Note: If you’re logged in on Garmin Connect’s site already, you may need to logout and login again to receive their reset your password prompt.

We got bored working on the demographic ranks and waiting for Garmin to take our (your) money, so this weekend we decided to create some cool new badges. Since there’s absolutely no cooler badge than an FBI Special Agent badge, that’s exactly what we made.

Every year FBI agents need to meet minimum fitness requirements to pass their annual physical. This includes a 1.5 mile run within an age/sex graded pace. The minimum requirements to pass are fairly reasonable for most experienced runners, but to really excel they’re pretty challenging. So we’ve created 2 new Smashrun PRO badges. The Special Agent Badge – meet the minimum requirement for an FBI Agent, and the Super Agent Badge – score within the top 5% of all FBI agents. Good luck!

We’re still waiting for Garmin to sign off on our API request, but as soon as they do we’ll push it out to our beta testers. If you’re a pro user and want to help beta test the new API just shoot us an email.

Upside: Early access and helping the cause.

Downside: Potential failed imports and writing detailed bug reports.