Track Runner 101: The Calorie Counter or how long until I burned the turkey?

Oh dear, it’s that time of year again: The time of turkey and lavish feasts, Christmas tipples, holiday parties at work (we all know how those end), and the next temptation is just around the corner…
Wouldn’t it be great to know when exactly you have burned yesterdays’ food extravaganza so you can indulge without a bad conscience?

Well, the running you’re going to have to do yourself. But why not let your able running app take care of the number crunching for you? Just how good is Track Runner at calculating your calories burned you may ask.

As accurate as it gets thanks to research of Stanford University physiologists. We built a calorie counter that uses a mathematical formula that depends on your age, weight, height and gender to determine the exact calories burned during your run. Make sure you set your information in the settings!

So, you can rely on Track Runner’s calorie counter and help yourself to more turkey with the confidence that you’ve earned it.

On this happy note – enjoy the season’s blessings and keep running!
Your App Cauldron Team

Press Review

We’re thrilled to see Track Runner featured on some very awesome and well-known sites. This is a selection of reviews and articles on Track Runner combined with a big thank you to all the reporters and bloggers who made time to write about our running app. Keep it coming!

WP Central: “Track Runner is an excellent fitness app for Windows Phone 8 aimed right at runners” full review

Gizmodo: Featured as one of the “favorite Windows Phone Apps of the week” full post      post in Portuguese

Nokia Conversations: Called Track Runner “fantastic” in their “5 favourite new Windows Phone apps of the week” full review

Nokia Power User: Calls Track Runner a must have full review

Windows Phone Magazine: A “clever and easy to use running app” full post

Have I missed your well-crafted article? Have Google and Bing deserted me? Let us know about more stories covering Track Runner and we’ll add them here.

Edit:

The WinCentral: "A must have for any runner, Track Runner" full post

Our post on WMPoweruser can be found here

Navigation.com: "Track Runner: Perfect App for Your New Year's Resolutions" full post
 

Track Runner 101: The Performance Genius

Have you ever wondered how fast you could run a marathon or a half-marathon? There's only one way to find out: Train for months and months, suffer through a lot of muscle ache and eat a lot of food. Surviving those 26.2 miles is hard, but it's only the tip of the iceberg - serious preparation for a marathon involves running at least 80-100K per week.

Runners know it's not possible to "test-run" a marathon. So - how do you find out your approximate marathon time? Track Runner offers a super convenient way - the Performance Genius. All you have to do is to track a new run and push as hard as you can for at least one kilometer (we recommend 5K or 10K, as this will be more accurate). Then tap on Performance Genius in the main menu and it will tell you your predicted marathon time.

The Genius does much more though! The Genius will look through all your runs and search for your best performance. You can tap on the purple row to see which run that is. See that Delta column? It tells you the difference between your actual record for a certain distance and the predicted time. In the picture, the records are based on my 5K record of 22:05. Based on this performance, my predicted 10K time is 45:51, which is 1:49 faster than my actual record.

Want to find how fast you could run a marathon? Download Track Runner and find out! http://www.windowsphone.com/s?appId=95c6a10c-84a7-4c26-98eb-5d6b9df93698 Our free Trial includes the Performance Genius feature.

Track Runner Featured by WPCentral

Today, Track Runner made it into the Windows Phone hall of fame. WP Central's Sam Sambri calls Track Runner:

"an excellent fitness app for Windows Phone 8 aimed right at runners. [...] By far one of the coolest features in Track Runner is the ability for the app to automatically determine when you’ve completed a lap and to provide you with information like lap time, split, etc. [...] Another neat feat that Track Runner accomplishes involves the ability to help you determine how you’d do running a marathon. The feature is called Performance Genius and uses the McMillan running method to help you calculate what would happen if you ran."

Make sure you check out the full article at http://www.wpcentral.com/track-runner-windows-phone.

Track Runner 101 series - #1

We designed Track Runner with the runner in mind first and foremost. After all, we are just a bunch of running enthusiasts, unsatisfied with the other running apps for Windows Phone which are either inaccurate, lack meaningful statistics, or are complicated to use and not pleasing to look at. Making Track Runner display highly accurate data and superior statistics while keeping user intervention to a minimum so the app would be effortless to use, meant a lot of behind the scenes puzzling and maths magic doing. And we are pleased to say it works and does well what it says on the tin.

Now, we'd like to blog about the little details that make Track Runner unique in our Track Runner 101 series. We'll highlight some of the app's essential tools, fun facts, tips, and tricks as well. And if you missed a blog post or are too busy to read more than 140 characters, just follow the series on Twitter: #TrackRunner101. So, here's the first installment:




#1: You've just run a 10K race and pushed hard. Congratulation - months and months of training paid off! While your friends were sitting at home watching TV, you were focused on your long run, building endurance for race day. Now in your post-race glee you're wondering how exactly you performed.

Unfortunately, most running apps for Windows Phone don't compute records correctly. Even if they have a record feature, they are not smart enough to actually find your fastest distance and they mess up your record by counting your warm-up before the race or you celebrating afterwards. This won't happen with Track Runner!

Now, we do have one confession to make - like a lot of runners, sometimes we get a bit obsessed with statistics. We care whether our 5K time is 19:57 or 20:13. And we wanted a running app that is smart enough to see the difference. That's why Track Runner features a really clever algorithm to find your fastest distance by scanning your run and identifying your fastest connected sequence of coordinates. So, why not give Track Runner a go and see how fast you really run? It's available with a free trial from the Windows Phone store. Download it here: http://www.windowsphone.com/s?appid=95c6a10c-84a7-4c26-98eb-5d6b9df93698 .

Track Runner Release - Your Perfect Turkey Trot Companion

So, it's Thanksgiving and you are so stuffed with turkey you need extra motivation to move again?

FEAR NOT! Download Track Runner and start running! http://www.windowsphone.com/s?appid=95c6a10c-84a7-4c26-98eb-5d6b9df93698

Track Runner is a Windows Phone 8 exclusive running app that uses clever GPS algorithms to track every step of your run. With a customizable diary and detailed statistics and records, Track Runner is the perfect training tool. Unique features include automatic track and lap recognition as well as the performance genius which predicts your potential times for a range of popular race distances based on your personal record.

The GPX import function makes switching to Track Runner easy and should you forget to take your phone on the run one day, you can simply add your run to the diary manually.

This beautiful and easy to use app will make you one happy runner. And thanks to its incredibly accurate calories counter developed by physiologists at Stanford University, you know exactly when you've burned that third helping of pumpkin pie.

So, on your marks, get set, DOWNLOAD!

Track Runner Beta Update v.1.0.0.6

Last week, we gave Track Runner a good overhaul including countless bug fixes, and implementation of great new features and now it's time to brag about it here.

So, what’s new?

Social network sharing as well as GPX import/export are now integrated. You can share a new best on Twitter, Facebook etc. Track Runner lets you import your GPX files from other running apps or email yourself (or others) GPX files of your Track Runner runs. We also included Performance Genius, a performance prediction tool based on your current record (in purple) which uses Greg McMillan's method of estimating optimal performance. What's up with all that purple? Find out in our new help/f.a.q. section.

Beta Testers? YES!

You can still sign up to beta test Track Runner. Simply send us an email including your Microsoft Account email address to beta testing@theappcauldron.com to join the beta tester ranks. As usual, we appreciate any pointers to bugs, general feedback, appreciation or even venting.

And last but not least: *drumroll* Release: We have just submitted the release for screening and publication. It will be in store with a free 6-run trial. The app will cost 0.99$ on the first day of release and $1.99 thereafter. We have tons of plans and there will be some pretty awesome features in the next updates... If you love our app and would like to give us good feedback, doing so once the release version is published will greatly help our cause. If you dislike the app, are experiencing problems or have any other concerns, please contact us and we will do our best to work things out.

Keep Track-Running

 The App Cauldron Team

Updates and Brainstorms

Our developers have been hard at work improving Track Runner and it runs nice and smoothly now.

We fixed plenty of bugs and added a new mode of displaying map versus running stats during the run. You can find it in the general settings. Have a go both ways and let us know which one you prefer.

Another juicy feature is planned to be implemented *soon* so keep checking and tracking those runs.

Also, to those who haven't signed up yet, have a look at this. To join the beta tester pool party, just "rsvp" to betatesting@theappcauldron.com, sending us your MS account email address. Can't wait to see you all aboard.

All the app building and tweaking got our creative juices flowing and we are looking much forward to realizing a few of our new app ideas in the coming weeks and months. Let's just say the Cauldron will be in its prime! Excited? And so you should be!

In the hopes you enjoy Track Runner despite the chillier temperatures we wish you happy running.

Your App Cauldron Team

What an exciting day for Track Runner! It was already quite the socialite with its Facebook account but now it is rocking Twitter, too. You go, app! 

The App Cauldron proudly presents: Track Runner!

Track your runs, flip through and edit your running diary, and explore exciting unique features like phantom run and intelligent track recognition with this clever and easy to use running app.

Whether you are a first timer or a dedicated marathon veteran, Track Runner will keep track of your runs and achievements, and help you out with customizable training plans, so all that's left for you is to have fun on your run!

Track Runner is not only a fitness app that uses GPS to track a user's run. It also has a few pretty cool and unique tricks up its sleeve. So, here is a list of the app's features.

• accurate GPS tracking 
• intelligent track and lap recognition 
• powerful statistics (fastest times, accurate splits, calories burned, graphic display of pace, etc.) 
• diary-style running history with notes option and records 
• no sign-up or membership required, optional zero-config back up 
• voice notification 
• works under lock-screen 
• add untracked runs 
• easily individualized 
• beautiful, intuitive, metro-style interface 
• sharing on social networks (Facebook, twitter …

After a brief beta, the app will cost $1.99. Active beta testers will receive the release version for free as a thank you. For more info, you are welcome to check our Facebook page. To sign up for beta testing, you just need to send an email to betatesting@theappcauldron.com and we will add you to the pool. 

On your marks, get set, TEST!

Your App Cauldron Team

Forming a Delaware Corporation - fun! Just like training squirrels to cut coupons! The App Cauldron is now official! Happy Birthday, App Cauldron.

Welcome to The App Cauldron! Check in often to see what we are cooking up in our app kitchen. How about a running app for starters? Stay tuned!