Recently I’ve been getting hounded a bit by some company that sets up paid content subscriptions for bloggers. I have not responded to any of these emails, because I have no desire to make any of my content paid. Everything that I write here on Runblogger is freely accessible, and people can comment however they choose to comment (I rarely ever delete a comment unless it is blatant self-linkage that is of no relevance to the post on which the comment was made). I have had advertising on this site since day one, and that is the sole means by which this site is currently monetized – I do so because I need to be able to justify the amount of hours I put in writing, answering emails, etc. (it adds up!). There are also costs associated with some of the services I use to support this blog. This blog is a one man show – I started it from nothing, I essentially taught myself HTML so that I could develop it in the way that I wanted, and I have no staff. It’s independent and though it does bring in income, it is largely a labor of love, and it will remain that way going forward.

My reason for writing this post is really not so much about me, but rather about another site with which I am involved. dailymile.com is a social training website on which I have been logging my workouts since early 2009. I have been involved as a member of the dailymile Team for the past 1.5 years, and have given a lot of my time to helping the site grow. I have never received a penny from dailymile, nor have I expected any form of payment from then. I give my time to them because they have given so much to me. I have made innumerable friends via dailymile, and many have gone on to become great friends in the real world. I have run races with them, I have shared their ups and downs, and they are among the most supportive and encouraging people that I know.

One of the amazing things about dailymile is that it is completely free. What’s more, it is run by a staff of 2 – Ben Weiner and Kelly Korevec essentially run the site out of their apartment in San Francisco. They run the site on a shoestring budget, and have never asked for anything in return from their user base. This week they will be releasing what is being called the dailymile PRO service. It is essentially a “pay for added features” option, and existing users will see no change in what they currently can do, nor will anyone be forced to pay. It’s simply a case of “if you want more stuff from the site, pay a bit of money and you can have it.”

What spurred me to write this is the resistance I have seen on the part of some users to this entire idea. For some reason, people seem to have this sense that anything on-line should be free. But, running a site like dailymile costs money, and Ben and Kelly are looking to continue to grow the site, and hopefully hire an additional developer, hence the move to a PRO service. They do not want the site to follow in the footsteps of many other running sites and become so pasted with ads and popups that the user interface gets compromised. I support their model fully, and I pay a lot more in annual subscriptions for many services that support this blog than they are asking for their upgrade. Heck, I’d even pay the price if they asked for it in donation form.

I think of it like this – every time we go to a restaurant, we pay for our dinner and we tip the server. We give the server more if we think the service was good. However, in the on-line world people so often expect frequently used services to be free, and they balk at any though of tipping those who provide the services that they use. I, for one, would be first in line to pony up and chip in some cash to support a site like dailymile that I use every day. Same goes for Twitter. Facebook would require a bit of thought….

Anyway, my point here is that maybe it’s time we recognize the hard work of those who don’t ask for any recognition for what they do, and stop complaining when a site that we use daily decides to add a paid option like dailymile has (especially when it will remain free in its current form). I may have a biased opinion here as I do have some sense of how much effort it takes to keep a website running. However, if Ben and Kelly’s track record is any indication, good things are ahead for dailymile, and I will continue to be there to support them.

I am both a longtime user of a Garmin Forerunner 205 GPS watch (2+ years) as well as an active member of the social training community on dailymile. Together, I’d count my Garmin and the dailymile community as two of the most essential parts of my running toolkit, and when I first joined dailymile about a year ago I was disappointed that the site didn’t support syncing/uploading of data from the Garmin devices. I’ve gotten along just fine entering data manually (I actually kind of enjoyed doing it that way), but after a lot of hard work on the part of the developers (thanks Kelly and Ben!!!), Garmin Sync on dailymile has finally arrived!

If you’re not familiar with the Garmin Forerunner line of watches or the dailymile website, here’s a quick overview:

Garmin Forerunner Fitness Watches

The Garmin Forerunners are a line of fitness watches that operate by tracking GPS signals while you run. They have highly customizable data screens, and allow you to track things like distance, pace, elevation, grade, your GPS route track, etc. in real-time and with great accuracy (far better than the Nike+ – you can read my Nike+ review here). You can use them to create workouts (for example, I’ve used mine to do interval workouts on the roads instead of a track since it measures distance), and the best part is that they store your data for later upload onto a computer. I’ve been using the free PC-based program SportTracks for uploading and storing my Garmin data, and it’s a program that I highly recommend (I’ve posted a detailed review of SportTracks, and a SportTracks plugin for dailymile is in the works!).

My Garmin has played a huge role in helping me to improve as a runner, and the accurate pacing data that it provides has now helped me survive through 5 marathons and numerous shorter races. In fact, my Garmin is probably the only thing that rises above the shoes on my feet in terms of its importance to my running, and if you know me, that’s saying a lot. There are a number of Garmin models out there, ranging from the top of the line Forerunner 310XT, to the more watch-like Forerunner 405CX, to my trusty Forerunner 205 (check out my review of the Garmin Forerunner 205/305) – I’ve heard good things about all of them, but if I had to make a choice right now I’d probably buy the Forerunner 305 – it has the perfect combination of features at a fairly reasonable price (it’s like the 205, but with the added ability to track heart rate and sync with a footpod for use indoors on a treadmill). Below are links to the Forerunner watches on Amazon.com (Amazon has consistently had among the best prices on these devices):

dailymile: Social Training Website for Logging Your Miles

dailymile is a social training site for posting workout data, and has an interface that is kind of similar to Facebook, except that it’s geared directly toward active people who value exercise as a part of their lives (runners, swimmers, cyclists, walkers, etc.). I can’t begin to explain how much this site has meant to me and my training, and through dailymile I’ve met some truly inspirational people, many of whom have become good friends. To get a feel for what dailymile is all about check out this post that I recently wrote on the dailymile Community Blog (in the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I’m now part of the dailymile Team and the editor of the dailymile Community Blog).

At its heart, dailymile is a place to post your workouts and share that data with a group of on-line (and often real-world) friends. The site is filled with a great group of very positive people who are always there to cheer you on when you when you run a great race, or give you a kick in the pants when you’re in need of a bit of extra motivation to hit the road/trail for a run. Now, with the ability to sync your Garmin, posting of data has gotten even easier. After a relatively painless setup process, uploading data from your Garmin is a snap, and dailymile currently pulls your distance, time, calories burned, and optionally can include a GPS map of your running route (this can be turned off if you have privacy concerns). With a simple syncing process, you simply click a button, fill in a journal entry on the workout and add a few other details if you’d like, and then publish your workout. Friends can then comment on what you’ve done, and you can do the same on their workouts, which appear in a news-stream similar to what you’d find on a Facebook home page. It’s a slick interface, and a beautifully designed site. Having gotten to know the developers a bit over the past few months, all I can say is that the site is in great hands, and there are lots more goodies to come!

So, if you have a Garmin and are looking for a site to log your workouts and meet some great people, I urge you to give dailymile a try – you won’t regret it. Sign-up is free, and you can click the banner below to head over to dailymile and start logging your miles!

Yesterday, for example, I opened my Twitter client to find a string of posts relating to the feature on dailymile that converts your miles run into a number of donuts burned.  I largely sat on the sidelines of that discussion, but it was fun to watch the various donut posts, links and images come through both on dailymile and Twitter.  While it may seem silly, the realization that I’ve burned the caloric equivalent of some 750+ donuts through running since joining dailymile early last year is pretty strong motivation to keep me doing what I’m doing out on the road and trail.  Just think about it – I’ve burned the equivalent of 2+ donuts every day for the past year through my running – no wonder I like to say that I run so I can eat.

Image via Wikipedia

Today, my friends from the Run Talk Radio videocast posted a short video about Abe Lincoln “the runner.”  I watched the video, tweeted a couple of dumb comments about Abe Lincoln being a runner, and suddenly a whole bunch of folks got involved in the ridiculousness of the Friday afternoon discussion. One thing led to another, and dailymile mini-challenge creator extraordinaire @neudesigns set up an “Honest Abe 16-mile Challenge” for this weekend (to celebrate Abe being the 16th president).  The point here is that although I’m 35 years old, sometimes it’s kind of nice to partake in pure childish silliness, particularly when that silliness morphs into the motivation I need to get off my duff and go for a run. I got home from work, grabbed the dog, and ran 4.7 miles to honor Old Abe’s famous “Four score and seven years ago” line, and now fully plan to complete the Honest Abe Challenge outlined here on dailymile.

So, to my friends on both Twitter and dailymile, I wanted to extend a big “Thank You!”  You make me laugh, your friendship and support are much valued, and the motivation provided by silly conversations like we had today are often all it takes to motivate me out the door to run some miles and do something good for my health.  Lets let the silliness continue!

If you aren’t yet a member of dailymile, give it a try – membership is free, and I guarantee that you’ll love the community!

My initial impression after just over a month on dailymile is that I like the site a lot (honestly, it’s become quite an addiction!). I check in daily to both post my workouts and view those that others have posted, and the mutual motivation provided on this site is outstanding. The interface is clean and attractive, the tools they have implemented so far work well, and the forums are relatively new so just about everyone on the site right now is working to help build a new community for active people. One drawback of it being a new site is that posting is not as active as in some of the more established sites, though I suspect that will change as the site matures (it seems to have grown a lot in just the past month!). Also, because it is new, there is not an extensive history of knowledge that you can search through, though this will also improve with time (there’s already a lot of very helpful info). If you want to join a site that is rapidly developing and contribute to the process, this is the one for you!

One of the things that has really impressed me about dailymile.com is that the site developers are regular contributors to discussions, and they are continually adding new features to improve the site content (for example, they just added a “challenge” feature similar to what is available on the Nike+ site). Furthermore, they actively request suggestions for further improvements and respond very quickly to e-mails about the site. They deserve a lot of credit for the job they have done so far.

My one major wish right now for dailymile is that they get the Garmin Forerunner interface up and running. I record all of my runs on my Garmin Forerunner 205, and ditched my Nike+ a long time ago, so entering run data manually requires some dedication and guestimation regarding pace, time, etc. unless I feel like pulling the Garmin out to get the exact numbers.

Check out www.dailymile.com for yourself, or view my Dailymile profile here (or click the image below)- feel free to add me as a friend!

Below is a YouTube video of the Dailymile creators (Ben and Kelly) discussing their site:

I decided to go live with the site after some internal debate about putting out a mostly unfinished product, but realized ultimately that the best way to make the website a useful resource would be to solicit feedback from potential site visitors. I want the site content to be user driven, so I have provided a minimal site skeleton so far and will attempt to do whatever is requested/desired within the limits imposed by relevance to the site mission (i.e., primarily running in NH, though I would not immediately dismiss information from other New England states – we are pretty close to the Boston Marathon for example), my available free time, and my still amateurish and plodding web design skills. So, if you have a chance, give it a look and let me know what you think could be done to make it better.