Walkmeter revisited

After my first semi disastrous attempt at using the walkmeter iPhone app I thought my time up in the Highlands would be the perfect opportunity to put it to the rigours of the outer reaches of reception along with the recording of routes, altitudes and speeds. The results were quite mixed.

I tried it out on a couple of routes (which i'll document later), firstly on a short 3 1/2 mile route and I was staggered with the outcome, it was awesome. The route it recorded on google maps was perfect, it delivered my average time per mile, recorded time, distance and calories. The reception never faulted giving a totally accurate representation of my route. Furthermore it also shows you some pretty graphs, one with your pace on and the other detailing your altitude (see the below examples). I was seriously wowed at this point I have to say. Not only do I no longer have to paw over google maps to recreate my route once home but I've got a plethora of other titbits of info of my yomp at my fingertips.

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Started: 12 Aug 2010 18:18:20
Hike Time: 1:06:05
Stopped Time: 1:33
Distance: 3.64 miles
Average: 18:09 /mile
Fastest Pace: 10:55 /mile
Climb: 778 feet
Calories: 387

I then took it out on a touch of longer outing. This one was about 12 1/2 miles and was expected to take around 5 1/2 hours. It kicked off like a dream recording everything as expected until just over 3 hours into the walk (pretty much just over half way) when my phone conked out. Fair play my battery wasn't full full when I'd left the car but it was only around 4 hours since it had been fully charged. I did also notice that my Bluetooth had been on, whether that would have made much difference or not I don't know but is worth bearing in mind.

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Started: 14 Aug 2010 13:39:20
Hike Time: 3:01:26
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 6.76 miles
Average: 26:51 /mile
Fastest Pace: 16:23 /mile
Climb: 1929 feet
Calories: 703

I think then that this app is in need of further testing on a full battery with nothing else running to see the true potential with a full battery. Otherwise on a short walk it behaves impeccably - shame I prefer to go out for a good leg stretch when I leave the house though.