SportsDo is my great go-anywhere companion
What I love about walking is the freedom. I can take off any time with just the
essentials: good shoes, my phone and an energy bar. And now I have SportsDo, I'm
taking my own personal performance monitor with me.
Real-time info
SportsDo gives me real time information about my current speed, distance travelled,
gradient and many other stats. It saves all the information as I go, so I can review
it later. I don't have to try and remember all my routes, or mark up a map – it's
all there in my phone.
Always with you
SportsDo always knows where I am because it uses the GPS satellite system that covers
the whole globe. Even if my phone's not picking up a signal, SportsDo keeps on working.
Talking point
I'm finding that SportsDo is particularly useful for telling me the distance I cover
in a set time. I can compare my performance over different terrains and in different
weather conditions. I can also compare my stats with other users online, which makes
for some lively talking points!
Online review
All my activity stats and route details can be uploaded to the SportsDo portal.
Any pictures I take are also automatically uploaded too – and even tied to the map
positions at which they were taken. The views change really quickly when you're
hiking, so it's fantastic to be able to fix each image exactly in space without
having to pore over a map.
The map functions on the SportsDo portal are pretty amazing. All my saved information
is linked through to Google Maps so I can see exactly where I've been. I can also
link to Google Earth and relive any of my trails with a virtual flight.
Adding interest
Sometimes when I'm walking in hilly country or on a cliff trail I'll set SportsDo
to show the gradient in large format. It's easy to switch the display to another
stat, or back to the summary screen. The main thing is that SportsDo adds to the
fun. I can use it to help me achieve a training goal, or just to add interest to
my walks. I'll take a hill over a treadmill any day.
Ice-breaker
Walkers are sociable folks and SportsDo Live is proving to be a real ice-breaker.
I often use SportsDo Live to transmit my live stats to the web where other users
can see them in real time. Of course I can restrict who sees them, but lots of us
“go public”. If I'm on a long walk on my own, I might also set SportsDo's Text Buddies
feature to send an automatic text message home every hour with my location details.
Sharing with friends
Doctors have at last started telling us that walking in the great outdoors is the
best exercise a body can get. SportsDo helps with any training goals you have, but
I think it also provides a little exercise for the mind. I want to know where I
am and how I'm getting along – and being able to share that information with others
makes walking that little bit more companionable.