Highly recommend Runkeeper.
What I love about it is, I have a GPS watch and can upload the data onto it, and it automatically maps out all the points as well as pace, etc. BUT if you don't have a watch, you can certainly plot your own map and have the lines go outside of streets (so if you went swimming in a pond or through a park, you can plot your footsteps anywhere, whereas a lot of other places require that the path snaps to a street).
I also love it because it keeps track of your overall miles, other activities besides running, and plots out graphs over time showing how far you've run, overall distance, what time of day you tend to run, etc. It's free and awesome, and works great if you have a GPS device in the future. I think you can also save routes for future use as well (but I haven't used that feature yet.)
RunKeeper. Entering the maps by hand is sort of a pain, but after a ride like that it usually feels pretty good to just sit down and click for a while.
Edit: damn, I guess it was pretty obvious how tired I was when I wrote this comment.
Depends on what you want to do really. After you can make it 5K without dying, you're ready to start a beginner program for anything from a mile to a marathon, depending on what kind of distance you want to focus on. Bridge to 10K is a pretty logical next step, using the same run-walk-run style of C25K, otherwise someone's already mentioned Hal Higdon, who has some great plans.
I don't know of any plans that have a podcast series like C25K, but if you have an iOS/Android device, you should get the Runkeeper app. It tracks your run for you using GPS (if your device has it), and lets you set alerts for whatever time/distance intervals you want, plus it'll play your own music while you run.
Most of all enjoy it, be safe (probably don't run more that 2 days in a row for now), and welcome to the great world of running.
I guess from a Sydney perspective it's pretty flat :)
I occasionally record rides using Runkeeper and it suggests it's about 268m of climb all up.
EDIT: and you're right. It's not the most direct route. I could shave a couple of k's off the route but it would be riding down some busy roads. I've given that route a go on the weekend and didn't enjoy it then so haven't tried during peak hour :)
First: In my view, a pedometer is a completely useless piece of equipment for people that want to pretend they're exercising when they're in reality only doing what's in a normal day's activity.
Personally, I track distance, speed and location using RunKeeper Pro on my iPhone. It's available for both iPhone and Android, and is free until the end of this month. The big advantage of using the phone is that
The data is uploaded to a server, and you can track it over time - see here
You can define workouts, giving you audio cues during practice, such as instructing you to go "12 minutes, fast", or "0.5 miles, slow"
Gives regular feedback on how fast you're running - average, current or split speed/pace.
If you don't have a phone of either type, and know that you're not going to invest in one. I'd probably invest in a simple GPS-enabled watch like the Garmin Forerunner 305, which can be had for around 130 USD on Amazon. The upside to the Garmin is that you can upload your data to RunKeeper.
If both options are out of your budget, I'd just buy a cheap stopwatch, and track distance by looking it up on a map before or after the workout.
I don't use the app, but you could use an online mapping program such as RunKeeper or RideWithGPS to map your running route. That would let you know whether the app's total is accurate.
I think both those services require creating a free account, but there's also the more bare-bones Gmap pedometer that can be used without logging in.
I found that using technology is key. I use RunKeeper on my phone, plus I signed up for a Beginner to 5k class through it. It scheduled out my running days on my calendar, and that really seemed to do the trick. Plus, there's nothing like rewarding yourself by participating and finishing local 5k events (or any race, for that matter). Good luck to you, and I'm sure if you stick to it you'll really start to appreciate how much running can enhance your life.
Runkeeper lets you plot out your route on google earth maps, and it lets you set the activity (there's like a dozen, including running, walking, cycling etc.). All you need to do is remember your route and time yourself - it'll even work out average pace, calories burned etc.
And! If you're walking that same route all the time you can save the route so that you don't need to plot it out every time.
Check out RunKeeper.com - free cross-platform app that does tracking, timing, logging, all that fun stuff. You can look up your previous runs online and see exactly how fast you were going at any point in your run.
Check out RunKeeper.com - free cross-platform app that does tracking, timing, logging, all that fun stuff. You can look up your previous runs online and see exactly how fast you were going at any point in your run.
I recently read about this, the easy pace. I was doing that all wrong. I was going out and giving it my all every time I ran.
I am using RunKeeper now while I run and it will give voice cues as to distance and pace, so I should be able to slow it down some by using that.
I don't have a smartphone, so I've been pretty low-tech. I run for set times, and use my iPod or my phone as a timer. For distance, I use http://www.runkeeper.com after I run. If you give it a start point and end point, it conforms to roads for you, so all I need to remember is where I started, where I turned around in the middle, and where I ended. I think it helps to get a usual route going. That way it's super easy to tell if you've gone farther than last time. And if you use some distance tool to figure out how far a mile is, or how far a specific landmark is, you can get a better idea of your split times and how far you're going, while you're running.
RunKeeper Pro (http://www.runkeeper.com) if a FREE app for both Android and iPhone and it let's you set the intervals the way you like it. Of course if it's too much trouble to entry the C25K weeks from http://www.c25k.com/ for example, you can buy "fitness classes" for it and those goes from 5k all the way to marathon.
I'd highly recommend you give RunKeeper a shot - while it allows you to enter your runs manually, using either the Android or iPhone app is much better. You can also use a GPS-enabled Garmin ForeRunner to collect and transfer your data.
Also, if you're determined on running, you might want to come over and visit us in r/running - I've found that subreddit to be really motivating. (Edit: in looking at your nick, I see you're already there. I'll leave it up for the rest of fitness to discover)