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Screencast for TrailRunner (spanish)

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2010-05-07T14:56:56+02:00

The guys over at slooping.net did a great review of TrailRunner including a 21 minute screencast explaining almost every feature of TrailRunner.

Si usted puede entender español, echa un vistazo:
> TrailRunner: Gestión de tracks y entrenos (incluye screencast detallado)

TrailRunner -- Live Performance

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2010-03-14T22:05:50+01:00

Want to see me running live? Watch out for a guy running in this T-Shirt ;-)

My first competition this year will be Sunday, March 21st for "Auf die Platte-fertig-los", Wiesbaden, Germany.
As every year this is the first of a series of up-hill races I do. Roughly 8 km with 450 m of ascent.

I wish all of you a successful season!

Take care,
- berbie.

> Get your own…

TrailRunner 3.1 -- Follow your routes

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2010-08-13T13:10:11+02:00

TrailRunner is the perfect tool to create new routes. Now how could you take these with you?

iPhone with Trails 4

[Update] Trails 4.0 is now available in the app store.
Download and install Trails from the AppStore.
Set Trails as your helper application in TrailRunner > Preferences > Synchronize > iPhone.
Trails can send routes to TrailRunner, and Trails can receive routes from TrailRunner

To send routes to Trails:

In the main document window, click the iPhone icon and in the left pane select the send-tab.
Start Trails on the iPhone.
Select a route in TrailRunner and click the send button.
The selected route is being transferred to Trails and is added to the list of imported tracks.

Read more here: Using Trails with TrailRunner.

ForeRunner

To send a route to your ForeRunner you first need to download the Helper Application LoadMyTracks.
Then select a route in TrailRunner and click the Send toolbar button in the main document toolbar.
Click the Export route button and LoadMyTracks will launch and transfer the course to your GPS device.

iPhone with RaceBunny

Download and install RaceBunny from the AppStore.
Set RaceBunny as your helper application in TrailRunner > Preferences > Synchronize > iPhone.
Follow the instructions as described here: Using RaceBunny with TrailRunner

iPhone with 321run

321Run is an iPhone coach for running that can send recorded track to TrailRunner.
Download and install 321run from the AppStore.
Set 321run as your helper application in TrailRunner > Preferences > Synchronize > iPhone.
Read more here: Using 321run with TrailRunner.

iPhone with Motion-X GPS

Download and install MotionX-GPS from the AppStore.
Create a Route in TrailRunner and export the Route as a GPX-track.
Send the GPX file via Mail.app to gpsimport@motionx.com
A Mail message will be returned to you. Open this Mail Message on your iPhone and import the track into Motion-X.

Are you an iPhone App developer interested in the TrailRunner Wifi API?

RaceBunny -- Plan and Follow a route

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2010-03-12T17:03:23+01:00

RaceBunny is a free companion app for the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. Currently RaceBunny has the following feature set:

Record activities and send them to TrailRunner for analysis and journaling in the diary.
Plan a route in TrailRunner, send the track to RaceBunny and follow the course.

The following tutorial describes how you can create a route in TrailRunner and send it to RaceBunny:

To use RaceBunny, follow these steps in TrailRunner:

Go to Preferences > Synchronize and set RaceBunny as the iPhone partner application.

To send routes to RaceBunny

In the main document window, click the iPhone icon and in the left pane select the send-tab.
Start RaceBunny on the iPhone.
Select a route in TrailRunner and click the send button.
The selected route is being transferred to RaceBunny and is added to the list of routes.

To receive completed activities from RaceBunny

In the main document window, press the iPhone icon and in the left pane select the import-tab.
In RaceBunny tap on the tracks button, select an activity and tap on the Send button.
TrailRunner will open the import pane. Add additional comments and import the activity to your diary.

Additional notes

To exchange data between TrailRunner and RaceBunny a domestic WiFi connection is being required.
RaceBunny uses the Build in iPhone OS 3.0 Maps requiring an standing internet connection to update the background map.

Download RaceBunny for free from the app store:

Dueling Y-Axes

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2010-01-25T14:49:09+01:00

An interesting reading about fanciness and pointlessness of displaying data.

The team at OmniGraphSketcher wrote about the display of multiple y-scales overlaid on the same graph, to make it possible to plot several different types of related data on the same chart. I do this too in TrailRunner but my solution targets the middle of what they call a bad idea and what they suggest as a realistic solution.

The main conclusion of the OmniGraphSketcher team is that overlaying data with disparate scales saves space, but it makes the data significantly harder to interpret. The dual axes “duel” for your attention. So instead of overlaying scales, [they] recommend using a set of multiple graphs, aligned along their common axis.

> Omnimouth blogpost
> Read their Article

Testbericht auf Frosthelm.de [de]

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2010-01-25T15:38:49+01:00

[Updated] Grosser Testbericht über TrailRunner auf frosthelm.de, einem Online Magazin für Mountainbiker. Frosthelm sammelt Trails für Mountainbiker.
Die Trails werden mit Action-Videos, Anfahrtsbeschreibung und GPS Daten vorgestellt. Gerade wegen der GPS Daten ist Frosthelm eine guter Fundus für TrailRunner aus dem MTB Bereich.

> Testbericht
> frosthelm.de

Weitere Testberichte
TrailRunner macht Bock aufs Laufen: MACazin.de, 1.1.2008
iTrail und Trailrunner im Test: getfitter.de, 26.01.2009

TrailRunner 3.0 -- Improvements on the way

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2010-03-12T17:03:30+01:00

A quick overview on that has changed in TrailRunner 3.0:

Reworked UI and wording
To better meet the vocabulary being used in other applications, TrailRunner will no longer speak about workouts but activities.
Also activities, routes and your network of tracks are displayed in a better UI.

All application modes now come with their own dedicated toolbar at the bottom end of the window making the UI much more clearer.

New Network of tracks editor
The new editor makes managing your network of tracks much easier. Drag selection and shift click extent selection lets you select more than one element
Operations on the action toolbar give you the toolset to effectively remove duplicate tracks and waypoints.
A list of modified tracks on the left helps you in finding out what was newly added to your network and may contain duplications to be merged into your network of tracks.

WayPoint Perimeters

As you know, tracks can be spitted by a waypoint nearby. In previous versions of TrailRunner the maximum distance from a way-point to track to make this happen was a fixed value of 10 meters.
In the new network of tracks editor, you now see this perimeter range around selected waypoints and you can drag the border to extend the range.
This is especially useful when you have locations where great chaos lies within because many routes start and end somewhere around this spot. Now you can just increase the perimeter of one representative for this location and TrailRunner will then be able to better consolidate new elements within this area.

Better OpenStreetMap Source
Changed the Background Map to CloudMade openStreetMap Fine Line with a contour overlay.
To effectively reload all map tiles, remove the Library/Caches/TrailRunner/GeoTiles/openstreetmap.org folder

Improved Integration with EveryTrail

The community routes browser and importer now supports an improved API version for finding routes nearby on everytrail.com. Additionally TrailRunner hilights not only the location of routes nearby but also displays the tracks. So you now easily can view what courses the routes have.

Improved Diary
The diary window now displays a map and more statistical information on the selected activity.

Simplified process of localization
Over the years, the number of strings requiring localization grew to a huge number. A new database based application now helps localizers manage and update the localizations with a very easy interface that also contains a ToDo list and automatic pre-translation provided by translate.google.com
If you would like to help out with an updated or even new localization, please contact me.

QuickGuide for TrailRunner 3.0
The QuickGuide shows you all main features of the application. Great for testing everything out:
> QuickGuide

TrailRunner 2.1v468 -- Topographic maps for Norway

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2009-12-10T22:00:35+01:00

Thanks to hints given by TrailRunner users, I added the new Statens Kartverk Digital Map Data Source for Norway — provided by the Norwegian Mapping Authority — to the list of OpenStreetmap sources.

As you can see in the depicted screenshots, the quality is phenomenal.
The Map data goes from a National Map scale down to a very detailed map with properties, buildings and roads.

To view the map data, switch to the openStreetMap source and then zoom in somewhere in Norway, TrailRunner will automatically select the new source and display the background map.

> Norwegian Mapping Authority
> TrailRunner 2.1v468

Synchronizing your diary

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2010-08-03T22:39:08+02:00

Recently I became a big fan of Dropbox, a free and secure online supported application to sync files between computers. Even if one Mac is at home and the other is at work or somewhere else.
The reason I write this blog entry is that many user request a possibility to sync the diary between two computers.
As you might already know, TrailRunner stores all vital information within your home directories Application Support folder

To do so, follow these steps:

- DropboxDownload and install Dropbox.
- By default, the Dropbox application creates a new folder in your home directory called Dropbox.
- Open this folder and make sure that a folder named Documents exists within. If not, create it with the exact spelling.
- Now go to: [yourhome]/Library/Application Support/
- Within, find the folder named TrailRunner and move this into the aforementioned Documents folder.

Next time you start up TrailRunner, the application will check on if your home directory contains the following folder:
[yourhome]/Dropbox/Documents/TrailRunner/
If that's the case, TrailRunner will access this location instead of the default Library/Application Support location

Sidenote: To make this practical, TrailRunner will move your local cached map tiles out of the Library/Application Support folder into the Library/Caches folder. This heavily reduces the load on your 2GB free storage at dropbox.com

> www.dropbox.com

TopOSM -- topografic maps for Massachusetts, USA

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2009-10-03T10:19:46+02:00

Vidar pointed me to this beautiful map source that — unfortuanetly — is limited to Massachusetts, USA. The map is an interesting montage of several layers and data sources Lars Ahlzen has accomplished.
If you choose the openStreetMap as your background map in TrailRunner and view the area covered by this map server, TrailRunner now uses this source.

Read more about this project:
> What is TopOSM
> TopOSM online viever

iPhone on the hike -- Battery Extender

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2009-09-23T00:16:14+02:00

In the not so distant future I will go on vacation to the Pyrenees in France. And as a Hiking trip could last far longer than the battery life of my iPhone, I bought this cool clamshell that on the one hand protects my iPhone plus adds more grip to hold it and on the other hand gives it a huge power boost. The idea for this item is so simple and genious. I just love it and therefore I wanted you to know…

> Mophie Juice Pack Case…

TrailRunner 2.1 -- Diary, Trim and iPhone

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2009-09-11T14:12:09+02:00

From my pont of view, TrailRunner 2.1 is done. The new release migrates your diary into a modern database format, fixes several bugs and adds compatibility to Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Below the most important changes and extensions:

Diary

For better performance and for future extensions I rewrote the diary storage. Diaries are now based on a sport kind like running or biking.
So in future versions diaries can have different parameters for calculations.
TrailRunner 2.1 will already honor speed units like distance per hour or minutes per distance for sport kinds and also will calculate calories with a different formula.
This migration should solve many startup performance problems and will keep your mac responsive even with very large diaries.

Trimming workouts and Tracks
I do not know why I did not add this earlier but you can now trim workouts to be imported and routes within the map. Trimming means that everything from the edge up to and including the selection will be removed.

The screenshot shows a workout to be imported. You can either select something in the graph and then hit the backspace key or you open the track editor and use the Trim Selection command.
Update: You can now even remove data points in the middle of a track. There’s a new tutorial available explaining all operations available (Tutorials > Import and edit Tracks)

Improved Importers
TrailRunner 2.1 can now import Lap information from LoadMyTracks gpx files. Also GPX files are being loaded much faster due to an asynchronous decoding. Same goes for large tcx files you drag onto the TrailRunner application icon or main window.
The workout importer for non GPS workouts (the one that shows a list of routes below) now also displays a target diary selection menu.

Improved Map Speed
Though I highly recommend to remove any duplicate tracks within your map by following the instructions in the Mastering Track Merge tutorial, performance can be pretty bad with many long tracks on your map. In TrailRunner 2.1 I am testing a new display caching approach and have found results to be very good. Scrolling on my machine went up from 24fps to up to 60fps. But in most cases you should get 2x.

Other Improvements

Workout Graph: Added a Preferences option to change the interval resolution for the graph view. (TrailRunner > Preferences > Advanced)
General UI: Added a two finger zoom gesture for modern MacBook trackpads.
Local Route Editor: Added a drag over track to be included rerouting where there was only a drag to way-point rerouting before.
Streets Route Editor: Improved the OSM routing for very long route calculations.
Route Import: Added EveryTrail.com as an import source
Weblog publish: I removed the private and public comment approach as it caused some trouble in the past. When you publish your weblog, all notes will be published.
Export preserves timing: When you export tracks in TrailRunner, the original timing information will be preserved. This makes it posible to read data from your device and then later use an export for geo-tagging.
Route Filtering: The main window search field now filters for routes that contain the given search string in either their name or in the name of any way-point they come across. For example: say a route has a name of biking and goes over a waypoint called ruin, then a search term of ru will find this route. To filter on way-point names only, whith this example just enter wp:ru into the search field. To filter on route-names only, enter rte:ru into the search field.

Before you install TrailRunner 2.1
As TrailRunner uses a new diary store, you should better make a backup of your old.
All data in TrailRunner is being stored within the following folder on your Mac:

< yourhome >/Library/Application Support/TrailRunner/

You old diary was stored in RunLog.xml
When the new version starts up, it will migrate your old diary entries into the new diary. The new file is named ActivityStore.sqlite
A backup of your old diary will be copied to Archive/RunLog;4.xml for if there’s a problem with the migration. You can always move this file back and rename it to RunLog.xml
Please note that even after the migration was done, a much smaller RunLog.xml will stay in place, as it still contains some legacy data. So should you require to migrate back, just delete this file.
Important note: You can not use TrailRunner 2.0 at the same time as TrailRunner 2.1 as after the migration the diary will appear to be be empty on 2.0

Jump on the TrailRunner 2.1 track
TrailRunner 2.1 has its own app-cast so if you download the version below, you will be notified on updates.

> Download TrailRunner 2.1
> Import and Edit Tracks Tutorial
> Mastering Track Merge Tutorial

Please give feedback in case you have any trouble with the migration or other stuff.

Have fun,
- berbie.

TrailRunner 2.0 -- Have a mobile training Coach

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2009-07-27T18:34:30+02:00

TrailRunner 2.0 is now able to receive GPS recordings from yet another famous iPhone app called 321run written by Cyril Godefroy,

321Run is an iPhone coach for running. Learn to run more efficient, lose weight, increase your speed and get prepared for competitions. The app follows your runs with the GPS of your iPhone and records your run stats and tracks. You can then send these recordings over to TrailRunner.

The cool features of 321run are
- Record your workout
- Listen to how far you've gone and the duration of your training.
- Set yourself goals and reach them during your workout.
- Setup and follow Training plans

Find out more about 321run:
- Features
- Screenshots
- 321run in the AppStore

TrailRunner 2.0 -- Routing and Communities

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2009-05-16T15:49:02+02:00

TrailRunner 2.0 is out, please find below what has changed in this new milestone release:

Community route exchange
The Route exchange with GPSies.com, one of the world biggest routing portals, is now grouped in one management panel.
Added a Hiking, Running and Biking filter to the GPSies route import.

Routing service and route editor and elevation download
Added routing service based on the Cloudmade/OpenStreetMap trail network.
The route editor for routes based on the personal track network was rewritten from ground up.
Elevation data for routes is now automatically being loaded from an internet service

Overall usability improvements
A new route management tool was added to the editing controls toolbar.

Download: TrailRunner 2.0

Tracks, Trails, Routes, Workouts, Laps, Courses, WTF

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2009-09-15T18:21:59+02:00

„TrailRunner is powerful but at the same time can be confusing for first time users.”
This is what I hear from many users. The typical learning curve goes from prejudices on how things should work to misunderstandings on what is actually going on to understanding and loving TrailRunner or bailing out for something else.

This all rotates around the difference between a track, workout, diary entry, route and the network of tracks.
And to be honest, I know this problem and I am constantly trying to make things easier to understand.
In fact TrailRunner is three applications in one. TrailRunner is
- an activity journal
- a mapping application to maintain a network of tracks
- a route planning application

So whenever you import something into TrailRunner, your intentions might go into either direction. And interestingly this even shifts over time — as new users with new devices stumble upon TrailRunner.

Probably the following "glossary" might help understanding what TrailRunner is about and what the application can do for you — whenever you drop data into it:

Track
A track is a list of geographic points with GPS coordinates. Within the real world a track describes the path from e.g. one sign-post of a hiking trail to the next. Each sign-post representing a crossing that connects to other tracks. Within the context of such a way or street, a track contains no timing or heartrate information. It's only where, not when and how.

Network of Tracks
One big feature in TrailRunner is to build and maintain a network of tracks. That is much like the lines of streets, roads, ways, trails and pathes printed on maps. The difference is that your network of tracks is your personal collection. A collection that represents the paths you actually run or cycle on, masking everything else out that you dislike or haven't strolled along yet.

Route
Within this network of tracks you have routes. A route is more or less a sequence of tracks. One important thing is that within a route, if you go back and forth a track, this track is part of the route twice. This is the most problematic part as simple GPS recordings never have this kind of conceptual differentiation. So I reject the idea that a route and a track should be the same thing. They could appear as — in the degenerate case where a route is being made of one track being used only once within the route. But that is just a special case — although typical in activity tracking applications that just import GPS data points and visualize them.

Workout
The biggest similarity between what others call a track is what I call in TrailRunner a workout. Garmin calls this an activity but I dislike this term as it fits better to being a diary entry. But back to the difference between tracks and workouts: If a recording contains data points with values like heart-rate, cadence and calories, it's not a track. It's a sequence of training session data-points and therefore it is a workout. For this reason TrailRunner generally distinguishes between routes and workouts. Routes belong to geographic data, workouts belong to performance over time or distance. A workout and a route can be connected to each other if they follow the same geographic course, but must not.
TrailRunner even offers features to merge a workout with the course of a route. That's important for training devices that can track distances but not GPS locations (e.g. the Apple Nike+ iPod Sensor)

Summary: The different faces of a track
To sum this all up, a track can have the following faces:
If the track contains a series of geographic points without timing information, then it's a track within your network of tracks.
If the track contains additional timing information, then it's the course of a route containing the single track or a sequence of tracks.
If the track contains timing information and values like heartrate, cadence etc., then it's a workout.

Import of a track
Whenever you import a track into TrailRunner, the importer shows you the course of the track in the map part of the main window. Then in the lower part of the importer you can decide if the workout face of the track should be attached to a new diary entry.
Then below that you have options to add a route to your list of routes that is based on the course face of the track. If you choose the option to import as one piece then one long track is added to your network of tracks along with a new route that contains this single track as it's course. If you choose any of the other options, TrailRunner will merge the track into the network of tracks, splitting the track into smaller tracks and joining all similar sub-tracks with existing tracks. One important fact now is that the resulting route will be made of a sequence of tracks that describe the almost identical course as the original recording but complementing your network of tracks.

But most importand of all is: your imported track can go a split way. If you choose the diary and the merge way, you actually have two items deriving from one source but being independent after the import:
- The workout became an immutable one-time recording being stored in the diary.
- The route and your extensions to your network of tracks are mutable.
On tracks you can apply operations like move, split and join affecting the routes that use these within their sequence.
On routes you can change the sequence of tracks they should follow during their course.
But in the end you can create and modify routes to match your plans and use an exported course as a basis for your orientation — while taking your gear out and burning some calories. What you then record can be imported as a new workout into TrailRunner.

Map
To complement this all, a map within TrailRunner is just pixels. A background image you see beneath your network of tracks and a hint for your orientation and manual creation of new tracks. The lines drawn on a map are not part of your network of tracks unless you add them by re-drawing them using the track-tool or by adding GPS recordings that followed the same geographic course of the "line".
The only difference comes with openStreetMap. The openStreetMap map source is a pixel representation of the openStreetMap track network. For this reason it is recommended that when you are using openStreetMap for routing (streets tab) you should also use the openStreetMap map source as your backound maps. As both then perfectly match.

Further Reading
After reading the above, please revisit the following tutorials.
> About TrailRunner feature slide-show
> Import and Edit Tracks Tutorial
> Mastering Track Merge Tutorial

If you still have questions, remarks or suggestions — I do listen! Just write me. Either here, in the forum, on twitter or classic email.

Special mentions in media

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2010-05-06T22:34:52+02:00

TrailRunner 3.1 has been picked as the editor’s choice on Softonic.

TrailRunner has been granted the "Excellent" certificate at FindMySoft.com

I am not sure what it's worth, but mac.softpedia.com found TrailRunner to be free of any malicious code like spyware, viruses, trojans and backdoors.

What's more interesting is the fact that softpedia published some screenshots of TrailRunner depicting a map snapshot of a region in Romania near the river Prut. Looks like globalization also caught the software review industry…

> mac.softpedia.com
> Softpedia Screenshot
> Wikipedia Prut

TrailRunner 1.9.1 - Laps and Diaries

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2009-04-05T22:50:45+02:00

TrailRunner 1.9.1 is out.
Please read below, what the new features the new release has to offer. Thanks for everyone sending me bug reports and feedback.

Diary Assignment
In previous versions of TrailRunner it was not possible to assign imported workouts to diaries (if you have added more than one diary in TrailRunner > Preferences > Personal)
Now when you import a workout, you can choose what diary the diary entry for the workout should go into.
(Please also note that in the main diary window you can add an optional column “Diary” to move entries between diaries )

Laps Import and display
TrailRunner now imports lap information from your Garmin fitness device. As a side effect, TrailRunner displays average and maximum values stored in the device and does not calculate these if values are available.

Route Sharing
Another improvement now the handling for sharing routes. Press the routes button in the main windows control bar to display the route sharing download and upload panes. You now can easily switch between both modes. As this is a feature for sharing, please do not forget to upload your own favorites to GPSies.com

TrailRunner 1.9 - Garmin ANT Importer

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2009-02-25T22:53:37+01:00

TrailRunner can now directly import Garmin ForeRunner 50 and Garmin ForeRunner 405 workouts via the Garmin ANT importer. This works as follows:

Open the application preferences and select the Garmin ANT Agent as your helper application.

Press the Import Button in the main windows toolbar and follow the steps described there.

Check the workouts you want to import either as a diary entry or (if available) as a route.

Garmin ANT Agent for Mac OS X

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2009-02-09T23:15:32+01:00

Just if you did not hear this already, the Garmin ANT driver for Mac OS X is out. I haven’t checked this out enough much yet but at least you now can upload an activity to Garmin Connect without firing up your PC emulation. (Thanks David for the hint)

> Download

DTK Maps - Cutting Edge

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2009-02-03T08:49:03+01:00

I worked on the optimization for map borders. The problem in prior versions of TrailRunner was that when one map provider had no more maps for a region I should automatically switch to the new map provider. What I now do is that I check for each tile being loaded from what WMS server I should get it from. The screenshot shows a cut between the two Maps sources Rheinland-Pfalz TK25, copyright Landesamt für Vermessung und Geobasisinformation Rheinland-Pfalz (LVermGeo) and Hessen ATKIS 50, copyright Hessisches Landesamt fuer Bodenmanagement und Geoinformation.
The funny thing in this picture is that I thought the left map was originally a scanned paper map and the right map was a digital vector map. That could still be true but as you can see with the word "Kläranlage" in the middle of the maps, the word is perfectly aligned on both sources.
Looks like god even planned the locations for clarification plants when he created the world.

How to lose 200 pounds in a year - TrailRunner featured at LifeHacker.com

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2009-01-22T21:35:30+01:00

Lifehacker.com mentions TrailRunner in their feature article „The Best Tech Tools and Fitness Plans to Get in Shape“.

If you're not keen on the web-based route, the Mac-only TrailRunner is an incredible desktop application that tackles many of the same features with a quick and very attractive interface. TrailRunner even integrates with Nike+ iPod, Google Earth, and your GPS (though MapMyRun does GPS, too).

About: Lifehacker digs deep into the technoweb to publish totally life-altering tips and tricks for managing your life. Its readers are avid consumers of software programs, hardware gadgets, and “life hacks” that make their days more efficient, whether at work or at home. Updated over 24 times per weekday, Lifehacker is a bustling, authoritative hub for both pupils and professionals of productivity.

TrailRunner 1.9 - Calling Trails

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2009-01-24T00:48:28+01:00

TrailRunner 1.9 is able to receive GPS recordings from yet another famous iPhone app called Trails written by Felix Lamouroux.

Trails is the only GPS iPhone app that allows you to record, import and export tracks onto your iPhone. Trails is an iTunes Staff Favorite!
Record maps while hiking, on bike trips or while jogging directly on your iPhone. Easily import tracks and follow hikes of others!

This is how it works:

Download Trails

If you did not already, buy Trails in the app store and make some route recordings. Please note that the TrailRunner and Trails data exchange requires TrailRunner version 1.9 and Trails version 1.8. A domestic Airport/Wifi network is required to transfer data from the iPhone onto your Mac.

Transfer Routes

Start TrailRunner. Notice the iPhone control button in the toolbar. Press the control button.

An importer pane will open on the left hand side of the main window. Follow the steps described there.

On your iPhone, open Trails and select a recorded track. Press Export and press the TrailRunner button as depicted below.

TrailRunner and Trails will detect each other automagically and the selected track will be transfered to TrailRunner. The course of the track will be depicted immediately in TrailRunner.

After the course was received in TrailRunner you’ll see the regular workout import pane you might already know. Choose any of the import options and probably add a diary entry for this recording.

As of this writing both application versions are not yet available to the public

> Trails Website

iSchweinehund - c't Magazin 03/2009

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2009-01-18T01:06:56+01:00

If you are a german speaking user, you might want to read the short article about TrailRunner in the german magazine c’t. In issue 03/2009 on page 59 they write:

„TrailRunner liefert nicht nur einen virtuellen Trainingspartner, sondern macht auch als GPS-Track-Editor für Amateur-Kartographen eine gute Figur“.

I liked that they wrote me in advance to cross read the article and gave me a chance to make remarks. They even did send me a copy of the issue for my records.
The issue will be out by Monday, January 19th.

TrailRunner 1.9 - Work in Progress

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-12-23T22:13:46+01:00

I got a bit quiet on the support front because I am very busy with TrailRunner 1.9
Within this release I am re-factoring a lot of very old code to have a better migration path to 2.0 and later releases. Currently in the works:

Route and Network Merge -- This now really works. The most complex part of TrailRunner is now much faster and supports full undo for all operations.

Intermediate Tracks -- Already introduced in 1.8 the algorithm is now capable to merge tracks and calculate an intermediate path. This is being done weighted meaning the more often you run a track course and intermediate-merge the recordings, the more accurate the elevation profile will get over time.

Other parts I am working on are still hidden or unused so nothing to talk about at the moment.

In case you would like to become a beta tester, please subscribe to MacDeveloper.net (see post below) I’ll post a first release soon.

Happy Christmas and enjoy the holidays.
- berbie.

Heartrate zones

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-12-23T22:03:45+01:00

Due to another bugfix I was working on the workout graph and so added heart-rate zones

It might get rather philosophical on what heart rate ranges the different zones are defined. I decided on the following:

In green the Energy Efficient or Recovery Zone, up to 60% of you maximum heart-rate to develop a basic endurance and aerobic capacity.
In orange the Aerobic Zone, 60% up to 75% of your maximum heart-rate. Will develop your cardiovascular system.
In red the Anaerobic Zone, 85% up to 90% of your maximum heart-rate. Training in this zone will develop your lactic acid system.

MacDeveloper - Filing TrailRunner Bugs And Feature Requests

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-12-05T23:49:52+01:00

TrailRunner is now part of the MacDeveloper Testing Network.
“MacDeveloper helps companies and individual software developers alike improve the quality of their products by providing a platform to have their applications properly tested from a well informed, and energetic Beta Pool. It’s an opt-in service for testers who love what the Mac community offers and genuinely want to test.”

Because MacDeveloper uses a clean and structured interface to sort, comment and file bugs and feature requests I would suggest that everyone wanting to become a beta tester for TrailRunner subscribes to the Testing Network.

But — as always — you can still contact me directly if you have any questions or general feedback. MacDeveloper is just another good way to communicate with me.
Enjoy the holidays…

> MacDeveloper

Slam it! - an iPhone game

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-11-26T09:22:29+01:00

The other days I was sitting together with some friends and thought about a fun iPhone app. Well, as one thing came to another we decided use the accelerometer in the iPhone and iPod touch to detect if someone has slammed on the table and to point out who’s going to pay the next round.
And here’s the outcome, a 0,79 Euro App in the AppStore:

“Slam it!” is a fun way to draw sticks, have a shoot-out, find a random winner. Having a kids’ birthday and want to find a team captain? Need to determine who’s paying the next round? Who will be the designated driver? Which poor soul in your shared flat will do the dishes? Don’t just agree on it or, god forbid, command it – no, slam it!

Put your iPhone or iPod touch on a table or desk. Gather the participants around your precious and have them select a playing field by placing a finger on the screen. (Explain to them this is the only circumstance under which you’ll let their greedy paws touch it!) Once everyone lifts their finger, the spinner will start.

Now here’s the twist: While the spinner will eventually decelerate and randomly point out a winner (or loser!) you can influence fate by slamming on the table. When you do so, the spin-down will start and select the loser not so randomly...

“Slam it!” can be played in two game modes (Protect Yourself and Last Player Wins) and comes with three themes to choose from.

Have fun!

> Website
> AppStore

Look Ma' to GTC

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2009-02-08T23:49:08+01:00

Reminder on how to use GPSBabel to download ForeRunner workouts and send them to TrailRunner.

GPSBabel is a free software for GPS data conversion and transfer. As Garmin Training Center for Mac is not supported any more, you can use GPSBabel as an alternative way to send your fitness data to TrailRunner. To send your ForeRunner workout data to TrailRunner, follow these steps:

Download GPSBabel
> Go to http://www.gpsbabel.org
> Go to Download
> Scroll down and download the current GPSBabel+ dmg Package for Mac OS X

The package contains two applications, gpsbabel and GPSBabel+.app

In your applications Folder, create a new folder named GPSBabel
Move the two apps into that folder.

Download and install the TrailRunner support script
> open http://www.trailrunnerx.com/SendToTrailRunner.app.zip
> Move the application SendToTrailRunner.app to the same GPSBabel folder as above

Send workout data from your ForeRunner to TrailRunner
> Connect your ForeRunner with your USB port.
> Double click the SendToTrailRunner.app

GPSBabel should now download your stored fitness data and open the TrailRunner Workout import.
If you get an error message, unplug and pug your ForeRunner with your USB port.

Please note that GPSBabel will download raw fitness data from your ForeRunner and TrailRunner has to calculate all average, maximum and calorie values. This will almost always differ from the devices values as Garmin does some fancy mathematics almost impossible to reproduce by just using the raw workout data. (see FAQ on this)

Detailed Bike maps from opencyclemap.org

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-11-15T00:01:04+01:00

I have updated the opencyclemap.org data source, as the openStreemap alternative is now hosted on a faster server.
If you didn’t know yet, the cycle map is based on the very same data as the OpenStreetMap project but uses a specialized map renderer for outdoor activities. At low zoom levels it is intended for overviews of the National Cycle Network; at higher zoom levels it should help with planning which streets to cycle on.

The new maps now display a elevation contours and hill coloring and have cycle lanes marked on streets within cities.

You might want to reload your maps if you want TrailRunner not to display the old cached imagery. You can either use File > Consolidate > Reload Background Maps or remove the whole cache directory from your home directory under yourHome/Library/Application Support/TrailRunner/GeoTiles/openstreetmap.org

> openstreetmap.org
> opencyclemap.org

TrailRunner in COMPUTERBILD

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-11-14T23:59:00+01:00

(German) Trailrunner wurde in der aktuellen COMPUTER BILD 24/08 im Rahmen eines Navigations-Vergleichstests kurz vorgestellt – auf der Seite 89 beim Thema “Freizeitnavigation” gibt es einen Screenshot. Auch genannt in dem Artikel ist iTrail für das iPhone.

Import and Export for Garmin Edge 705

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-10-06T00:33:11+02:00

One of the nice things with the Garmin Edge is that you can mount the device as a Harddrive on your mac. Then within the folder you see all workouts accomplised.

It’s pretty easy to open these in TrailRunner. Just select a bunch and drag them onto TrailRunner and you’ll see them there.

This week I implemented the other direction. TrailRunner can now write the native file format for the newer Garmin devices, with the .tcx file extension.
There are a few steps to follow and it’s very convenient after that:
> Right-click on the control bar
> Choose Cutomize Toolbar…
> Drag the Export as TCX icon into your toolbar.

Next, when you like to export a route course onto your Edge, just select the route, press the Export button and save the route into the courses folder of the edge.
That’s it.

TrailRunner 1.8 - View your iPhone GPS Recordings

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-11-04T01:33:39+01:00

As developing a decent iPhone application is as much work as developing huge parts of TrailRunner I decided to not write my own iPhone app but to partner with one of the existing ones. This companion application you can buy in the App store is iTrail.
TrailRunner and iTrail require domestic Airport/Wifi network to transfer data from the iPhone onto your Mac.
This is how it works:

Buy iTrail
If you did not already, buy iTrail in the app store and make some route recordings.
> Website

Transfer Routes

Start TrailRunner. You’ll notice a new icon in the toolbar if you are a first time user. Otherwise you can add this icon by control clicking the control bar and adding the new iPhone Icon.

An importer pane will open on the left hand side of the main window. Follow the steps described there.

In the current version of iTrail (shown on the left), TrailRunner and iTrail Desktop are the same. This will change in the future to something like in the right screenshot (taken from a preview build of iTrail 1.7).

It is important to know that TrailRunner can not interpret the proprietary CSV file format of iTrail. The GPX file format is the one you should choose for the transfer.

After the course was received in TrailRunner you’ll see the regular workout import pane you might already know. Choose any of the import options and probably add a diary entry for this recording.

TrailRunner 1.8 - Share your Routes

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-09-21T19:07:12+02:00

Completed the next level for the GPSies.com integration. After the download of routes from the GPSies community was recently introduced you now can share your routes with others in the GPSies community. Quick how to:

Open Route Sharing
You’ll find the new menu command under File > Share Routes.

Login
Get an account at GPSies.com and log in.

Choose Routes to Share
Select the routes you want to share by placing a check mark.
For each chosen route, enter your route description. If you’d like to reference to other websites for detail, TrailRunner will automatically detect hyperlinks.
Choose your descriptions wisely as they will help others follow the same course as you did (even with GPS devices this is still recommended)
Select a suitable activity for your suggestion and press upload.
Within the GPSies.com portal you can still refine your route descriptions at a later point. Have fun…

Download a Preview Build of TrailRunner with this feature

TrailRunner 1.8 - GPSies on the Run

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-09-20T19:22:01+02:00

Long on the list and now available: The integration with GPSies.com, the outdoor route sharing portal, has been improved.
The route course lookup is accessible through either the File > Find Routes Nearby command or the new toolbar-icon. A new importer pane will open on the left displaying all routes available near the current map location. Browse, check and import what you like and use TrailRunners merge and planning options to individualize what others have already explored for you.

TrailRunner 1.8 - Borderless Freedom

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-09-15T23:12:21+02:00

TrailRunner 1.8 is out !
Have fun and thanks for your feedback!

> Download

User Interface
Reworked the overall application design to match the current state of the art

Map loading
Although already improved much in 1.7 this now should be it.

Track editor
Selections within the profile chart, route slider, track editor and route description window are now fully synchronized.

Routes vs. Workouts
One of the biggest problems for TrailRunner newbies was, that the differences between a route and a workout / the main document and the diary wasn’t intuitively clear. So I now changed the interface to make both approaches available in the main window.

Download here: http://trailrunnerx.com/download-beta-redirect.html

Import directions from maps.google

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2010-08-14T20:06:03+02:00

If you want to import a route planned with maps.google.com into TrailRunner, follow these steps:
Goto maps.google.com and use the Get Directions tab to plan your course.
Click the Link to this page link.
In the Paste link in email or IM edit field, append &output=kml to the end of the url (with no blank inbetween)

Copy the whole URL and paste it into the address bar. Press the return key.
A kml file will now download. Drag the maps.kml file onto TrailRunner or the main window. The course importer will open.

More convenient alternatives:

Convert Google Maps Data to GPX
> GMapToGPX
> GMapToGPX (German)

Cheap GPS receiver alternatives

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-06-28T19:49:52+02:00

One user named Rolf is using a GPS mouse for recording his course data. This might be an interesting alternative if you would not like to afford an expensive GPS device like the Garmin ForeRunner or Edge. This is how Rolf uses it:

The iBlue is a USB/Bluetooth-GPS-Mouse and can record up to 100'000 data points in any configurable time interval.
You read the recorded data off the device with an application called MacTravelRecorder.
Create a GPX file and open it with TrailRunner.

With MacTravelRecorder I can set the settings of the iBlue747 and also download tracks down to my Mac. Normally I use the settings for GoogleEarth so I can export the tracks directly into GoogleEarth, or also export the tracks into the GPX-file and open this in TrailRunner.

The iBlue 747 Bluetooth Data Logger GPS Receiver is ~$65 at amazon.

> Mac TravelRecorder
> Transystem, maker of the iBlue

Supported Fitness Devices

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2010-02-18T09:57:50+01:00

TrailRunner directly and indirectly supports several workout recording devices. As it’s very time consuming to directly support fitness devices, I decided to interface with dedicated helper applications that do a much better job than I could do on my own. Go to the TrailRunner application preferences to set the synchonisation for your supported fitness device.

Amazon.com Widgets

> FAQ Entry on supported fitness devices, GPS receivers and file formats.

TrailRunner 1.7 - Released

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-07-04T13:34:00+02:00

TrailRunner 1.7 is now out. Please note that TrailRunner 1.7 requires MacOS X 10.5 Leopard to run. If you are still working under 10.4 Tiger, you can use the last 1.6 release. Development for the 1.6 release will be stopped from now on.

What's new in 1.7:

Merge
Rewrote the merge elements algorithm to be more stable, faster and to support more operations to be undoable. It's not complete yet but given the fact that this is extremely complex, I am very happy with what I have learned and was able to dig out as the current core. Also reduced the geographic snap-in grid from 20 meters to 10 meters.

Workout History
I am at rewriting the old overall history diagram. Instead of the once fancy idea of having adaptive time intervals like "Summer 06" I now go the conservative way of weeks. The screenshot below should illustrate what I mean. As you can see the diagram type is identical to the workout analysis graph meaning you have the same analysis features.
New is the deviation background behind the line. As before, TrailRunner displays the statistical median for an interval but now gives you an idea in what value range this median lies within (see the grey background with the dotted outline)

click to zoom

Weblog
The weblog now also publishes a zoomed image along with the thumbnail left to the weblog entry. Click on the thumbnail to see the enlarged version. Find an example in my own weblog.

Nike+ SportBand and nikeplus.com
Originally I had planned to access the new Nike+ SportBand workout data much like I access an iPod. But it turned out to be impossible. But then I learned how easy it was (for me) to access a users complete workout store at nikeplus.com. The consequence? Register at nikeplus. Set goals, run competitions, put yourself into the spotlight and then download your personal data back into TrailRunner—on your Mac. It's your property. Find all this behind the Nike + Apple SportKit toolbar button.

Get the latest changes from the Release Cast
Download the latest TrailRunner 1.7 Release Download
Download the last TrailRunner 1.6 Release Download

I am impressed

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-04-27T19:10:05+02:00

Do you also dream of a time when topographic maps are available for free and the quality would almost be better than commercial alternatives? The time has come. Left you see the region where I do most of my "home runs" on google terrain maps and right the same area on openstreetmap.org. What a detail, how nice…

TrailRunner 1.7 - Leopard only

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-03-16T13:31:39+01:00

From the statistics I can see that 100% of all regular users have upgraded to Leopard. So I made the decision to make TrailRunner 1.7 Leopard only and to remove all compatibility code from there on. Complaints?

TrailRunner 1.6 - New Layout Mimic

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-03-15T22:14:01+01:00

Release v216 already brought the first major rewrite of the layout track and layout route mimic. v217 will bring the next level, the adjust route mimic.

Mostly important, the stupid you first have to create a network of tracks and then think of your routes limitation is now gone. All first time users have only their route in mind and don't care a straw about any conceptual limitations in TrailRunner. So I finally removed another annoying limitation: Just press the green New Route button and start creating your route while in reality you create a track and concurrently add it to the piggyback route. The Layout and calculate routes chapter in Help has a video tutorial illustrating this:

Changing the course of a route is an old, yet one of the first features, of TrailRunner — though most users might not be aware of it. It's simple: Drag any way-point that's part of the routes course onto another free way-point and reroute the route over that point. The new behavior is that while you are dragging you get a visual preview of what the result of the reroute will look like. As with the new layout engine, undo should now be fine with this operation too. Have a look:

TrailRunner - GPSies - Panoramio : Get the Picture

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-02-24T21:05:08+01:00

You might have already found this out but one of the niceties with the GPSies integration in TrailRunner is photos at Panoramio right along your track.
Just publish your route as a public weblog entry or directly display the route at GPSies and check the Panoramio checkbox.

Help !!

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-02-09T17:04:54+01:00

This time I'd like to place a call into the TrailRunner community. A call for your help.
In the past, TrailRunner became more and more feature rich, not yet over-loaded but pretty complex. And TrailRunner has conceptual limitations by it's nature of being freeware using free services and a single person background (me).
My development cycle goes from answering support emails, fixing bugs, developing new features, documenting features and back again.
As you might have noticed I tend to develop features with the highest request rate first. But this ignores a great number users: The first time users. And to make TrailRunner bigger and better, we need helping them to get onto the trail. And that's what I am asking your help for.

Tutorials
Currently I have set up three tutorials, one for each technical target group. But when Steve Jobs explained us all in his keynote that the Amazon Kindle will fail due to the fact that no-one is reading anymore, he was quite right. Written tutorials are good for those that take the time but nothing for a first time user. They want video tutorials. But video tutorials are double the work, or even more.

Assistance
Many software packages try to solve the learning curve problem by providing assistance like tip of the day, warning messages with the obligatory "don't show this anymore" checkbox and the glorious MS Office paper-clip assistant. I already have added warning messages on key usage trails but that's far from being perfect. I started on a tip of the day system but haven't completed this yet.

Forum
In the age of internet it looks like every software package is required to have a forum. But at least after a month you need a forum administrator — and that's me. So I ignore the whole forum demand and keep focused on my feedback mails, unless I would know there would be valuable and useful support content growing in the forum content, without my intervention being required.

All in all, my questioning is, who would like to help me out by:
Extending, refining and completing Tutorials, possibly by creating a video Tutorial.
Giving me pointers on where first time users (like you once where too) would get stuck in the application and what tips of a day would help to get further.
Making suggestions on forum topics that might help new users to get valuable information that is generated by other users, and not moderated by myself.

If you have the time and ability, please drop me a line. Didn't you not always want to use iMovie and didn't know what for… Here you go (maybe).

US Army Topographic Maps

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-01-29T00:01:55+01:00

If you live outside the western countries that already offer topographic map services TrailRunner can use, you might want to take a look at the topographic map collection of Perry-Castañeda Library of the University of Texas at Austin. They provide tons of topographic maps created by the US Army. The map above depicts the Ivory Coast in West Africa, a place I've been to years ago.

It would be great if someone could tile these into a common web service format. But until that is done, you can manually add the maps to TrailRunner and calibrate them.

> US Army Map Service Topographic Maps
> Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection

TrailRunner 1.6 - Community and tracks nearby

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-01-20T02:05:27+01:00

You still might know GPSies from one of my previous posts. GPSies is a site that stores and visualizes running courses or Mountain Bike Tracks users have uploaded to share. TrailRunner now integrates with GPSies in two ways:

Display weblog tracks
Every weblog entry now has a new link that displays the attached route at GPSies. This makes it convenient for your visitors to quickly investigate the route and not just download the GPX or KML files.

Find Tracks Nearby
For the current location in your document, TrailRunner opens a new browser window and displays what GPSies has to offer for this region. To do this, use File > Show nearby tracks
When GPSies has opened, you'll find a search pane on the right that will show you routes nearby. If you have found a route that is of any interest to you, download the route. Drag the downloaded file onto the TrailRunner application icon in your dock and you can merge the new route into your main document.
I have the strong feeling I don't have to tell you how cool this is.

> http://www.gpsies.com

TrailRunner 1.6 - Improved Polar Workout Import

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-01-09T01:35:40+01:00

Good news for Polar RS200 and TrackRecord users. I Improved the import process. Now the workflow is much simpler:

- Press the import button
- Use TrackRecord to read in your workout data
- Quit TrackRecord
- Press the continue button in TrailRunner
- Select workouts to be imported and assign routes.

Assigning a route will then merge the workout recordings with the TrailRunner route, giving you a good overlay of both.
And this also answers one of the most frequently asked questions: TrailRunner requires your Polar recordings to contain distance information. If that is not the case, the workout can't be imported. The reason is that TrailRunner is distance based and not time based. To overlay a distance based route with e.g. heart-rate information, the workout recording must be in the same unit meaning to be distance based too. This is a core concept and a time based approach will never be implemented into TrailRunner.

Have fun with another preview release:

> Download

TrailRunner 1.6 - Export and Retrace

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-01-09T01:17:27+01:00

The next major release step will bring a highly requested and an intuitive new feature.

The former is a new route export pane. It will appear on Send To GPS and Save as GPX, will let you select more than one route to be exported and has the following options:
Boundary route: The idea behind this is to get all crossings exported without exporting the whole track network. As a track network is not part of the conceptual background in GPX files, this "pseudo" route will act as a hull around the selected route. Unfortunately my Garmin ForeRunner is not able to display more than one course at a time but it might be useful in other cases.
Compression: If you export more than one route into a GPX file the amount of data might overrun your devices memory limits. Compression might help to reduce the amount. A visual preview of the selected track depicts what the compressed track looks like.

The latter new feature are track animations and a route slider. If you previously selected a checkpoint in the left hand table and used the arrow-down key to browse through the course of your route (what I do to memorize the course before I go out, even though you have electronical cheat sheets like NanoMaps and Send To GPS) TrailRunner will now retrace the course of the track segment up to the next checkpoint. Additionally, the new route slider at the bottom of the map lets you browse through the course of the route much the same way as coverflow in Leopard does with files.

If you are a thrill seeker or would like to be a cheer leader, download a nightly build here:

> Download

Enjoy!
At this point I'd like to thank everybody who gave me feedback and motivation for the TrailRunner project in the past year. The project still satisfies me very much and we'll see many more updates in the future. All the best to everybody for 2008…

QuickTutorial: Using TrailRunner with your Polar RS200

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2007-12-19T13:10:23+01:00

To import workouts from your polar heart-rate monitor into TrailRunner, please follow these steps:

In TrailRunner Preferences > Synchronize : Select TrackRecord as your Helper App
Press the download Button to get TrackRecord from bluecrowbar.com
Close Preferences and open your main TrailRunner document.
You might in advance create routes that reflect the courses of the workouts being imported. To learn how to create routes, first read the QuickGuide Tutorial
Press the Import (from heart rate monitor) Button in the upper tool-bar.
TrackRecord will start up. Import your workouts and Export the Sessions to your Desktop. (Please make sure that you use the english date format: mm/dd/yy when you export your files)
Now drag each exported workout session onto the main TrailRunner window, the import pane on the left will open.
Select a matching route and press the add Button.
A new diary entry will be added combining the information from the selected route and the imported workout

TrailRunner - One of the Best Mac-Software?

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2007-12-08T11:07:10+01:00

Heise.de sucht für ein Themen-Special nach den besten Programmen für Mac OS X. Wer mithelfen möchte, dass der TrailRunner mit dabei ist, der kann über ein Online Formular bei Heise für den TrailRunner votieren. Würde mich freuen !

> TrailRunner im Heise Software Archiv dort dann auf die Bewertungsskala klicken (erfordert leider eine Registrierung).

Heise.de is looking for any best Mac software. If you would like to vote for TrailRunner, click the link above and use the rating tool on the listing page. Related to this I would also be happy if you could help pushing votes for TrailRunner on iusethis. Click the badge below (unfortunately requires a registration too)

TrailRunner SneakPeek — Contour Overlay and Terrain Map Source

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2007-12-02T13:37:43+01:00

Today I added a contour layer to background maps. The contour data comes from the same USGS data source as the already known elevation download. But the transparent overlay is something being calculated and provided by Jonathan Stott from www.earthtools.org.
Earthtools is a cool service anyway. Hopefully it will stay free for a long time. As long as it is, enjoy the contours.
The display settings you'll find under Document Settings > Additional Settings > Contour : Show/Hide
The examples above show a region with the contour overlay applied to three background map sources. On the right with satellite imagery and left with openstreetmap.org. As a sidenote I realized that openstreetmap really gets a momentum. I am very pleased for the quality and detail the service now offers. As maps at openstreetmap.org change often, please regularly empty your map cache.
File > Consolidate > Empty Caches
The other news are terrain maps from Google. As you can see in the middle image, also with overlay contours applied.

> www.earthtools.org
> www.openstreetmap.org
> maps.google.com

Polar HRM2 workout import

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2007-11-08T00:19:27+01:00

From build 192 on the Polar HRM import will work better but should still be considered as experimental. I now import the [IntTimes] block and then, if a [HRData] block is available, merge the additional data in. What surprises me is that the data in HRM files are very inconsistent. On the one hand in the leading part of the file the workout duration says to be e.g. 0:41:20.0 but the last Interval ends at 0:44:49.5. Also if the recording interval is set to every 5 seconds and you multiply the number of [HRData] sets by 5 you also get more seconds than the given workout duration. Next, the [Trip] duration is totally off any other values one can accumulate. At last, the file doesn't contain calories burned but only your weight and VO₂ max. So I have to calculate the calories myself. All this means that you will never see identical values for the same data.
To retrieve HRM files from your watch, try TrackRecord or use some PC Software. TrailRunner Preferences now has TrackRecord added as a helper application for the import button. Use Import or drag a HRM file onto the TrailRunner dock icon. Anyway the workout import pane will open. To connect the workout with a route, select one in the routes list and add your workout to the diary like shown in the example below.

> TrackRecord - Polar RS200 SonicLink™ for MacOS X

Sharing GPS Trails

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2010-05-13T08:29:22+02:00

The internet and the community behind are a great resource. You already know that. The following community sites are a selection where you can upload share and download running, hiking or biking courses:

With GPSies you can view and download tracks which have been recorded by a GPS device. Whether you are searching for running courses or Mountain Bike Tracks, with GPSies you can see what Tracks others have recorded. And you can download all the Tracks and put them onto your GPS device so you won`t lose your way.
http://www.gpsies.com

EveryTrail is a mobile travel companion that enables travelers to Track, Share and Search Trips. EveryTrail also offers apps for iPhone, Android and other mobile platforms.
www.everytrail.com

[Update] Route sharing website based and focusing on the UK.
www.anyonefor.com

Bikely helps cyclists share knowledge of good bicycle routes.
http://www.bikely.com

WikiLoc is a free web app that lets you share GPS tracklogs and waypoints on the web in an easy way
http://www.wikiloc.com

German: Hier findest du kostenlose Touren mit GPS Tracks zu Outdoor Aktivitäten in beliebten Kategorien wie Mountainbiken, Wandern, Reiten, Ski etc.
http://www.gps-tour.info

Press Reviews

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-01-26T09:06:04+01:00

In the december 2006 issue of french SVM Mac magazine TrailRunner is being reviewed on page 98. It's a short description on what the application does and for whom it is useful. "TrailRunner se révèle un outil sophistiqué pour l'entraînement sportif e la préparation de parcours".
June 2006 issue of UK MacFormat magazine published a two page how two get directions from your iPod. "Create maps and route plans, then transfer them to your iPod wit this ingenious piece of software". Pages 62 and 63.
October 2006 issue of the german MacLife magazine wrote a News & Trends article about TralRunner and GPS Photo linker. The article is called "Rennende GPS-Fotografen" (running GPS photographers). Page 13.
Frebruary 2006 issue of german c't magazine noted TrailRunner in its New for Mac section. Page 54 announces the new iPod Nano and below an Article about TrailRunner. "Mit TrailRunner kann man seine Laufstrecken planen".

More Press Reviews
Keeping Your Workout Fresh: MacApper.com, 01/26/08

MapDiscovery 0.5 — Topo Browser

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2006-12-29T18:22:19+01:00

MapDiscovery gets into shape. I am working on it as an easy way to locate yourself on this planet, and to set a starting point in TrailRunner. Instead of the all so popular GoogleEarth digital orthophoto (DOQ) MapDiscovery is specialized on finding topographic maps available from open WMS Servers. Especially the USGS Topo Maps and the Maps from Catalonia and Germany are such great sources with a detail, most can not imagine if haven't seen yet. So for this and other reasons this small application lets you browse around the globe and inspect the best known map sources I know of. > Download MapDiscovery

GeoServer NRW

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2006-12-17T12:24:32+01:00

I am happy to announce that I finally got the GeoServer of Nordrhein-Westfalen integrated as a download source. This will open up a very detailed map coverage for the state in Germany with the highest population. To achieve this, I integrated a great package named proj.4 which is simply a framework to transform coordinate systems from one to another. In this case TrailRunner requires the WGS84 Spatial Reference System EPSG:4326 but the WMS Server of NRW only understands the Gauß-Krüger Reference System EPSG:31466, which is very common in Europe. But even though I can transform points from one coordinate system to another, I still have to rotate each map tile I get back from the server. Mostly by 1.06 degrees. And additionally I have to stretch and bulge the tiles horizontally and vertically to get a perfect overlay with the tiles in the neighborhood. Somehow I have the impression that the WMS server does something weird internally and this is the reason why they are unable to provide the EPSG:4326 projection by default. If someone of my honored readers has any deeper knowledge about what could be going on here, please drop me a line. I would be very thankful to discuss this topic and to find an appropriate solution. The quality, the server can deliver, is really worth the effort.
> PROJ.4 - Cartographic Projections Library

Mapa topografic de Catalunya

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2006-11-15T20:25:25+01:00

One recent WMS discovery will extend the TrailRunner maps download by maps from Catalunya (Spain). The Institut Cartografic de Catalunya (ICC) provides maps in various resolutions, down to 1:5000. This is by far (yet) the best map source I know of.
If you know other open WMS Servers with good material, please drop me a line.

Special Mention @ MacGeneration Award 2006

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2006-09-18T18:04:20+02:00

TrailRunner today got a special mention as "meilleure utilisation des technologies Apple" (Best usage of Apple technologies) in the MacGeneration Award 2006.
Read about the winners and the mention:
Français Original
MacNews German

This also is a big thank you to all contributors of feedback and new ideas. Even if we hardly speak the same languages.

How to help out translating TrailRunner to your language

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2010-08-13T13:19:06+02:00

With the fabulous help of some users, TrailRunner is localized to German, Swedish, Italian, traditional Chinese (Taiwan), French, Dutch and Japanese.
Thank you very much Oskar, Pierino, Nitoc, Xavier, Steven, Juan, Takashi and all other that have completed the original translations or improved them by their comments.

If you like to translate TrailRunner to your language or if you would like to supplement an existing translation, please contact me and use the following application I wrote:

Download the Localizer Application: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1963886/Localizer.zip
Drag the TrailRunner.binary Database onto the application icon.
In the top search bar, select Language and search for you target language, e.g. fr for French
The table below now shows all string known to TrailRunner with the original language in english and a localization below each entry.
In the button bar below the table, click on the button Next (Command-1) to go to the next untranslated entry.
To translate the original text in english to a common work being used by standard Apple Apps (like File, Copy, Delete, Cliboard, etc) use the Lookup button. It may not produce any result. If the lookup was unsuccessful, choose the next step:
Either click on Translate (Command-3) to pre-translate the string using translate.google.com or overtype the contents of Localized String.
Accept removes the marker NEW or CHANGED. These are set if the original had changed or was added. Accept if the translation is still ok. The marker is used for the Next button to jump to the next location were work is being required.
Update resets the translation to the original for that you can redo your work.
Please never edit the refactoring fields for Key or the Table.
The buttons Import and Export are exclusive to me, you do not require them.
When you feel like enough work has been put into the translation by your side, save the document and send me the TrailRunner.binary file.
Please note that the database delivery by me does only contain the most important strings as translating is a hell lot of work.

Please let me know how it goes, free registration waiting as an award ;-)

Where do TrailRunners live?

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2009-09-08T22:26:38+02:00

As one might expect, the TrailRunner community is very international. Thanks to google, I can present you a Geo Map Overlay for TrailRunners, a graphical representation of the volume of visitors coming from locations around the world. The darkest spots indicate locations driving the most visitors to the TrailRunner website.
Interestingly most of my visitors come from Europe, but why is that so? Americans, put your shoes on…!

NanoMaps for Mobiles

berbie.trailrunner@mac.com — 2008-07-26T09:02:57+02:00

As you might already know, the NanoMaps feature is available not only for the iPod nano but also for any kind of mobile device with a color-screen – especially for cellphones. To set the appropriate image-size the preferences for export allow you to set the width and height for the NanoMaps.

Images sizes for different displays
For all who do not know the resolution of their device I started a collection for common devices like the T610 on the left. You can find the list in the Library. If you did successfully export your directions onto any device that is not listed there, please leave me a note what device you are using and the resolution that fits best on its screen.

Image formats
TrailRunner exports the images as jpegs. Unfortunately not all cellphones can display them (like the K610i). Therefore you first need to convert the images to the png format. Heiko noted this and has sent screenshots of his Automator Action to easily convert the images :

- Select Files from Finder
- Change Image Format to PNG
- Change Finder Object Names

Image Transfer
In general I expect you to transfer the NanoMaps onto your cellphone using the Bluetooth File Exchange Application. Browse your device and drag the images into its pictures directory.