The Ultimate iPhone App for Triathletes (and Their Families)
Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 7:56PM 
The iPhone has numerous cool applicatons and more coming out every day. With an on-board GPS, it can be of incredible use to people who cover vast distances under tough conditions. If you are a triathlete, I am describing YOU.
"Here I am" is an app that opens up a screen and shows your current coordinates. It will then prepare an email with those coordinates stuffed into a Google Maps URL. When the recipient clicks on the link, it opens up Google Maps and throws down a pin on that location. This is an example of such a link. http://maps.google.com/maps?q=
Here's just a few ways you can use it:
- Have a flat tire on the bike? Call somebody to get you and tell them you are emailing them your exact location.
- See something on a ride or run that you want to remember? Email the location to yourself.
- Set up a TwitterMail account and post to your friends on Twitter where you are while training.
- Traveling to a race? Send yourself the coordinates of that great tri shop, where you parked your car, and everything else so you can find it again.
- Drive a bike or run course and email yourself the locations of the tough spots. Analyze later on Google Maps so you can plan out your race better.
- If you have a Google account, you can add these points to your own map to keep. Collect over time remember!
You may be surprised that I did not pick some workout log, distance measuring, or other fitness app as a "Must Have." I am sure there are plenty of them and they are great. Here is why this one is tops:
- This one can save your life.
- It is incredibly simple.
- The uses are only as limited as your imagination.
- It is free.
There was a reporter who was recently captured in a war zone. He told everybody ahead of time that if he needs help, he will Twitter for it. One day his message simply said "Help" or "Caught" and the calvary came running. It saved his life. I'm no reporter in a war zone, but my family knows that I can tell them right where I am if I need help.
How would you use it?
UPDATE!
I've been testing it with Twittermail and they break the link when it is sent on to Twitter. Anybody have an idea on how to preserve the link correctly?
UPDATE #2
The fine folks at TwitterMail didn't put comma handling in their utility. When emailing your location to TwitterMail, replace the comma in the Google Maps URL with "%2C" (Minus the quotes.)
UPDATE #3 (Will this ever end?) The fix above makes it work everywhere but in the gmaps application on the iPhone. It puts the coordinates in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. To get it to work, you have to replace the "-" and add "n" and "w" after the lat and lon. Here is an example -
BAD - http://maps.google.com/maps?q=32.123456,+-97.234567
GOOD - http://maps.google.com/maps?q=32.123456n%2C+97.234567w
Reader Comments (7)
Man... with people making cool apps like this, the iPhone is completely blowing away garmins and iPod shuffles as the "must have" triathlon gadget.
one website... http://www.snurl.com
Whose house is that?
I am in awe of bretts awesomeness to actually train hard enough for an IM and still mess around with all this techno crap. See at IMOO 2010 for our rematch!
You should check out dailymile.com. You might find it useful for your training! So far their community has been very helpful to a beginner like me, and finding the motivation I need.
Sweet! While checking this one out, I found another called Instamapper (check out instamapper.com) People-like a nervous spouse--can track you on a Google map while you're training, so long as you're running the app on your iPhone. They advertise that it works on other devices like a BlackBerry. A little creepy to open yourself up to that kind of visibility--what if someone sees that I stopped at the DQ after I hammer out a ride? At any rate, both apps are fun stuff for the triathelete.
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