TriHard
TriHard is another program that permits entering a schedule, but again it doesn't perform as I'd expected. Here, as Figure F shows, you can enter a schedule based on the time for each workout or the distance. You can't enter both, and if you change from time to distance, the program assumes your numbers stay the same. My 4.5 miles became 4.5 minutes, and the program made this change without asking me for approval.

FIGURE F

Entering a planned week in TriHard means deciding to track all workouts by either distance or time. Click picture for a larger image.

When you then go to enter a workout, the program autofills the duration or distance based on what's in your plan. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to bring over the type of workout. Figure G shows the data entry screen, with my planned one-hour run. The one-hour part came over, but the type of workout did not.

FIGURE G

TriHard's data entry screen is pretty much empty. Click picture for a larger image.

The biggest problem, though, is the crashes. I was testing the weight training tracking section, pressed the Log'button to record data and the program soft reset my Treo. I went back in and it seemed to be okay until I tried to get a list of workouts filtered just for running, and again it crashed.

TriHard appears to be a promising start but the repeated crashes are a serious problem. TriHard really needs to try harder.

OUR RATING: 2 of 5

I cannot recommend TriHard because of the crashes.

RunPlan's tracking system is probably of value for a serious runner, but the planning system does not appear to be fully functional.

Runner's Log is basic yet customizable, and its ability to track multiple exercises puts it ahead of MyRunningLog, although MyRunningLog would be great for someone who exclusively runs. If you like graphs, MyRunningLog is a better choice.

MySportsTraining really does do it all. It's not quite as good at determining run-specific statistics as MyRunningLog is, but the ease of tracking all sports is impressive.

Heather Wardell received her first Palm handheld in 1997 (from a boss who couldn't get the hang of Graffiti) and has never looked back. She worked in banking as a systems analyst for four years, and then moved into elementary education, teaching computers at a private elementary school for four years. Heather is now a full-time writer with two main specialties: articles that explain how a particular technology works, and short stories that usually involve technology run amok. You can reach her on the Web at http://www.heatherwardell.com.