For those of you that like to do some number crunching on your power stats then the recent update to the Map My Tracks app might interest you. We’ve introduced a summary of your peak power over different time intervals giving you an at-a-glance view of your stats.
In amongst the stats are a few things that get automatically detected from your ride date. FTP, FTHR, VO2max and MAP are all estimated when certain criteria are met. As these are normally best tested in a lab the values are only relevant when the app detects that you have performed at a steady and high state.
This is only useful if you ride with a power meter. If that’s you then check out the latest version of the app in the App Store and Google Play.
Participating in ultra-distance events, such as ultramarathons, triathlons, or long-distance cycling races, can be a challenging and rewarding experience.
However, the physical demands of these events can also lead to nausea, which can be a frustrating and uncomfortable symptom to deal with. We’ll explore some strategies for coping with nausea during ultra-distance events.
Hydration
Dehydration is a common cause of nausea, so it is essential to drink enough fluids during the event. Aim to drink water or a sports drink every 15-20 minutes to maintain hydration levels. Avoid sugary or caffeinated drinks, as they can exacerbate nausea.
Food
Consuming food during an ultra-distance event is crucial to maintain energy levels, but it can also cause nausea. Avoid consuming high-fat or high-fiber foods before or during the event, as they can be hard to digest. Instead, opt for easily digestible carbohydrates such as gels, chews, or sports drinks.
Pace
Overexerting oneself during an ultra-distance event can cause nausea, especially when the body is not used to the intensity of the activity. Try to maintain a steady pace throughout the event, and avoid sudden bursts of activity that can lead to nausea.
Breathing Techniques
Nausea can also be a symptom of anxiety or stress. Practicing breathing techniques, such as deep breathing or meditation, can help reduce stress levels and alleviate nausea.
Medication
For extreme cases of nausea, over-the-counter medications such as antacids or anti-nausea medications may be necessary. However, it is essential to consult with a medical professional before taking any medication during an ultra-distance event.
Mental Techniques
Focusing on positive thoughts and visualization can also help reduce nausea. Remind yourself of why you are participating in the event and focus on the positive aspects of the experience.
Nausea can be a common symptom during ultra-distance events, but there are various ways to cope with it. By maintaining hydration levels, consuming easily digestible carbohydrates, pacing oneself, practicing breathing techniques, and utilizing mental techniques, participants can reduce the impact of nausea on their performance and enjoy the experience and have fun.
We're thrilled to be able to roll out a new feature that has long been asked for. PLUS members can now create Collections of activities.
You might want to create a collection from a recent hike over a few days or from rides completed over several days. In fact, collections are so versatile that they can be any group of activities with each collection topped and tailed with cover images and descriptions.
Collections can remain private or if you prefer to share your collection with other Map My Tracks users then you can make it public for everyone to see. Either way, you are in control.
Collections are made by first tagging your activities. Use the same tag across all the activities you wish to include in the collection, then from your tag list page you can convert the tag into a collection.
Tags can be added to activities either on the website or through the app. For now, collections are only available on the website but they will be soon be also in the app.
As ever, let us know what you think. If you need any guidance on using Collections then get in touch with us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
We can’t wait to see how you start using Collections. Get started here →
We’ve kicked things off with a few Collections to browse:
In the upcoming release of the Map My Tracks app we've made is super simple to start sharing social cards of your activities to your favourite socials media networks.
Social cards feature your photo of choice, or your activity map, together with a summary of the distance, time and elevation. The social cards are a handy way to show off you latest hike or bike ride with friends.
Social cards are just the latest way to share your activities. Activity Moment videos also let you showcase your activities and result in an animated video ready to share on social networks. Text links can also be shared that includes a summary of all the activity details.
We can’t wait to see how everyone uses this on social networks. Tag posts using #mapmytracks so we can follow your progress.
Map My Tracks will be temporarily unavailable from 08:30 (BST) on April 7 while we undertake some essential maintenance. The service will return within a few hours.
Live tracking will not be available while the service is offline. If you have any questions please contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Over the Easter weekend Map My Tracks was under attack from spammers who were posting inappropriate comments on user activities. Our monitoring systems alerted us to this activity but not before many comments had been posted on activities.
For this I am sorry. I appreciate that some of the users that the spammers have targeted have received many, many emails as a result of the comments being posted. I know how annoying this is but rest assured that no account credentials were compromised and no accounts were breached. The exploit that the spammers took advantage of chose random user IDs to spoof comments on behalf of other users.
We have already taken steps to halt this action and are in the process of adapting how comments are posted in future to combat this issue. One side effect of how the emails were sent means that some users will still be receiving emails over the coming days. These emails were actually sent several days ago but due to how mail servers work they were held back and only now being delivered. Unfortunately, we have no way of recalling these emails as they have already left our system. It goes without saying but please ignore these emails and do not click on any links within them.
Should you wish to manage what emails you receive from Map My Tracks in future then please update your preferences.
We will update this post with further details over the coming 24 hours. Should anyone be concerned, or have questions, please contact us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) where we can assist you further.
Again, I apologize for the hassle, and concern, this has no doubt caused.
Always wanted to hike the length of the Camino de Santiago or ride across America or the length of Britain? Now with Map My Tracks virtual events you can remotely complete routes by using your everyday workouts.
Virtual events on Map My Tracks make every mile count and are a great way to embark on long distance challenges remotely. A virtual event takes your activities and uses each mile covered to propel you along a virtual route. Along the way you can pass point of interests, explore the terrain and compete against others to get to the finish line first.
Why not challenge your friends and family to walk the West Highland Way over the next two weeks or ride the Scottish North Coast 500 over the weekend. Want a solo adventure? Create your own virtual event to keep yourself motivated.
As with all events it’s simple to get started. Create your event then upload, or draw, your route. After that, invite the participants to join the event. Once your event has started all activities uploaded by participants will contribute to their distance along the virtual route.
Participants can use the Map My Tracks app to track live and have their progress updated in real-time or record their activity with compatible devices and upload their activities after they have finished each workout. Either way, the distance covered goes towards completing the virtual event.
Map My Tracks virtual events can be set up using the Event Planner and be viewed on the Map My Tracks app for iOS and Android as well as within Map My Tracks Events on the website.
Get started and set up your first virtual event. It’s free.
Regular users of Map My Tracks may have noticed some odd things going on over the past few days. We thought an explanation was in order.
First things first, we’re sorry for the glitches that presented themselves this week. We know that a lot of people rely on Map My Tracks and depend on it running smoothly. We can’t apologise enough for the hassle that is caused when things don’t work as expected.
So what happened?
We have some ambitious plans for Map My Tracks and to deliver these we have needed to upgrade the underlying infrastructure that Map My Tracks is built on. This has meant that a complete set of server upgrades has been completed this week. They’re bigger, faster and better!
We have spent the past few months planning this change and, we thought, we had everything covered for when the migration took place. That said, some unexpected side-effects presented themselves once the new system was under a full load of regular users.
We’ve been working through these issues over the past few days and I’m pleased to say that the apps and website are now back to normal with the added benefit of being on new infrastructure.
Once again, please accept my apologies for the inconvenience that this has caused. If you spot anything odd that we have not picked up then please do get in touch - .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Not so long ago the web was buzzing with privacy scandals from Facebook and the changes brought about by the GDPR. Now, it seems like the dust has settled and, in this quieter time, we wanted to review some of the recent changes we have made and to highlight the principles behind what we do here at Map My Tracks.
Let’s get some context
At Map My Tracks we have a global community of people that love getting outdoors for fitness or just for fun. Behind the scenes at Map My Tracks HQ we are a small team of three people who are passionate about making sure our community of users trusts us with their data and love using our service.
We take this responsibility very seriously and work as hard as we can to make sure that Map My Tracks is the product, not our users. It’s true that a lot of the service is free to use which suggests that user data is what we want to sell to advertisers, but this cannot be further from the truth. To that end, we recently removed all third-party adverts from the site and also removed third-party tracking code from services that don’t need to know what you do on Map My Tracks.
Why the change?
The tipping point for us was when it became clear that some third-party services might not be handling data harvested from our users in their best interest. Gone are the adverts that track you around the web and give advertisers more insight into your web usage. Gone are tracking pixels from other services that they use to build a picture of user behaviour. Gone are erroneous cookies from third-party services that really don’t need to know what you do on Map My Tracks.
You are not the product
Map My Tracks was launched way back in 2007. Back then, the iPhone had just been launched and the notion of tracking, and sharing, your outdoor activities was a distant dream. Roll forward eleven years and in that time Map My Tracks has grown, and evolved, into the global service it is today. During that time, we introduced premium features under a PLUS subscription for users and event organisers. This represents the product, and our revenue stream, and provides us with resources to continue growing the service. No user data is sold to third-parties. It’s your data, not ours, so why would we sell it?
Privacy first
Given the nature of the service, we understand that not everyone wants to have their current location broadcast all over the web. Since its inception, the Map My Tracks app has always had the default tracking state as offline. Unlike most other sports tracking apps, we don’t force users to share their activities or upload them online. These are options that each user can choose to use when they wish but the default is private.
It’s important that when users do choose to make their activities public that we handle their data carefully. Privacy zones can be set around areas that users wish to mask from the public. Homes, workplaces or frequently visited locations are typical places to set up zones around. We recently upgraded how privacy zones work in response to some research into their set up. If you haven’t set them up yet, you can do so here.
Map My Tracks also stops search engine robots from indexing your activity pages so that it is intentionally difficult for search engines to build a profile of your data on Map My Tracks. This means that Map My Tracks pages don’t regularly appear in search engine results, but we think that the trade-off is worth it to provide a safe service for people to use.
What next?
We have always responded to requests from our users. We’d love to hear from you to find out what privacy concerns you may have and any ideas that would make you feel even safer when using Map My Tracks. Get in touch at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
If you are a member of Canterbury Bicycle Club then you are in luck. As part of Map My Tracks' sponsorship of the club we are pleased to announce that all members can now benefit from a free app upgrade to PLUS.
This means that all Canterbury Bicycle Club member are entitled to use the app’s PLUS features which include live tracking, options to connect with external sensors and a detailed breakdown of any activity data.
One of the main PLUS benefits is access to track live during club rides or events. When you opt to tracking live, your progress will appear on the app’s Activity Map for others to follow. It’s a great way to see where other club members are when out on a ride.
If you are Canterbury Bicycle Club member then here’s how you take advantage of the offer.
Step 1.Login to Map My Tracks. Need an account? Then create a free one first.
Step 3. Download the free Map My Tracks app for iOS or Android
Once the club administrator has accepted your request to join the club on Map My Tracks then the next time you open the app all the PLUS features will be unlocked and available to use.
This offer is open to Canterbury Bicycle Club members only so make sure your subscription is up to date. Other club members already on Map My Tracks can be found on the club members list.
If you need any help getting started with live tracking then give Nick a tap on the shoulder at the next club ride and he will be able get you started.
Other ways to use Map My Tracks
If you ride with a Garmin device then you can set up an automatic sync between Garmin Connect and Map My Tracks. Once that is set up each ride you upload to Garmin Connect will be synced to Map My Tracks.
Upgrade to PLUS to access this feature. Map My Tracks PLUS is an affordable way to better understand your performance and organise your workouts. Try PLUS free for 30 days.
