Strides

So the inevitable happened. I’ve been using an app called Persistence ever since I joined the I Ho Chuan as a yellow belt. It's been a great tracking tool where I can set my goals with rep numbers and what not, and I can easily add numbers throughout the day as I do them. It tracks them how I want them tracked...meaning a daily total that was also added to a yearly total. It would also indicate whether I was behind on numbers or ahead. All in all, it's been a really advantageous tracking tool.

But disaster struck when I recently upgraded my phone. At the kiosk, I told the rep that I would set up all my apps and transfer my data later on. Turns out that some apps do not get backed up in that matter. And once you "skip" that in the setup, you can't easily go back. So I found myself having to manually add certain apps. Not a big deal really. Except for when it came to Persistence. It turns out that somewhere along the line the app discontinued it's availability in Canada. I was only able to continue using it as long as I had because it was already on my phone and I was sort of “grandfathered in “. But now that I was starting as a new download, I couldn’t access it. My numbers were gone. And not just from this year, but from the previous three years as well. Damn.

Good news is that I had a recent record in a blog.
Bad news is that it wasn't 100% current.
Bad news again was that I would still have to figure out how to track moving forward.
Bad news again, again...once my app was gone, I was randomly recording, or not recording, numbers all over the place. A real muck mess. But I've accepted the fact that I was less than diligent during my search for a new method, and those numbers are gonzo.

I won't dwell on it....and will instead, continue with my story.

In terms of tracking, I knew I wanted to continue using an app. Although I do love a good spreadsheet...it isn't my ideal platform. I became accustomed to a certain lifestyle with an app, and I wanted to find something that would give me the same benefits I had previously.

My research had me reviewing many, many different tracking apps. The list that I reviewed and tried is as follows,

Clickup
TickTick
Google Tasks
Todoist
Habitica
Habit
Trello
Way of Life
ATracker
Coachme
GoalsonTrack
Hive

None of these made the cut for various reasons. Some were far too pricey. Some didn't offer any flexibility. Some were more akin to a To-Do list. Some wouldn't allow exporting. Some could only be accessed on a phone and wouldn't sync between devices. Etc, etc.

I finally settled on an app called Strides. So far it is giving me all the features that I am looking for. And a few that are icing on the cake...one being that it syncs with my watch and I can quickly add reps on there as well. Another being that it predicts my end number based on my current pace.  Kinda cool.  The only downfall I can see right now is that it isn't free. But it's still on the lower end than the other paid ones.  And I do like that it offers a one-time lifetime payment as well...rather than paying monthly/yearly forever and ever. So for now, I've paid for a month (roughly $6) and will give it a good test. If I like it, I will likely do the lifetime purchase, which works out to 2 years of the annual anyways.

Anyhow...I thought I'd share all this as I know it's a struggle to find a good tracking system and we all seem to want something a little different.

I'll let you know how it's going at the end of the month.

Also, my numbers below are just a screenshot from the app.  Easy peasy.