The customer experience of entering a half ironman

January brings a flood of good intentions as people give up booze and chocolate and embark upon fitness regimes that from the outset are doomed to fail. It also sparks interest in what can be achieved in the forthcoming new year full of hope and ambition. Endurance athletes look upon the new year as a chance to set some new targets and select which events will shape their year picking off their "A" race. The "A" race is the big one, the one that you build towards with all the others ne'er stepping stones to this pinnacle of effort. For those looking at triathlons the ironman and half ironman events (such as www.cotswold113.com) tempt year after year. Stepping up to these distances brings most out in a sweat at the mere thought of it.  With half ironman faced with a 1.9km swim followed by 90km bike and finished off with a 20km run simple maths leads you to what the full ironman entails by doubling these scary numbers. Entering the event for the first time involved extensive procrastination as you try to get your head around how exercising for 6 or 14 hours respectively might feel?   Nothing helps give you a frame of reference even of having lesser distances in the same field. As a customer you ponder the checkout page and the point of no return for entering knowing that this will start a road of pain and commitment straining work and personal relationships along the way not to mention financial drain to equip you for this. The result could be epic but at the point of entering the feeling is anything but. 

The "Map My Run" customer experience

Exercising has always had an element of geek about it with specialist shops and clothing for every sport from horse riding to ice hockey. People as they become more immersed in a sport can readily find more excuses for buying more kit while trying to avoid the tragic "all the gear and no idea" label. Running is no exception with particularly long distance running open to the masses as anyone with a pair of trainers has the scope to head out onto their local pavements and pound out some serious mileage. This casual entrance often falling into the kit buying trap in the same way as any other sport. Aside from spanky trainers and extensive Lycra the tech options were more limited in the past as GPS watches with heart monitors were expensive and serious contenders only going that far. That is until the advent of the smart phone. A device that included GPS and mp3's so you can rock out while on your run. Additionally the memory in these devices gives a way to record all those great victories. This unlocked "map my run" to the masses which had previously been more of runners web site to record runs and times and effectively upload this data after the event. Smart phones now mean this is all real time and your efforts are fed in through GPS giving far more accurate records of where runners were performing. This is now a competitive area with many alternatives to map my run giving runners real analysis at no cost. The customer experience is epic and addictive as social media plays a part as you share your running with your friends and compete for the fastest and furthest. Technology augmenting your exercise experience. Feel the burn!