I always seem to be asking for help when I appear on this forum?

[Oldfloss]

Hi everyone. It's me!

Haven't posted since my last appeal for help... I do feel a tad more entitled to be back here since finally.. I reached the 10K distance once more after a very long time working back from Square 1! Hoping to move on now

My last plea on here was for a wetsuit recommendation. I got lots of useful advice but the whole thing turned into a farce, My body is clearly all out of proportion ( what do they expect from a snail). If the top fits, the bottom doesn't, and vice versa; and trying to find a two piece has been even harder However I have got an address to visit when we next head to Wales! ( MR OF has had an enormous amount of fun, laughing at my try-on antics)!

So... what now?

Well since my running distances may, from this point on, may be increasing and, because the aforesaid Mr. OF worries about me... a lot... he always likes to be able to track my run location. He gets very worried in case;

a) I fall

b) I get attacked

c) I get tired and cannot run or walk any more

0r, unlikely though it is,

d) I get abducted by aliens

( That last point is not as silly as it may sound. On the site where our van in Wales is, the guy who mows the lawns there, reckons he WAS abducted by aliens on the top of the little hill there), and as many of you know, my Welsh runs are some of my favourites)!

I digress... ( what's new)?

We are finding that Google Map location is a tad reluctant to move me on and not great on pin pointing. I have often been showing moving on his map, when in fact I am back in the house?

I have been looking at possible apps.... have found one called Flare.. recently Busby?

What 3 Words, I did have it downloaded, but cannot remember if it tracks the run and he can see it?

I am reluctant to buy another wrist device...but will if need be?

Can anyone give me any links, tips advice etc, please.

My increasing age may of course be impacting, because on Sunday, within a mile or so of home, I did get lost. In some little unexplored walkways through the greenspaces and Closes and Crescents, on an estate... I had to use google maps to get me out of the houses and onto a road! True!!! So this app could be very useful!

Mr OF would of course be lost without me... so any help you could give will be very gratefully received!

Oldfloss x

PS

I don't feel quite such a fraud being here now xxx

[Knittingrunner Half Marathon]

I have the same problem with hubby too. Worrying about me when out. I have a Garmin watch which for the most part works using Livetrack. Failing that Strava also has a tracking facility although I don’t know if it’s only available if you pay for the premium version. But WhatsApp is free and for the most part works. But it too has idiosyncrasies. It loses me every time I try to get onto the M25 from the A2! I get stuck there! Not whilst I’m running. I am in the car. 😂I hope you find a solution though. 🤞🏻

[Oldfloss Administrator in reply to Knittingrunner]

Never thought of my Strava..I do pay..hmmm? Oh..my Garmin...I am lazy with my tech. I'll take a look...thanks for that!

[nowster Metric Marathon in reply to Oldfloss]

If you record in Strava, it'll engage your phone's GPS and your position in Google Maps will update more frequently and reliably. However, by recording in Strava itself it might override the watch's recording being transferred to Strava. (This is something I rely on when I do my local parkrun.)

Garmin itself has this facility too (via the app), but does need to link to the phone via Bluetooth to do this.

PS. I may be at the Pwllheli parkrun this Saturday.

[Oldfloss Administrator in reply to nowster]

I've just been sussing out Beacon on Strava...we'll try it out..thanks for this advice though...I never thought of what I've got. Because I just run.. I neglect other options!!I'm there next Tuesday...! But I may do the Race for Life at Caernarfon again the following Sunday..

[Katnap Marathon in reply to Oldfloss]

I commonly use the Garmin LiveTrack if I want people to know where I am.

Garmin LiveTrack

[Oldfloss Administrator in reply to Katnap]

Thanks you!x

[nowster Metric Marathon in reply to Oldfloss]

Ships that pass in the night! 😆

[Tbae Metric Marathon]

Cannot help with the information you need, sorry.Just wanted to say how amazing you are in getting back to 10k.So well done.🏃‍♀️🌟💪🙏❤️👏👏.I am off to Scotland for many months to sort out stuff.Perhaps not long now to reach a point we can say we have made progress.💪🙏

[Oldfloss Administrator in reply to Tbae]

Fingers crossed for you my friend. Just take great care of yourselves and progress will be made I feel sure. Slow and steady ?

[Tbae Metric Marathon]

Thank you Floss.🏃‍♀️🌟.Every best wish to you both.👩‍❤️‍👨💪🙏👏👏

[Oldfloss Administrator in reply to Tbae]

You too... one day we will get together at that park run at Penrhyn!

[Tbae Metric Marathon in reply to Oldfloss]

Definitely.Perhaps not return until Sept/Oct but that would be great.🏃‍♀️🌟💪🙏👏👏❤️

[Oldfloss Administrator in reply to Tbae]

Fingers crossed! x

[SueAppleRun 10 Miles]

We use find my iphone 😂 we have each other put in there, so know where we are anytime if needed, the Garmin is set up to send an alert to Willows phone though, so if i needed him it would alert him to where i was, mind you in an emergency i’m not sure i’d be able to remember which button to press to send the alert ,

[Oldfloss Administrator in reply to SueAppleRun]

Thanks for this... x I hope you are making progress still xxx

[SueAppleRun 10 Miles in reply to Oldfloss]

Set back today, work want clearance from doctor for me to go back to work, tried to get that and got signed off for another 2 weeks, more days to walk or run I guess xx

[Oldfloss Administrator in reply to SueAppleRun]

Oh gosh. Well, it's clearly the right thing...so...acknowledge, accept, adapt ?Not so easy x

Stay strong and get stronger...you will get there? Xxx

[SueAppleRun 10 Miles in reply to Oldfloss]

Thank you Floss, I’d forgotten that! I will Acknowledge, Accept and Adapt, I’ve been sitting here wondering what to do with my time off, I am yearning for the sea 🌊 😀xx

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

I use Garmin livetrack all the time and it has been very reliable (so long as Mr OF remembers to check the spam email folder rather than just assume it isn't working - doesn't happen often, but does sometimes!).In terms of getting lost, I'm a big fan of Komoot on my phone. I use it to plot routes and get satnav type voice navigation through my headphones, but I also use it when I'm bimbling about and decide it's time to turn round and find my way home! It has walking paths and cycle routes so works brilliantly for me.

Great to see you back at 10k OF ... keep going 🥰

[Oldfloss Administrator in reply to linda9389]

Thank you!!! So useful...I am learning so much!And thank you..it's good to be back! X

[Sandraj39 Half Marathon]

Hi Oldfloss.🙂 I was going to mention Garmin Livetrack but see that Linda has already done so. Not used it much myself but it is something OH and I keep saying we should do!🙄🙂

[Oldfloss Administrator in reply to Sandraj39]

I'm going to try to decide which to use? Mr.OF does worry...especially if I am longer out than I say I will be.x

[Sandraj39 Half Marathon in reply to Oldfloss]

My OH doesn’t seem to worry about me…I think I worry more about him when he’s out running!🤷‍♀️😂

[Cmoi Marathon]

Just to add, I think the app you mean is what3words, not 3 Little Words? Info on how to use it is here: what3words.com/how-to-use-t...

Oh, and quite possibly in the app itself. I downloaded it ages ago but have never bothered to explore it!

[Oldfloss Administrator in reply to Cmoi]

Duh, of course I do!! Freudian slip! Thanks you!

[nowster Metric Marathon in reply to Cmoi]

W3W is mainly used to compress a GPS location down to three (hopefully less confusable) words so that you can speak them over a phone. Whether it achieves that goal is another matter. The choice of word lists is language dependent. If your phone is set to French it will use an incompatible set of words to a phone set to English. The technology in all newer phones render it moot anyway.

My OH tracks me using Google Maps. If my marker has stopped moving she phones me.

Google Maps will fall back to using mobile phone mast based "coarse" locations if GPS is not actively being used by the phone.

[Cmoi Marathon in reply to nowster]

The advantage of W3W for me is that the French emergency services integrated it into their systems at the start of April this year, so they can now use Advanced Mobile Location data to trace the precise location from which the emergency call was made.

[nowster Metric Marathon in reply to Cmoi]

That's AML which is nothing to do with W3W at all!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advan...

"From March 2022 all smartphones sold in the EU Single Market must be equipped with AML..." and all states should have implemented it by December 2020.

[Cmoi Marathon in reply to nowster]

I know you know much more about these things than I do nowster , though I've read enough to grasp that AML and W3W aren't the same thing. 😜 My badly-worded post reads otherwise though!

In fact I was referring to a specific project, the integration of W3W into the French Fire Service's systems, as mentioned in this post: w3w.community/question/when...

Obviously since the source of the post is a W3W Community Manager the info is nicely wrapped up in PR flannel, and doubtless the French media coverage, which was what I'd picked up first, comes from W3W media managers too.

Context for those who don't know: in France the pompiers are the first point of call for many medical emergencies, road traffic accidents, and natural disasters, not just fires. Nationally about 80% of pompiers are volunteers, and in the rural département where I live it's 94% volunteers.

Of course none of this helps Oldfloss with her tracking or her OH. My husband has only once ever called me to ask where I was and he rarely answers his phone, let alone look at tracking links!

[Mudita11 Half Marathon]

I always use WhatsApp live location which Knittingrunner also mentioned. Never had any problems with it 😃 🏃🏼‍♀️

[Oldfloss Administrator in reply to Mudita11]

Thank you...I may try all the ideas and see which pne Mr. OF finds best!!👍

[Hedgehogs123 Metric Marathon]

Hiya, glad to hear you're doing well. My other half is the same, he worries, wants to know which route I'm taking and how long I'm going to be. He's not so bad in the summer months when it's lighter nights, but doesn't like me out alone in the winter months when it's pitch black at 3pm! We live very rural so there's no street lighting either .I have a similar problem to you, was looking for some sort of app that would show him where I am. Our trouble is he doesn't even have a smart phone, just one that does calls and texts (don't ask!) So apps are no good to us. However, I have used Beacon in Strava, because you can send a message via text or messenger, so he can get messenger on his laptop and that has worked when a) I've remembered to send it! and b) when he remembers to check it!!

🤣

[Oldfloss Administrator in reply to Hedgehogs123]

Thanks for this..my worry is field runs although I did get lost on Sunday not on fields!I am going to give some things a try, because Mr. OF will forget to check and maybe something that will alert him will,work best!

He once ignored his phone three times when I was on a 10 mile run, and got caught in a thunder and a hail storm!!

I was not very happy when I had got back home, wet, but not happy,!!

[Hedgehogs123 Metric Marathon in reply to Oldfloss]

Oh dear, I'd have been the same! Sometimes my other half doesn't even know where his phone is, he hardly ever checks it, which I find hilarious when he goes on about making sure I'm safe!! 🤣

[Oldfloss Administrator in reply to Hedgehogs123]

They sound to to be very similar.!

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon]

Never a fraud Floss 😍 Well done on reaching the 10K again!! I clearly missed that post ☹️

I don’t use anything so can’t help. I just tell my husband my route and phone/text him at the half way point. He always knows roughly where I am and is not a worrier at all so I’m not sure when he would start to worry.

I did try a security app once which alerted him that I had a problem. Although it was a false alarm when I got home I asked him if he received it and he knew nothing as he didn't have his phone switched on 🙄 so that didn't work 😂

I have got lost on occasions but I always try to keep an idea of my location. Weirdly, I do think getting lost in the countryside is not so daunting as getting lost in cities or suburban areas. In the countryside it’s usually just me and the world but in populated areas, there are more people around…..

I hope you find a suitable solution and take the worry away from Mr OF xxx

[Oldfloss Administrator in reply to Irishprincess]

Thank you! Nice to be back...phew...My worry is J does not always have his phone with him, or he doesn't hear it...I am doing this mainly for him. I don't mind running on my fields although I am being a tad more cautious... remembering your post re - this?

The google maps is just inaccurate, so... I am going to try a few of the ideas here and see which works.... it will give a little something more to add to my runs and we will see where we get to!

I made my 10K this time in 1.08.02... very pleased with that... ! A few years older than when I did my first one!

[nowster Metric Marathon in reply to Oldfloss]

If you're using another GPS based solution (eg. WhatsApp or Strava), suddenly Google Maps will become accurate too.

To save battery when running in the background, it uses the known location of the mobile phone mast your phone is connected to or the known location¹ of the nearest WiFi signal it can pick up. Only if something is actively using the GPS (including Google Maps itself) will it provide an accurate location.

___

¹ The Google StreetView cars do more than take 360° photos. They also listen for WiFi signals in the area, noting the unique ID numbers of the base stations. These are then cross referenced with the car's GPS location.

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Oldfloss]

Great time!

[Oldfloss Administrator in reply to Irishprincess]

Not bad for an old snail...my first 10K was 1hr.17 !!!!

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Oldfloss]

I don't think you're old at all 😍 I know a few people who are in their 40’s and already ancient 🙄

[Oldfloss Administrator in reply to Irishprincess]

Me too...😂