Welcome to PCRunLog v 1.0.0 Help

You may quickly access the area you want to visit with these links:
Start Page
Entering and deleting data
Adding workout types
Adding Shoes
Statistics and graphing
About the software, check for updates, email support

Start

To run the software you may double click on the PCRunLog icon (shown left) on your desktop, or through the Start Menu->Programs->AKCOMPLISH LLC->PCRunLog.
If you have limited memory (<128 megs) or a slower machine (<500MHz), the initial load time may be slow, about a few seconds. This is because the software runs on top of the Microsoft .NET framework, which may be slow to load on slower machines. Once the .NET framework is loaded in memory, the first screen you will encounter is the Start Screen (below).

0) Enter Workouts: Click this button to add or delete workout data.

1) View Statistics / Graphs: Click this button to view statistics and graphs of your previously entered workouts.

2) Help: Click this button to view this help page.

3) About: Click this button to register the software, check for updates, and find out how to reach support.

4) Quit: Quits the software.

Enter Screen

To add a new workout:

1) Click on a date in the calendar for the workout. You can use the arrow buttons to go to a different month.

2) Choose a type of workout by selecting an item from the list. This list of workout types is created by you by clicking the Add / Edit types button. (Details below).

3) (Optional) Enter a distance. You type in the numerical value representing the distance and select the units from the list. For example, enter 5 and select miles or kilometers, or enter 10000 and select meters. You may enter decimal numbers, eg. 6.2 or 5.55 etc. If you enter other non-numerical charters such as "abc,!@" etc. and try to add to the database it will report an error. After entering a distance value select the appropriate unit from the list. The possible choices are miles, kilometers, meters, yards and feet.

4) (Optional) Enter the duration of the workout. The format must be in hh : mm : ss. If you ran for 45 minutes and 30 seconds you would enter 00 : 45 : 30 . An easy way to enter a value is by selecting the 00 with the mouse and then type in the value which will overwrite it eg:   becomes

If you ran 60 mins or more, eg. 77 mins, you may enter 00 : 77 : 00. It will display in the workout list as 00 : 77 : 00. Later on, (if you click return, and then come back to this screen) it will show 01 : 17 : 00 for 77 mins and 1 : 00 : 00 for 60 mins etc. This will save you from doing some math in your head (and maybe entering incorrect values) if you are used to recording your workouts this way. Note: The same rule applies to seconds: if you enter 3600 seconds, it will show up later as 01 : 00 : 00 

The reason 3 and 4 are optional is that some people like to record their workouts in distance and others in duration, while some do both. If you enter neither, the software will prompt you with this messagebox.

If you click No it will take you back to the enter screen where you can enter the values, but if you click Yes it will record the workout without distance and duration values.

5) The comments field:

This is where you enter your thoughts, notes details etc. of the workout. You may enter multiple lines of information and go to the next line by clicking the enter\return key. If you keep typing on a line and reach the end, it will wrap and move to the next line.

You may enter multiple lines by pressing the enter key, or by continuing to type and it will wrap into the next lines when you reach the end of the box. The first 2 sentences have the return key pressed after them and the third has wrapped itself.

Autocomplete feature: If you type in three letters of a word, and it has been entered before, the autocomplete feature will type in the rest of this particular word automatically, and highlight the additional text. If you wish to keep it, you can press the right arrow on the keyboard to reach the end of the selected text or the "Tab" key to leave the comment field. However if you were actually typing a different word, keep typing and the autofilled selected text will be cleared and replaced with whatever you are typing. The purpose of autocomplete is to save some time if you enter the same comment repeatedly. For example among your regular workouts is one on a high school track. Rather than having to type "Central High School Track" every time just type "Cen" and the rest will be put in by the software.

6) Shoe tracking:

Clicking the Add Shoe button allows you to enter and remove shoes (details below). In the enter page select the shoe you used during the workout by clicking on it in the list. If you did not use one of these shoes, the screen default is not to have a shoe selected so don't select one. To see the mileage you must check in the Statistics page (details below).

7) Add Button:

When you are done entering the values for the workout, click on the Add button, it will add the workout to the database and reset the screen values so you can enter another workout. The workout will appear in the "previously entered workouts list" below.

Note Trial Edition Users: After 50 workouts this button is disabled until you purchase an activation key.

8) Previously entered workouts list

This list displays workouts entered. If you scroll to the right you can also see the ShoeID, as shown here below:

Sorting of the data in the list: The default is to display the entries in ascending order of date (except the newly added entries which show up at the top). You may sort by the various entry types in ascending or descending order by clicking the appropriate column header:

Duration descending: Click on "Duration" in the list. It will sort all the entries in the list in increasing duration value, click it again and it will sort in decreasing value (shown)

Similarly clicking "Type" sorts by alphabetical order of "Type" entries (clicking again reverses the list)

Sorting can be achieved by clicking any of the column headers.

Editing or Deleting a workout from your list:

Click on an item to edit or delete. It will be selected as shown. Note that the Edit and Delete buttons on the right are enabled now.  

Delete: In order to delete, click the delete button and you will be shown this message. To confirm delete press Yes, or No if you changed your mind 

Edit:

When the Edit button is enabled, go ahead and click it to edit whichever  workout is selected.

The values will be copied into the appropriate locations on the screen, where you can change them accordingly.

The values are populated in their appropriate locations. You may change any field you wish. An example of how to do this is shown below. Compare the screen shots above and below to see what has changed.

Each field is modified: date, workout type, distance, duration (added), comments and ShoeId. When you are done click Update Workout.

The old entry has been replaced by the edited entry in the database.

Add / Edit Workout Types

Clicking on the Add / Edit type button or being prompted to add types if your workout type list is empty will bring up the Add New Workout types screen.

There are two lists, the "Suggested" types and the "Preferred" types. There is also an Add Custom Type section where you can add your personalized workout type.

The suggested list contains entries that may or may not be useful to you. If there is an entry you find useful, double click on it and it will be added to the preferred list.

The preferred list contains types you wish to use. If you don't want an entry in there anymore, you can select the entry and click the "Delete" key on your keyboard to remove it. You can also double click the entry with your mouse to delete it.

The Add Custom Type section is where you can enter a custom name and type.

There are two aspects of a workout type, its name and its type. The name can be any string that identifies the workout. The type must be one of three choices: Running/Jogging, Aerobic Non-Running and Anaerobic.

Running and aerobic non-running are kept separate for statistical purposes, although distance running is usually an aerobic workout. For example, you run 10km three times a week and swim in the pool for 1km. If these were all of the same type i.e. "aerobic workout" then if you wanted to see your average, the average would be misleading: (10 + 10 + 10 + 1) / 4 =  7.75 km. You would look at the number 7.75km and wonder "Wow! 7.75km is a pretty long swim but the software says its my average distance." But the fact is that your run average is really 10km, and your swim average is 1km. By separating the running with the non-running, the various distances dont mess each other up.

Similarly you can add anaerobic workouts, but adding distance or duration to them will not clash with the other two types.

Example of Adding Custom Types. Let's add one type of each:

In the custom name text box enter "Green Acres Park Run" then choose Running / Jogging bullet and click Add. This run type will be in your preferred list.

Now we add an entry for a Step Aerobics class you are taking. This is aerobic non-running. Click Add when done

Finally you add "Weight training - arms" which is anaerobic. Click Add when done

You will see that these entries are now in the preferred list and you can start adding workouts back in the Enter Page.

Here is a brief explanation of suggested types, if you want to use them:

Normal/Regular: It is the workout that you do most frequently. It is also called the "base" workout. In terms of difficulty it is not a difficult workout, nor is it easy, it is medium. This is what keeps you fit and maintains your strength. Doing it does not make you faster, but it prevents you from getting weaker and slower. Usually you won't proceed to speedwork or hard workouts without a good base, or you risk injury. 

Speedwork: All encompassing term for running fast.

Repeats/Intervals: Speedwork in which you run fast for some fixed distance or duration eg. a lap around a 400m track. Generally these two are the same thing, but some people differentiate between them by the amount of rest between the speedwork sessions. In repeats you come to full rest (stop, stand, bend over, lie down, walk around) after a lap. You then lower your heart rate and catch your breath before doing it again. In intervals you jog between workouts, or you rest for a fixed time like 30s or whatever. The idea is you don't let your heart rate decrease too much, so that you are sort of tired before you do the next lap.

Fartlek: A Swedish term which roughly translates to speedwork. It's usually unstructured. For example you are running along and suddenly run fast for some unspecified distance or time, until you reach the corner of the street, or until you are breathing hard, or until you manage to catch the guy who jogged by you a mile back, (and when you catch him he then promptly speeds up). Another way of looking at it is unplanned surging during a normal run.

Recovery / Easy: Recovery is done a day or two after a tough workout which has left you sore. It's slower or shorter than a normal workout, and you may take walking and stretching breaks. Doing one of these usually helps you recover faster.

An easy workout is slower or shorter than what you usually do, and may not have any relationship to a previously hard workout. Perhaps you were running with a partner who is slower than you, or you want to go easy before a race or some other reason, easy workouts are also good for logging miles but not taxing you.

Tempo / Lactate threshold: These two terms are the same. Faster than a normal workout, but not fast like speedwork, its generally the pace you would run a 10k race in. Aerobic running uses mostly blood oxygen for fuel, anaerobic mostly blood sugar (which the body breaks down for the oxygen). If you start jogging and keep quickening your pace, at some speed the body will determine that it needs to switch from oxygen from the blood to oxygen from sugar. The pace just before this happens is your lactacte threshold pace, (so you are not anaerobic but a close to it). Sugar conversion produces lactic acid, which is where the term lactate comes from. You can run aerobically (very comfortable) or anaerobically (very uncomfortable), but lactate threshold is medium to quite difficult.  Its fast enough that you need to concentrate to stay at this speed, usually a 5k or a 10k speed, i.e. the speed you would go at in one of these races.  

Long: A long run is longer than a normal run, and long enough that it leaves you sore. If you can comfortably run for 45 minutes, than a long run could be an hour or more. For marathoners, a long run may be 90 minutes or more. If you are a new runner and can only run a mile, a long run may be 1.5 miles. It's all relative to your fitness and what you usually do.

Hills: Maybe where you already workout is on hilly terrain, so you don't need a specific hill workout. For those people who normally run flat workouts, a hill workout is a great strengthening run and is usually pretty tough. You can either pick a hill and keep running up and down it (with or without rest in between) or run over hilly terrain.

Race: This could be any distance, 100m up to a marathon and beyond. Whatever the distance, usually you run so hard that you are sore the next day.

Non running workouts: Examples include biking, swimming, stair machine, weight lifting. You can use the Add Custom to get specific.

Add Shoes

 Clicking the Add Shoe button will bring up the Add/Remove shoes screen.

What is shoe tracking? Some runners stop using their shoes after a certain mileage eg. 300, 400, 500 etc.. This is because the shoe cushioning breaks down after a while, even if the soles and treads are okay.  Injury problems may occur like shin splints, tendonitis, stress fractures etc. because all that shock which should be handled in the shoe is now handled in the foot and leg. When shoes should get replaced depends on the weight of the runner, whether his leg turnover is quick or slow, if he runs on soft surfaces like grass or sidewalks, whether the shoe is a high cushion type or a light race shoe etc. The software just reports how much distance and/or duration you have on your shoes. It does not recommend when it is time to change the shoe.

The current shoe list shows the active and retired shoes you are using. Initially of course it is empty, but in this example screen you see New Balance 751 and Nike Air both active. The numbers 1 and 2 are ShoeIDs that are assigned by the software automatically.

To add a new shoe, type a name in the text area and select the Active bullet. Then click Add

After clicking Add, it will be entered in the list. Note that it is possible to enter the same shoe repeatedly; for instance you only wear the Etonic Gargleblaster 2000 model.  You use it for a while and then retire it and go buy another pair of the same shoe. Enter the same name again: a different ShoeID will be assigned, so there is no clash.

To change the status of a shoe to retired, or to make a change to its name, just click on the shoe in the list. The values will be copied to the Name and Active/Retired bullet. The Add button will become the Update. You can change the Name field or toggle Active / Retired. Click Update when done. (If you change your mind, i.e. don't wish to make a change, click Update anyway, it will copy the same values back). An example is shown here: Shoe 2, Nike Air Active is selected. Then the Retired button is clicked, followed by Update.

In the figure below, Nike Air has been changed to "Retired".

Deleting a shoe. Warning! Deleting the shoe will remove it from the shoe list (past and present shoes) so you cannot see how many miles you had put on it once its gone. Therefore it is preferable to retire a shoe rather than delete it, especially if it has any workouts associated with it. Anyway, if you still wish to delete it, you can do so by selecting it in the list and pressing the delete button. 

Statistics Page

The statistics / Graph page has 3 clickable lists: "Types" "Year" and "Months". Initially when the page loads, "All" is selected by default for Types, Year and Months repectively. The statistics associated with these three are to the right. These statistics will change as different entries are selected in the Types, Year and Months list. Clicking a list will change the values on the fly (immediately). For example:

To view all the running entries click All in each of the lists

To view all the running entries and stats in 2005, click All-Running, 2005, and All (Months)

To view all the running entries and stats in 2005 May, click All-Running, 2005, and May

To view all the races you ran in June in all the years click Race, All (Years) and June.

The stats on the right will be recomputed automatically and displayed and the details of the workouts will be redrawn in the detailed list below.

Print button: Prints the detailed list to your default printer.

Shoe Tracker: Computes distance and duration for all the shoes that are active or retired in the database. It will calculate it based on the selections in the lists. (So if you selected June 2005 and hills, it will show the miles you ran in this combination)

 Graph button. You can visualize your distance and duration workouts in bar graph format by clicking the Graph button. The data graphed will be the data associated with whatever is selected in the three lists.

The graph contains two bullets, Duration and Distance, clicking each will redraw the graph with the appropriate data. Reference lines are drawn in blue (shown at 1 mile, 5k, 10k here) and the average value is drawn in red. If the number of entries exceeds the width of the page, a scroll bar will appear below.

As long as a workout has duration or distance it can be graphed. This includes aerobic non-running workouts only. Anaerobic workouts are not graphed.

About

The about screen lets you register your software from a trial version, get patches (with bug fixes, features etc) and tells you the current version.

The Check for Updates button will go onto the internet and check the website for patches. If there is a patch, you will be presented with a message asking you if you want to download it or not. It is a good idea to download the patch and update your software, it will contain bug fixes and new features. If your software is registered, installing a patch for this version will not require you to buy the software again.

Entering the Activation Key . The software will be fully functional in trial mode for 50 workout entries. After this you need to purchase an activation key. This may be done through the website www.akcomplish.com/pcrunlog . There are two ways of receiving it, in the browser and via email, or by CD which is mailed to you. Please check the website for details. Whichever way you choose, once you have the key you may enter it by pressing the Enter Code button.

The screen will change so that you can paste the Activation Key into the text area. The "Enter Code" button text will change to "Add". Copy the key from the source and then paste it into the lighted text area. (FYI: copying stores the key string in memory, and pasting copies it from memory to the destination)

Select the key with the mouse (note: just the key, no other text!) for example:

Once it is selected, there are numerous ways of copying. One way is to press: Control key and C. OR Control key and Insert OR if you are in a text editor such as email you can go to Edit Copy in the menu aas shown here below:

Once the key is copied (into memory), you can paste it into the text area. Click in the text area and do one of the following:

Right click in the area with the mouse and select Paste (shown):

You can also use Control Key and V, OR Shift key and Insert key to paste.

The pasted Activation key is longer than the size of the text area, so don't worry that you cannot see all of it.  When you are done pasting click the Add button.   If there was an error, you will have to go though the Copy Paste steps again.

If the activation key was added successfully the screen will change to show that the software is registered. 

To email support, send a message to support@akcomplish.com. The version is displayed in the Version Text Box (shown here as 1.0.0). If you install a patch, this value will change. So if you do email support, please mention the version.