As this blog posts, we are 7 days away from the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon and MiniMarathon. I’ve seen more runners come out of their winter caves in the last month then I’ve ever seen. All ready to take on the 13.1 or 26.2 miles of scenic Louisville and Southern Indiana. I’m loving every minute of carb-loading!

Out of the roughly 140,000 (and growing) iphone apps, there are a few running apps out there that make life much easier for us road warriors. Like all location-based applications, the iMapMy team uses built in GPS technology on your iPhone to allow runners, cyclists and really any outdoor athletes to track their training. The most useful function in my opinion for our upcoming race day, is the Pace or Current Speed function.  Thanks to the GPS technology, you can track your current speed, lowest and highest speed, and also average speed during your workout. If you are training for the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon or MiniMarathon, an application like this can be helpful leading up to race day, if you want to pick out a pace-keeper at the beginning or even if you’re looking to qualify for another race.

Text updates have been around for a while, but those programs are preset to include certain intervals based on distance. With the most recent update to iMapMyRun, you can schedule automatic Facebook status and Twitter updates pre-race, choosing the updates you want by individual distance or time. I don’t know about most other marathoners, but the last thing I want to do between gel intakes, is get my phone out and update while sweat drips down my hands. The app will automatically tweet or post for you while you’re running!

The iMapMyRun also lets you download and view your maps in Google Earth, post them to your blog or website, and of course share your times or routes with friends on Facebook or Twitter during training season. I love competing with my running buddies via social media!

Get it here.