Achieving his running goals with Sports Tracker

After completing the 24 km Helsinki City Trail Run in September, 18-year-old Aleksi Puustinen is already looking for his next challenge. It might be a marathon, or maybe a triathlon, but one thing is clear – he will find a way to push himself.

“I like running because it offers a very clear goal for what you are going to do every single run,” Aleksi says. “I look at the heatmap on Sports Tracker and find a new route to explore. As soon as I set the route, that’s my goal for the day.”

Aleksi has always been drawn to running, the sense of achievement and adventure it offers, especially trail running. A little younger, he was a competitive swimmer and enjoyed the feeling of an intense cardio workout.

After having a break from swimming, he was looking for a new challenge when his school asked he and his peers to complete a project designed to benefit society. Aleksi decided to do a charity run and donate the proceeds to a good cause.

He discovered the Helsinki City Trail and decided to go all in. Rather than sign up for the six or 14 km runs, he jumped in the deep in and signed up for the 24 km trail run. “I chose it because I knew it would truly challenge me,” he says. “I knew I would have to plan and prepare for it. That’s when I had the idea to use Sports Tracker to help me.”

Aleksi says Sports Tracker helped him prepare for the run in three key ways:

1. Stats

“It’s so good at tracking, it gives you all the statistics you need,” he says. Pace, distance, altitude, heart rate, GPS location, Sports Tracker tracks all of these and more. Seeing his pace helps Aleksi a lot. He compares himself to others to get a measure of how he is doing.

2. Social

“I really like that Sports Tracker is a social media,” Aleksi says. “Instead of just logging your activities, you can share those activities and gain followers and then follow other people too. I follow a couple of semi pro runners and look at what they’re doing for inspiration.”

3. Maps

“One of the coolest parts of Sport Tracker are the maps,” Aleksi says. “I didn’t want to be running the same route every time, I wanted to explore a little bit. The app has the heatmap so I could find new routes and plan ahead of time.”