fetcheveryone

Shouldn't that be a warning sign? "Exercise: Caution!" (Thanks, BTW.)

But 99.99 would still show as 100.0. Best to aim for 100.1.

Good advice. Thanks, Fetch. I remembered that seeing as I was that irritating Fetchie who winged about not getting the 20k milestone badge when I was a fraction of a mile short of it. You were very patient with me! 😜😂

Fetch is awesome - he warned me about this when I was targeting a cycling badge with my son during lockdown.

Good points! I was aiming for this but have fallen much too short. There's always next year. 😀

Thanks for this. I was aiming for my first ever 150 mile month and my total shows 150.0! Probably best do a few laps of the garden this afternoon...

So will there be a badge for 100 miles cycling too? Asking for a friend...

(...though I have unlocked the 150 mile month badge... so maybe it's already okay?)

Ooh, only 100 miles to go...

Aha! I knew I'd seen the logs with a decimal place somewhere before. Right in front of my face. I'll go check mine now...

Phew 😂

Aah thanks for the warning Lord Fetch. 99.9 for me 😀. I wasn’t chasing a badge or actively targeting 100 per month so no harm done. I’m just glad that my monthly / yearly totals page shows me 100 (rounded up) for the first time since September 2021.

It’s been a long road back from various injuries, ailments and CBAness. I’m a minute per mile slower and often don’t enjoy running like I used to but… one step at a time.

I only run in whole numbers I have recently relaxed to whole 0.x. But a useful reminder for those who don’t.

I can’t figure out how to see what you’re seeing waaah did I not do 100 ?!!!

Can you talk me through. I am go to training and Month and clicking rub and total but I can’t see the exact total

Round down? Then we can all winge about the missing .07 miles i did this month instead 😁

I’m only reading this now and am terrified I’ve failed in my target already! Going to check what my “100” actually is 😬

Noooo! 99.8 😢
Oh well, good enough for my personal target which is what matters!

Are you sure you didn’t do a 0.2 mile cool-down or to catch a bus at some point?

Just as a personal issue, I would hate to see some of the past interviews disappear (Stevce's for example) but I think calling time on MOTM going forward is the right decision.

I think it was the right decision too.

well done Fetch
now I really need a new head torch so if I could be "randomly" chosen for that it'll be great!! haha

Nice one. The house gremlins appear to have eaten my head torch(es) so I will enter

Blimey, there's been a lot of them. And there was me thinking it was an exclusive club!

Lovely to see most of the winners, although pre Jan 2016 the pics aren’t loading. Not sure if it’s my tablet or some other gremlin.

The pre-2016 pics were in a different format. They're probably *somewhere* on the server, but it'd be a PITA to find them

I'm with minardi that the past interviews should be kept. They are a part of Fetch (albeit shortly to become inactive), give an insight to the site, and are a nice reminder of Fetchies who have been an important part of this community (including those who are no longer here).

First time I ever nominate someone and the thing stops!

No need to subject yourself for a PITA on anyone's account but it's nice to have the interviews. There are some really cracking ones on there.

Please keep the interviews, it’s nice to look back on them from time to time, and for newer Fetchies to get some insight into previous winners.

You could find a way of getting interesting Fetchies to do an "interview" without an MOTM competition. I have always felt the prize demeans Fetch, but YMMV.

Just FYI, the links to the old photos are broken e.g. Race Jase fetcheveryone.com/images/motm/28834.jpg Is it when you changed the naming convention for photos? G

Another vote for keeping past interviews please, good to look back on remember people.

Damn it, nominating someone was a badge I hadn't collected yet lol

Pls keep the old interviews somehow

(Love Bukem. Great track)

It would be a shame to lose the old interviews.

I was going to do something heroic and win it too!

Please do keep the interviews - maybe with an easy link to find them rather than coming back to this blog for the link as I couldn't find them when looking just now (might be me being dim though). I have looked through a vast selection of hideous photos of myself and selected something that I could just about allow to be shared with my interview!

I'm glad that the interviews are being kept, I've enjoyed reading them over the years.
I hope that something interesting can fill the niche. Not the niche of a prize, but the niche of recognising that someone has been amazing, and having the opportunity to learn more about them in interview questions.

im sure its not been an easy decision, but it has probably run its course. As the site has grown it becomes more difficult to be aware of all the fabulous things that are going on, and therefore feel you are voting for the best candiate.

Easy for me to say as I have been a previous winner but I rarely nominate these days, usually still vote but don't bother with asking questions and rarely read the interviews, so for my point of view I would say it's had it's day.

Maybe it has had its day I just want to say the head torches are brilliant, use mine a lit.

Tricky! We're still seeing very good winners, and MOTM does still reward engagement with the site rather than anything else. But it doesn't provoke the enthusiasm it used to. I'd like to see something fresh. Will get thinking cap on.
Thanks to Ledlenser and to all the previous sponsors.

Oh I like that Merit idea. Taking part in stuff rather than just being good. Runs, bike rides, walks, strength, you name it, then blogs, commenting, posts, taking part in games, maybe randomly assigned, maybe you can't even see you get tickets! Your music teacher thing reminded me of work and managers putting forward their own staff and bigging them up, most insidious.

I'm glad i was one of the last few that won

And i to noticed that it probably wasn't the same as i imagined it been in the past.
And yes something new would be fun.

Could we do something like a shining star so we can nominate the people who inspire us or we want to recognise and maybe at the festive advent calendar we have a prize draw where all those who have a nomination gets put into for a special prize?

And also thanks to ledlenser I have one of their head torches which I agree is great. I lost my charger and ordered a replacement with the fetch discount.

Reminds me of the house points and commendation card system we had at my old school - teachers could give points for pretty much anything a pupil did well. The points were collected by the houses each pupil was in, and there was a cup that went to the house with the most points at the end of the year.
I'm not suggesting formalising fetch cliques into houses or anything, bit a system where Fetchies can award a point to each other for being generally excellent could be good, with some sort of prize or acknowledgement awarded periodically.
Maybe even badges for reaching certain point totals.

Never nominated, never been nominated, never voted, never read any of the interviews. It’s entirely passed me by.

Mmmm, this is tricky. I know when I first stumbled across MOTM it encouraged me to get more involved in the site rather than just using it to log and analyse my training. However, I have noticed that the number of nominations and the question list is not what it used to be. It would be a shame to see it completely slip away without some form of replacement, but I'm not sure what to suggest.
I would like to thank all the sponsors over the years. I still wear my Red Venom kit I got when I won 😊

I could only really ever see MOTM as a barometer for who was/is popular/flavour of the month.

I like the idea of some version of merit points. It never worked when I was teaching, but I can't see how those problems could happen on Fetch. The secrecy, suggested by OS sounds like a good idea. Imagine the surprise for the winner.

As a winner of Ledlenser goodies , I'd like to say thanks Do other sites have MOTM type things ?? Maybe borrow an idea or two rather than re-inventing the wheel.

I have recommended in the past and I do vote frequently but MotM does seem to have lost its momentum.

I thought it was waning somewhat. Still voted occasionally and asked a question occasionally, but certainly less than in the past. Well done for getting sponsors generally interested Fetch. Don't think it's fair to say it was just a popularity contest HK. I occasionally read about a Fetchie that I hadn't heard of before, or an achievement that I didn't know about and would vote for that. Don't know what a good replacement would be. House points might be fun. We could have a shout of "50 points to Gryffindor" for different achievements here or there? G

I became disillusioned with it a while ago. I'm not saying the winners were not worthy of their prize but lesser known Fetchies seemed to have little chance of winning.

I've nominated a couple of people in the past (and one who won!), but think it's had its day. It seems that most of the 'well known' Fetchies have already won and I tend to agree with DoricQuine re: lesser known Fetchies. FWIW I don't think you need to replace it with anything.

I'd like to see it continue, even if it doesn't have any prize; the award and recognition itself should be enough. I was thrilled when I won; the memory of that will outlast any prize.
I'd maybe re-think the questions part, as they are becoming predictable and stale. Maybe a set of standard simple questions, and then an open "what would you like to share" part where the winner can say whatever they want; a bit like prompting a blog from the winner, even if they just say "Thanks" as some folks may be uncomfortable with the intrusion. (And with that - maybe give the winner a chance to decline, in which case the second place gets it).
Apologies for rambling.

It strikes me as a bit of a popularity contest and even who nominates someone could sway the vote somewhat. Agree with DQ that lesser known Fetchies - even ones who contribute a fair bit to the site - will be overlooked (says the bitter non-winner ) (and I actually need a headtorch lol)

Never paid any attention to it; happy to see it go.

I've added the interviews that I had queued up. I highly recommend Caterpillar's: fetcheveryone.com/motm

I have really enjoyed the MOTM and felt very honoured when I received nominations and then got awarded the prize.

Maybe it could be replaced with some kind of "Hall of Fame" like they have in baseball (?) Fetchies contact you and suggest why someone should enter the hall of fame and you, Ian, decide who should be listed in there. That way it needn't be done every month, just when someone particularly deserving comes along. It also might be a good way to honour some of the lesser known Fetchies and the ones sadly no longer with us.

I did enjoy it when I was nominated - ask your grandad about those days kids - maybe a standard set of questions with a request for wildcard questions

Having been a previous winner I would like to add my thanks to the sponsors over the years. I must admit I usually vote but don’t ask questions or do nominations these days.

Well clearly it's a flawed system as I've never won... Seriously though I do think it's tailed off somewhat in the last few months. I like the idea of some sort of recognition for 'services to Fetchies' in some way, whether the contribution is to the forums, blogs, race listings or whatever. It may need to be less structured? Perhaps people can submit a sentence of so on why someone should win and once an individual has garnered enough support they get a special mention? Counting by the man behind the curtain. No voting as such. Don't know, thinking out loud and I know I'm probably echoing at least some of what has been said above.

I was hugely chuffed to be nominated (several times) before I won, - and I too still wear my Red Venom leggings which I love. I do vote - and I have often voted for a Fetchie I don't 'know' but whose nomination seems deserving, I don't tend to ask a question these days as I struggle to think of non-mundane ones! I've always liked the diversity of choices as I think it reflects the site - so there have been winners through real running/sporting achievements, but also for all sorts of other reasons.

I've always been touched when I've been nominated and slightly relieved when someone else won. It's just nice to know that Fetchies appreciate what you've been doing. My thanks to all the sponsors who have supported the site down the years.

I've never even been nominated, so I say set the whole thing on fire and bin it

I'm on the side of it having run its course. Caveated by the fact I am not a massive user of the site anymore (*sorry*) I haven't voted, nominated or questioned for a long long time. Looking at the list of winners it's interesting that even quite recent ones are often prominent people from the early days, which fits in with observations about newer members not being able to win.

If the desire is to create something to drive engagement in a community based way, then the "merit points" idea definitely has some mileage. You are in a position to use it encourage certain behaviours if you felt it suited the site at the current time (e.g. there was a post a while ago about wanting more "running based" threads in the forum, so you could offer 2 merit points for engagement with a running thread, 1 for non-running etc. and that could change over time in response to need).

I'm sure there are partners out there who could mutually benefit from a relationship with Fetch

I was thinking about how sad it would be to let it go but then reflected on how, from my perspective at least, the FE site has changed from what it was 10 years ago. That’s Ok, you shouldn’t halt change or progress. With that, I do think it’s time to let it go.

Perhaps there’s a way to reward overall engagement instead. I always looked at MotM as a way to reward an outstanding achievement. If that achievement is posting on most threads or helping people count up to a big number then I’m sure there’s a way to recognise that in a different way.

Thanks Ian for having kept it going so long. I know I was immensely proud when nominated and won. I can still remember grinding for hours over the answers to the questions as I felt it was my duty to give back to the site in a thoughtful way 👍🏻

As a relatively new Fetchie I felt very touched when I was nominated 😊

I’m not sure I like the idea of a merit badge type thing with specific ways in which to gain points - the chance that you might win MOTM was worth more to me than a specific badge that I’d know I could get

I’ve never won it and although I usually vote I don’t very often read the interviews. I won’t miss it if you stop it.

I got nominated once and I was very grateful. I like seeing people's reasons to nominate, and often tell you more than you might otherwise know about a person. But the interviews feel like a bit of a relic of how things used to be here - when people were a bit closer than they perhaps are these days.

As per Mrs J's comment right at the start of this... I'm a previous winner so this is easy for me to say, but I think it's had its day. I don't vote or nominate and rarely read the interviews now.

I honestly think that no one is it for the goodies. I've won it once and the vouchers were ace, but I would have been equally happy to just have the kudos. But I don't want to pull the ladder up.

Probably time to pack it in. MOTM as been a good idea but you need to be a high profile user to get nominated. Time for something new......

I've never liked popularity contests. I think it's probably time to pack it in.

We send virtual recognition cards at work, which get displayed in a feed on the intranet. There are a variety of categories. It's a nice thing to send and to receive. Thersy no overall winner but a few in each category get highlighted each month. That *could* work here.

Probably time to jack it in and tbh, I've never taken much interest in it.

I initially smiled at the house points idea, but then thought it might lead to the same kind of keeners there were at school, always after a point wherever they can get it

This also made me think, though - am I imagining it or wasn't there already a just-for-fun Houses thing on here somewhere at some point? Had a look through the menus but couldn't find it...

I've answered all the questions on my list from when I won - is there something else I need to do to 'submit'. I need to send you a picture I think? I will get onto it this weekend. I loved my prizes and was delighted to win. I also like geordie girl's idea that people can be nominated (probably still with reasons as current nominations) but they all go into a prize draw at the end of the year like the advent calendar and are announced with those winners. I think also JK makes a good point. Thanks to Ledlenser for their sponsorship.

I have been very fortunate to have won twice but It has lost momentum & perhaps got a bit stale, but a relaunch with a new sponsor might reignite things ? Maybe less is more ? member of the quarter ?

I’ve nominated and been nominated, vote every month and read the interviews. I don’t think a prize is necessary but it would be nice to have somewhere where exceptional achievements can be recognised.

I’m not sure a merit system would be very different to people doing stuff to earn badges? Also some people have far more time to engage than others so it might favour those people? I think there are many ways where people can “win” using Fetch already e.g. all the different leagues, badges, standards, games, and perhaps that’s sufficient. Otherwise maybe an annual awards night, but I think an independent panel would be needed and it’s hard to know about everyone who has done something great on the site. Anyway, easy for me to say etc, thank you to the sponsors.

I was honoured and humbled to be nominated for the award let alone win it. I remain so all these years later. I still engage with it though don't ask questions. I offer thanks to the sponsors and all involved.

I'm not sure what I think should happen next. We are all equally marvellous, or not, so maybe it has run its course in a world where all the focus seems to be on not celebrating collective achievements but individualism.

I was delighted when I was nominated and won (back in 2013!) and carried on nominating and reading interviews for many years after. I still vote but don't often nominate or ask questions any more.

I like Ness' idea of a Hall of Fame, so we can find out about Fetchies who do remarkable things.

MOTM was great and I was delighted to win a couple of years ago. But I think the concept may have reached the end of its natural life. I have seen this on another large community/hobby website where they ran "Geek of the Week" for over ten years and it ran out of steam eventually; it's no bad thing to be able to recognise when something has run its course.

More and more nominees are completely unknown to me. In a way, I guess that's a good thing, but it does suggest that many of the higher-profile and busier Fetchies have already won MOTM.

I don't like the idea of merit points, as badges do that kind of thing perfectly well. I would suggest a "Blog of the Month", a "Race Result/Performance of the Month" and maybe a "parkrun of the Month" to go with the current Route Picture of the Month; together these could have a feature on the home page to showcase the best of Fetch and Fetchies, updated monthly. How you decide which was the best, I don't know. And there's no particular accolade for the person whose Blog, Performance or parkrun is selected, it would just be about celebrating the wide range of stuff we do.

Oh, and probably a Photo of the Month too? I'm trying to think of ways of having not-too-many categories, without making anyone feel completely left out.

Tricky. Merit points may drive traffic and good for super users. I remember people saving their merits and collecting in one week to win the prize at school meaning those of us who were constantly mediocre seldom got recognised.

I like Synge’s points - almost like the one of those newsletter lists - something I’ve read, listened to etc . Now ignoring the business of clicks it’s be a good way to highlight a great race performance, some consistent training or photo worthy of wider praise/engagement? Maybe people self submit as any data-led option will still be a popularity competition?

Anyhow not sure if added much to the debate 😂

Ishep there was a house cup- one of them was Bunion. Fungus or Mushroom? http://www.fetcheveryone.com/housecup_leaderboard.php that link doesn't go anywhere. A bit like the game didn't! G

I'd love to see it continue with a bit more publicity to get questions asked and votes in.

was honoured and humbled to be nominated for the award and amazed that I won it - thank you to all of the sponsors over the years.

I wonder if a change to something that highlighted new members would be doable - maybe have a random set of badges that earn those with less than 18 months (random timeframe selected) points and when a total points is achieved they are celebrated somehow? Could work in the background

I am in favour of something like a ‘hall of fame’ but perhaps named a ‘hall of achievement’ in which nominated individuals would lodge an account of a noteworthy achievement (e.g. a race in which a challenging goal was achieved; the completion of a challenging training programme or other challenge, etc). I enjoy reading blogs in which people describe such achievements. However a reader might miss a noteworthy blog at the time. Blog readers might nominate a particular blog reporting an achievement for inclusion in a list of achievements for consideration for adding to the ‘hall of achievement’. If five other readers supported this, the blogger and the blog would be added to the ‘hall of achievement’.

It's been interesting reading and hearing people's thoughts on this. I have to agree that it has been more of a reward of who is popular and flavour of the moment, which is not a bad thing as it says someone is engaging and being involved.

Cange is a good

It's been interesting reading and hearing people's thoughts on this. I have to agree that it has been more of a reward of who is popular and flavour of the moment, which is not a bad thing as it says someone is engaging and being involved.

Change is a good thing and new ideas are a good way to move on and adapt. For me, my own thoughts are to try and recognise those that are struggling and trying to put in the miles on a very competitive application. Encourage and enable those that need that push to continue and feel they are part of a wonderful community of like minded people.

I have been inspired by the Fetch user @toks who has inspired me that plodding through the miles is about getting something done rather than aiming for great times and Personal bests. Toks has allowed me to take things at my own pace and don't be dragged into PBs and breaking records.

So I think a system where we can encourage those, like myself, that struggle and need something to push us would be superb. Or, maybe a person who inspires, helps or encourages

Hmm, tricky one. I really enjoy reading the answers. I find it a good way of learning a bit more about Fetchies - especially when I was a new Fetchie. But I agree that only getting a handful of votes and questions suggests that the concept has done its time. Keeping the site dynamic and streamlined is important.

Can it. It’s had its day.

Sign out of Fetch? Is that a thing? That training home page looks much better, thank you. And thank you for finding the plans easier to find.

I like it, but...
The benchmarks are only picking up from GPS and not race results. My 10 mile benchmark is showing as 1:39:17 but I have a 10 mile race result of 1:35:32.

This is good stuff!

Nice - a lot better !!
A question about the 2024 Distance League summary shown ( I'm sure this isnt anything to do with your changes here, but never really noticed it before on this page ). Is it always the Run league that is shown, or can you make it show the Cycle, Walk or Swim league with a setting change somewhere ?

It's always the run league - but I might have room for a sport toggle

Moon 0.25. I have never noticed that before!

The leaguesare good as are the targets. I generally set them, then they drift off out of my mind.

I am tempted to check if there is a correlation between my best ever races and full moons.

I think it would be nice to lose the recent entries side bar and instead have a full width box of the last seven days that looks similar to the training plan box.

Picking up on FDNB's suggestion, I must say that, when looking at my own recent training, this is the view I go for most often. Maybe a combination of it being easy to navigate to and the "weekly calendar" format being a bit more intuitive than a list (on a list, it takes longer to assimilate the gaps between dates, but here it is obvious!).



By the way, that's over 250,000 images uploaded!

I regularly have to sign in again when I move between phone, laptop and iPad so being bumped to the log-in page will save me a click (and perhaps save you a pointless page impression being downloaded)

all good

My training target suggests I have a target of 8047kmmi this year .. and I'm 15km up on that already Should be 5000km, and that's correct on the full training targets page. Something not handling km units correctly somewhere perhaps?

Oh no, I'm going to see my weight every time

Sign out? Do people do that?

"Set Targets" doesn't just go to the page to set your targets though - it shows this year's progress. That button should be renamed. Maybe the "Distance Targets" text could be a button to go to the progress page instead?

Can "Need A Training Plan?" be somewhere else? I don't need a training plan right now but I'll have to scroll past that yellow box every time I visit this page.

I like the idea of having the training log in calendar form on the training home page - for me it is the most pleasing view of my training (although I do use the list view a lot as well).

On a mobile I can't say I would have noticed the difference 😀. Some suggestions... The add training takes up a lot of space and with so much automation this must be wasted for many. Could it be big green + in the top header next to the faves star? When i select swim / run etc in the summary line above add training, I feel that should be applied to the whole page (with an option for all for people that love it like it is). Calendar view would be nice, though not so much for people with little or no recent entries.

In the distance league I can see the top 9 people on the home screen. I don’t know any of them and am unlikely ever to trouble that end of the list. Please may I have it so that I can instead see the top 8 and me?
* I am aware that if I click through I can see more….

This might be a bit niche, but... as someone who suffers from both hypertension AND obesity, I'm in the habit of recording both my weight & BP every day. (Along with my RHR & SpO2).

If/when you remove either (or both) Weight & BP from the training menu, it would be really handy if there were direct links between the two pages (i.e. weight->bp and bp->weight).

I am sure you will manage 100k in 24hrs I am as slow as a tortoise and I did 100k in 19.36 and the 70m in 20.46. Don't forget to walk with intent! I did walk a lot of both runs. Mind you a midnight start may add to the challenge!! See you there boss!

I've walked 50 miles in 18 hours some in the dark and with blisters. You won't take 24 hours

I do like this number geekery and the % walk/run data being added to each activity. Top work!

This is an exquisite bit of geekery Physically, you are (or will be) well capable of hitting your target. The responses to your question on the Ultra training for beginners thread will give you the material you need for a list of possible failure points not related to your fitness, and being prepared for those in advance will make the difference between the best 100k time you're capable of and needing the full 24 hours.

I love how the site gets all sorts of extra features when you dive into (literally for pool swimming ? ) a new sport or activity. Love the run / walk splits. Off to look at my own ultras and see now. And a few maras where I had to walk for a loo or water in cup type scenario! G

Interesting! Thanks for the insight. I think I'm a bit abnormal (!) but I did 112Km in 24 hours but I was moving for 12 hours and not moving for 12 hours (I was half of a pair in a 24 hour race). Probably not the best strategy for you!. Hope the training and race goes well.

Pondering, and looking at my own (very much non-ultra) run-walk entries. Am I right in thinking that the % figures shown relate to time, rather than distance? Remembering that the % distance which one covers running will normally be markedly higher than % time spent running.

Technically, it's the number of readings, and the percentages in each of the run/walk camps.

Very good!

Very interesting, I wonder if you can account for gradient in there also, i.e. for some of my runs all the walking is when I am going up hill. I suspect in my EfM entry a lot of the walking, at least in the first say 18 hours, was when I was tramping across heavy muddy fields where running wasn't really possible.

Unless you are looking at the elite / track runners, all ultra runners spend some of the time walking. One of the events I have done a couple of times in Belgium has both a 100 mile walk and a 100 mile run, where the walkers have a maximum speed they are allowed to travel at. The winners of the walk are almost always quicker than the slowest of the run finishers.

An unrelated thing that struck me, and it seems like it may be across the board: from the percentile tables, 5K times are soft, and particularly in the slowest third, where typically 10K times at a percentile are less than 2x 5K times.

I love this! Very complicated but also interesting. I have been enjoying the 'pacing%' in the training logs, but this takes it to the next level. Will have a play later when I am not meant to be working...

Dv - parkrun, innit. Parkwalk anyone?! Parkrun HQ priding themselves on times for the 5K completion getting slower (i.e. more inclusive). Good point from Sam about ultra runners intentionally "walking the hills" (often to eat). And would be careful that Sam J's performances are towards the elite end of the field - very talented athlete. G

0.1% in my spring mara (loo stop), 0% in my autumn mara. Love it! G

Quite pleased at how accurate my "50%" guess was for walking in a long-ish, hilly-ish, slow-ish ultra:

Oh, the paste doesn't work in blog comments. I'll put it in the ultra chat instead. (Spoiler - 50.2% in Cateran 55 !) G

Great post!
Love the new feature too, bonus

I managed 100k in a 24 hour race with a sleep! Maybe we should have a guess how far Fetch gets competition to see who guesses closest 😂

*PLEASE* give me an option to turn off that run/walk %age - I don't need yet another reminder of how much damage covid did to me.

Really interesting, thank you. For pool swims, it would be interesting for me to see %age rest vs swim time. I'd also love to know %age swim time on each stroke and average pace per stroke if you get enough information from Garmin to be able to tell stroke type.

I'd also find it helpful if my pace was shown as average of time spent swimming, rather than total distance/time. The nature of pool training is that there's a fair amount of stop start, I'm only interested in my pace when moving.

Besides the run/walk split, did you also consider the run/walk/feed* split.
*Including planned or ad-hoc 'rests' in the feed split?

What's the support plan? Pubs and petrol stations and McD's? Or a waymarked route of Fetchies?

This is a great bit of work and love the auto %run/walk stats now. I think I put a request in for auto splits based on run/walk categorisation.

Mainly because I'm rubbish at pace training, and also go across fields and have to walk at each gate or style, so want to know what I run at, not what I "run and go through a gate" speed on average...which is what my average pace data tells me.

Love the inference from your machine learning stats - great maths !

Agree that you should cover 100km if you keep moving.

I will be really boring and say that to enjoy your Ultra, start walking from mile 1. Don't start walking just because you can't run.

I like the walking % feature. Very good.

Lots of excellent stuff
If I can 90%walk (according to you lovely stats) 50 Lakeland miles in the rain, you will have no bother with100k in 24 hrs - paying attention to the other failure points as discussed above and on the thread

Love this even though I haven’t quite worked out what’s what yet.

I hadn't realised that Add training was on that sub menu. I always go to your log -> add training. But that might be just me. I certainly wouldn't miss it if it disappeared from the sub menu though.
Weight and BP being put together would make sense to me.

All good stuff. Not a complaint, but I've stopped tracking my weight etc on here as it involves a manual entry of data that is fed automatically from my Garmin scales to GC. If there was a way to push or pull all that other data from Garmin, then great. But it's no bother if it's too difficult.

On my phone I use the sub-menu a lot - but now my Garmin records yoga, strength & Pilates I'm using the manual entry far less. I do use the planning tool a lot so thanks for keeping it where it is.

I don't use the weight function here as the conversion between kg to lbs is a bit out of sync? If I weigh in kg and lbs on my scales and add the kg here, the lbs here is a few pounds lighter than on my scales.

Wow! I've always thought that 1kg = 2.2lbs, but it's actually 2.20462lbs. I've amended that now. Thanks for letting me know.

Cheers Fetch!

All sounds good. Maybe you could consider adding options to sort the plans by number of weeks and by how high or low mileage they are. The latter would be trickier to do though I guess.

My first thought when I looked at the marathon plans was that the first lot you get to are all pretty high mileage (from my point of view) and could be off putting to anyone wanting a beginner’s plan.

I do already use the add training link on the top menu, but I love the new icon on the mobile. Makes me smile for some reason.

Perhaps change 'Return to training planner' to 'Go to training planner'. It is shorter and it works for the first time someone goes there.

I saw the little running person and wondered what you’d been up to obviously I clicked on it to find out - that’s quite neat.

Very nice as ever Fetch

I also love the running person

I very much like the idea of consolidating weight & bp.

Yes. I had trouble digging out some stuff to base things on for a couple of people over Christmas, took a bit of digging.

Looks like a good streamlining. When I'm back into training I'll give it a go.

I know I'm part of the problem here, as I've uploaded some of these; but are you concerned about copyright / IP challenges, especially if the SEO works "better" and draws people in?

Sounds good. Can "we" help you get further up the Search engine ranking somehow? (e.g. keep searching for a specific phrase or something until Google learns Fetch is a useful result?)

In the case of P&D, the ones I've uploaded have been done so with approval of HK. I will speak with them, and add the disclaimer to as many P&D plans as I find.

@3M - searching for phrases as one person won't cut it unfortunately One thing that really helps is getting links to Fetch pages on trustworthy websites. I was going to get onto that at some point - I'll write a blog with some links that I reckon would be good to share, and see how many Fetchies will help distribute them around the 'net.

I could never find a link to take me to the ready made plans. Thought it was me

I still think it must be me but where do I find the list of the plans?

Nice. And nice mobile demo images hoping for a bumper January sign-up for you!

@minardi - there’s a link in this blog, and I explain how to navigate there in the second paragraph.

So I have to come to this blog entry or know that the import button will give me the list? Perhaps a link "training plans" under the Training tab might help? Or I'm being really dense

Would it not be better to have links at the top of the training plans list to take you straight to the distance you are looking for? It’s a lot of scrolling down to get to half marathon, let alone the shorter races.

Also, are the plans for the same race distance in any particular order or is it random?

Not sure you are being dense Minardi, import does not seem intuitive to me, training plans does.

It looks better on (my) mobile at least.

One suggestion though - could you add shortcut buttons to each distance at the top of the page. It's a bit of a scroll as it stands to get to the end of the page currently!

I'm wondering if the 'your plan' tab would be better replaced by 'plans' so a user can access them all first (that may in effect be what happens). I sort of agree with Minardi in that when I looked for them without recourse to the blog first, I wasn't immediately drawn to 'your plan' as a place to find them, whereas training > plans would be logical. I guess it is a matter of preference.

Also, agree with stuart little ref the short cut buttons.

Omg I literally found these like last week! I think this makes me ahead of the curve.

Will there be a link on the new homepage?

I agree with some of the others. "your plan" isn't something I would click to find ready made plans - and "import" doesn't really mean anything in this context. "Your Plan" could change to "Training Plans" and "Import" could change to "Ready Made Plans" to make them more obvious.

This looks great, and there are a lot more plans tha. I knew existed. When I click the link in your blog, however, I start off with 100mile plans. My feeling is that it would be more newbie friendly to have shorter plans at the top of the page and then scroll down?

Looks great. I would also like to add that I think making use of Shortcuts cut be much better highlighted on the site. I find it soooooo useful - and IF things are buried users can still find em easily if they've short cutted it

Maybe sort from short to long rather than long to short, especially if the audience is newer users they are more likely to want a 5km plan than a 100 miler

Thank you for the tab

Very nice. Our current butter pat is an absolute disgrace, I daren't even share it with you. It is, however, in a nice dish.

The lack of crumbs is particularly pleasing.

Oh, go on then, here is mine (with plenty of crumbs)

Husband insists on putting the butter in the microwave before use and the boys cannot keep crumbs or marmite out of the butter, so I have my own neat and tidy portion in its own hidden dish

Why is that butter in the lid and not on the dish Dio?

That is the dish?

Since holidaying with a friend that WILL NOT TOLERATE crumbs in the butter (of butter in the jam) I have been more careful, but still wouldn't pass his inspection. Luckily he lives a good 5-6 hour drive away so most of the year we are safe from that particular butter policeman.

It's v.g.but needs to be in a dish! Ours is in a Gü pot with a Pringles lid on.

I know what you mean now. This is the other way round from some butter dishes. (sorry for taking over your blog, Fetch)

I am still regularly teased by the kids for my 10 minute rant on why it's rude to cut the nose off the the cheese.

Marks deducted for keeping it in the wrapper. Marks deducted for missing the opportunity to place suitable miniature objects (such as cake decorations or possibly a small toy tractor) onto that carefully ploughed field. Please resubmit tomorrow!

Definitely needs a dish but 10/10 for keeping the crumbs out. Mr Woo makes a right mess of ours. Fortunately, I don’t eat butter often. I might take Rosehip’s approach, actually. Nobody uses butter knives anymore, do they?

I can't abide crumbs in the butter, so you get my vote for your attempts on this one.

Ours is in a dish (not like Dio’s - that’s just odd) and we slice off from one end. No crumbs allowed. Peeling off the top would also be sacrilegious.

Mostly dish here. Except we have 2 on the go. One for toast and bread and stuff (in a dish) and one still in the wrapper in the fridge (less expensive 'cooking' butter).

Oh - plus the bits left over from the microwave zap (long and slow at 10% otherwise the middle melts) in (as per LindsD) an old Gü glass ramekin thingakin.

What about buying a butter curler? (Sometimes I will use a separate knife just for the butter). Although, I usually have spreadable, rather than proper butter Which does not actually spread straight from the fridge. You need to go down the sides if it's not been out long.

I am just pleased to see actual butter.

Salted or unsalted?

Buuter late than never.

*butter*

Another vote for a butter dish here! Nice serration marks - husband often tears a hunk of bread from the loaf and scrapes it straight across the butter, so no chance of ours staying neat. I'm in the slice a bit off the end camp, on the rare times I have butter & bread.

That's fantastic. Ours is awful. Well when I say ours I mean mine as OH has Clover, whatever that is.

Surely Dio's butter dish is in fact a real dish with a lid and everyone else's is a butter plate with a cover. My mum's been looking out for such a thing for ages as the butter stays in place in the dish rather than sliding off the plate when aggressively scraping the butter.

Cutting of your nose to spite your cheese, LF.

A butter knife doesn't have serrations. Sorry to burst your crenellations bubble! No butter here though, mostly veg only, trying to get off dairy. Struggling with cheese! G

Beautiful & crumbless. I cut off the end and don't let anyone else touch it. Although cratering is Wrong, Dio's is a sculpture clearly inspired by Snowdonia.

I applaud this worthy endeavour 👏🏼

I try to instil knife for butter and no spreading until you've got the butter - aka no crumbs. Spoons for things like jam so there is no contamination.

Good skills. I frequently get in trouble for contaminating the butter with "shit" (aka using a knife with marmite on it).

Large ramekin here. I also have a crumb hater so knives are carefully wiped by inserting into the toast slice between spreadings.

fetcheveryone.com/gallery-showphoto.php?id=249269

That is a thing of absolute beauty.

I've always just cut the end off and then 'smooshed' it a bit to soften. I'd never even considered the ploughing method as a thing that existed. My life has been turned upside down in one fell stroke of cutlery.

What's Butter?

We don't use it but bizarrely before I emptied the kitchen 6 years ago when it was being replaced I came across a fancy butter dish which now permanently lives in a box under the stairs.

Ours looks terrible at the moment. Don’t know who to blame tbh

There is a lid which is bright and cheerful

I don't think I have ever owned a butter dish!

No butter dish in the Ness household.

We have a butter dish but only Raffo has butter on bread. My bread is so good it doesn't need butter. I use butter for cooking and baking but that stays, wrapped, in the fridge until needed.

Sort of related, I once heard the phone go at 2-3 in the morning (in the days of a corded phone downstairs) on answering I heard “is that the butter residence?”, being a bit of a fog I said “no”. The giggles on the other end when I heard “I can’t believe that’s not butter” made me look at the now dead phone realising I’d been had. There you go that’s my butter input.

8/10 for tidiness, Fetch. 3/10 for the dish!

The fact you use a serrated and not a butter knife; words fail me 😒

Ours is like Dio's but plain white. Every now and again the butter doesn't make it in there because I like to wash the dish before putting the new block in there and we're slovenly at washing up.

Mine looks more like IdristheDragon. I have a second hand melamine dish with flowers on it. I love it and hate it at the same time. The thing that annoys ne the most is the block of butter is fractionally taller than the dish, so the lid rests on the butter instead of the rim of the dish for the first day or two.
Don't care about crumbs, or butter in my jam but I would be careful not to cross contaminate someone else's butter/jam.

This is a whole world that has completely passed me by. I only ever have butter in the house if I'm doing some baking - so practically never.

I cut a section of butter off and keep it in a butter dish in the cupboard so it's always spreadable.

Butter boobs come in their own special dish. Perfect for the discerning traveller.

I HATE crumbs being left in butter. Makes me gag. The other thing that is probably worse is when someone scrapes the excess from their knife back into the tub.

I love this blog and the comments. So very Fetch. (we keep ours in the wrapper sitting on a small plate - ducks and runs for cover)

I have a houseful of teen boys,and do lots of baking. Butter is our 3rd most purchased item - 84 blocks last year.

You're a butter man than I am, Mr Fetch

Tough on butter, tough on the causes of butter.

makes sense to me
was telling everyone at my race yesterday how wonderful this place is!

Totally agree.

You also don’t have to jump through all the hoops that Apple, at least, demand of people to get in the App Store. Bet it’s far from free too. I use the site 99% of the time on mobile and I don’t think you would get any improvement with an app, probably the reverse as you end up having to simplify it for all the reasons above. Stick with what you’re doing, it works!

Apps are over-rated. The site is fantastic, no app required

With mobile-compatible site pages and better browsers in phones there's definitely a lower imperative for an app than maybe there was a few years ago. We're all individuals, and what I would always have valued was an "app style" look at training logs rather than going through a browser, but I can (and do!) live without this!

I don’t think we need an app the mobile friendly version is spot on.

The clever IT literate people at my work said having multiple apps is old skool anyway. Apparently the cool kids just want mobile friendly web stuff.

Sigh said it best.

I agree. I was trying to explain to my son why I prefer to have multiple tabs on one browser app rather than use a different app for everything.

Yep, makes sense. Mobile friendly website works really well.

I've never seen the point of apps.

Says the Zoe app user

Completely reasonable.

Horses for courses innit? I have lots of apps and love them but they are mainly focussed on one particular task/facet of existence, e.g. Zoe or the Merlin Bird app. It’s difficult to see how you would encompass all the richness of this site without compromising on content or spending another whole lifetime on it. I think we’d rather have you here, thanks

That's fine. I wanted GPS tracing feature to log runs when watch is being repaired or replaced. Will try Wahoo instead. Thanks G

The website is already one of the most mobile-friendly I use. Having an app would be less handy than just using the browser.

I rather agree with idea of yours Mr Fetch. I am not sure it would add enough to make it worthwhile and understand from tech perspective its a big ask.

Happy with the website, not sure I’d use an app unless it did everything the web did which is I’m sure a huge undertaking and quite frankly unfair of us to ask?

I've never had any difficulty getting around Fetch on my phone. Why fix what isn't broken?

I agree that as a mobile friendly website it works well, there is no need to have an app to replicate that.

Apps are amazing but they come into their own when they do things a different way or, even more so, do something different. There’s no need to make an app of a website, so to speak.

When ideas were being bandied around for a mobile app, there was lots of stuff around the games, which makes sense. You could potentially have aids to a game during your run/walk/ride etc, in a way that you can’t do with a separated, sequential system. You could have completely new experiences too. But that’s different than building an app for what we have now!

(I guess if there was a team of Fetch clones all looking for work to do then an an app would help with discovery)

Derrrr I never realised I could add it to my home screen so appreciate the tip!

An app would suggest that we come here for the functionality, but most of us are here for the community (with some functionality benefits). Fetch is great just as it is (this includes the occasional improvement, of course). Definitely no app required.

Think that TeeBee hits the nail on the head for me

I tried the app when it was available for trial but it didn't work for me tbh. The website as a stand alone does everything I need thanks.

Thanks, Fetch. I have passed this on. Mark

Perfectly happy with mobile friendly website

I've been using the shortcut-button-on-my-homescreen for a long time, TBH I generally forget it isn't an app. It is incredibly mobile friendly. I agree with VP, if it ain't broken don't fix it.

I like the idea. I have to say I don't ever look at the home page. But I'm not your target.

I think that's an excellent idea. Nice avatar

Here are my thoughts on visiting the homepage as a visitor: Instead of your lovely, welcoming face alongside the sign-up message, have an image of all the training tools available such as you would see when looking at the training summary & analysis page. Those colourful, info-packed charts are bound to draw people in.

(That's me off the Christmas card list)

Also, maybe incorporate the recent training feed somewhere on the home page, maybe under the event search?

Health will include The Non Drinking thread. Are you OK with that? (We are because it's more profile for our happy band, but not sure if it's what you want on site front door)

Dio's suggestions all sound good too G

I think it’s a great thread to highlight.

I think it’s an excellent idea

On the mobile, my first thought was that there's not much to see, leading to thoughts like Dio's. And that the TBOGUA thread doesn't really fit on the activity-focussed forum list. One retrograde move you made, I think, was removing the thread tabs and thus the ability to eg see just the training threads if wished.

But... how are people who like to count to a million going to find the website now? 😀

On a serious note, the changes seems good. I like the suggestions from Dio. Perhaps there could also be pinned blogs and threads that are quintessential fetchiness.

Looks good. I did log out, that looks good, too; and I think the 'fight the bots' tool is both unique and funny:

Excellent

Not sure about the idiots part...

Lol, a fair few get through

I think this is a great tweak. The forum thread list now looks exactly like what I think I'd want/expect to see if arriving at a running (other activities are available!) website. And I wouldn't over-engineer it; it works perfectly well with or without TBOGUA, and maybe one or two other "passing the time of day"-type threads, as it is now absolutely evident that there are decent discussions about training and races and suchlike (which wasn't entirely obvious previously!).

Looks okay to me. Not particularly contentious and if people are coming here for the training then it makes sense.

Sorry, all - I didn't mean to suggest that TBOGUA is a "passing the time of day" thread, it's obviously not! I was really just picking it up as an example of a thread which isn't directly/overtly about training or racing.

I think it looks great and focused. TBOGUA is definitely something people coming to the site might be looking for!

I posted a blog mentioning the site's newbie 'friendliness' sometime last month, and one of the suggestions I had was that perhaps someone signing up with a new account might have a trial period of maybe 2 weeks without ads, which makes the site a bit less busy when they're first finding their way around it.

FC - they actually get a month without ads

Top half - Would use grey area on right for random pics of running/swimming/walking cycling - to give a quick image of what the site is about. As per Diogenes suggestion above, could also replace current pic with these too

Bottom half - Could align sections with words at top - "analyse your training, find races, plot routes, chat in our forum, get advice, play games" - with more links to training/graphs/route plotting/games etc -

Agree with Dio that two or three snapshot graphs at the top to the right of the join button would give a better idea of the tools we have here

Sounds good to promote the visibility of the running etc forums. For example the 1500 thread and 2000 mile thread have been really quiet this year and I wonder if new people just arent seeing them.

As an aside - I've not really looked at the site before as a non-Fetchie and I was quite surprised by the amount I could see both by clicking on the forums link on home page and also the other tabs - like the race finder and the various leagues etc. Also by then clicking on individuals can then see training/photos/races etc. Whilst I appreciate someone signing up for free isn't a massive barrier I was wondering whether some details like the ability to click on an individual perhaps ought to have a "become a Fetchie 1st" - ie similar to what happens when clicking on a blog on the Home page?

Doh! Sorry Fetch for being a bit behind the times on these things!

sounds a good idea

As a new (non signed up) user, the blog section is not too useful. Since the first thing it does is ask you to sign up.

I'd suggest (like Dio, but keep your pic) a similar column of sample summary and analyses, eg a sample activity page, infographic, heat map, year on year accumulator, hill finder etc

Definte improvement. However I think JCB's comment about "idiots" may have been serious. The first thing that struck me was that it was a rather discriminatory for a site that very much strives to be really inclusive. I know it is meant to be humorous, but if someone as generally oblivious to such things as me noticed it, then I think it would benefit from a bit more thought.

Yes, my comment about "idiots" was serious. At first glance it appears humorous. On reflection though, and this may be a cultural thing, but it might be better to avoid. Many people use the phrase disparagingly and may have heard themselves called that many times. Seeing such a word would not correctly portray the general inclusivity of the site (as flanked points out).

I'd like to counter the suggestions to remove your smiley, welcoming photo - I've always thought it's a fantastic pic that represents perhaps the most important, unique aspect of Fetch, which is you. The friendly, dedicated owner-operator, who actively engages, listens, improves and inspires is a very valuable something people will not find elsewhere

Thanks all. I’ve removed the offending piece of text.

It it too late for feedback? Since I used the home page today.
Even on my big monitor, I can't easily spot the purple v red for walk v run. Any chance of slightly bigger 'bullet' points on the training list?

Is it too soon for me to say I've amended it?

Very nice!

That was way too soon!
Sometime, somewhere, I owe you a beer or drink of you choice!

Very many thanks.

Thanks for the winners link because I haven't been able to see who won anything and have just discovered I need to send you feedback

Happy New Year! And "Spirito de Binto" made me

Happy New Year to you all too.

Well lets hope the mac repair is a good omen for 2024 being a belter

Happy New Year, we could all do with some Spirito de Binto

Ta for reminder - have sent Linds' address.

Happy New Year. Hope 2024 has none of the bad bits of 2023 and all the good bits and more. G

Had to google hywl. Great word -

hwyl
[ˈhuːɪl]
NOUN
(in Welsh use) a stirring feeling of emotional motivation and energy:

Happy New Year
I've messaged you, I'm quite ridiculously excited about my prize!

Where there’s darkness there will be light. Have a cracking 2024

Well done on fixing the Macbook!

Your Macbook is getting like Trigger's broom

Here's to a wholly enjoyable 2024! I loved 'Spirito de Binto' and will adopt it henceforth

Congratulations to all the winners... thanks for another great advent calendar Fetch

I'm all for repairing stuff.

Happy 2024 to you both x

Repairing stuff when possible is good! HNY to you and KatieB x

HNY. Am so impressed w the repair.

Congratuations to the winners, I hope you all enjoy your prizes. Thanks Fetch for another highly enjoyable and well organised festive calendar. I'm looking forward to the next one already!
I hope that 2024 is a happy, healthy, fun and successful year for you.

Happy New Year xx

Happy New Year to you both- and thank you!

Happy New Year! xx

*Changes username to 'Non-Fetchie' and claims the watch.*