Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Launch HN: Charge Running (YC W21) – Social running app with real-time coaching

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 63 posts

Re: Launch HN: Charge Running (YC W21) – Social running app with real-time coaching

#21

Post by snug »

qnsi wrote: post #2

Congrats on the launch. Because it is kind of hidden, I am pasting the pricing from the FAQ A one-month subscription is $29.99 and an annual subscription is $239.99/year ($20/month). Both options give you unlimited access to every Charge Running class, as well as our weekly “Club Races”.

These workout subscription cost seem insane to me. Why are these apps costing the price of a gym, with none of the access to equipment. I know it's the price of a drop in class or two, but given that these apps/coaches could do many x more people in one group should drive prices much lower imo.

edit: to be honest though, it does sound like a fun app and good idea. Especially after I've gotten back into running this new year, after being out for the last 2 years from an injury I got during a half marathon, and had a hard time getting back into running. I do want to give it a try, but i have trust issues with free trials if I have to put my card in.

Re: Launch HN: Charge Running (YC W21) – Social running app with real-time coaching

#22

Post by RoryJustin »

aloukissas wrote: post #20
RoryJustin wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Offering feedback on running form has been one of the biggest requests that we've gotten, as well as training schedules catered to your specific needs. All of our daily classes follow a week-long progression to make sure that you are getting in a proper training cycle and avoiding overtraining. An example is if you were to join the 6AM classes each day during the week, you might have speed drills on Monday followed b…

Great! Will definitely try it out. Is there an option to get the benefit of the app w/o the "social" part? Running for me has always been a solo sport, closer to meditation.

Excited you're going to try it out, and we would love the feedback! At the current time, we don't have any option for omitting the social aspect. We've been laser-focused on creating an addictingly social experience that drives users back into the app in order to push them harder and further than they would alone.

With that said, we do know that some runners enjoy solo running more, so we are working on future features to track your solo runs so you can still earn upgradeable medals for weekly/monthly/overall mileage tracked in the app.

Re: Launch HN: Charge Running (YC W21) – Social running app with real-time coaching

#23

Post by mknippen »

jasondigitized wrote: post #19
mknippen wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Each running coach is choosing the music, and adjusting things like tempo based on what the specific workout is. Regarding copyright, we keep track of each song played, and the number of people that listen. We then send this to the large music groups each quarter, and pay royalties.

How are you technically pulling this off? E.g Are you integrated with Spotify and leveraging an API to stream music? I love the idea by the way, just curious about the implementation.

We're streaming the audio through a server that tracks which song is played, and records each one. We actually use the same technology that powered internet radios back it the Winamp days.

On the software side, we use Djay pro, which can forward the song id along to the server for recording the data.

Re: Launch HN: Charge Running (YC W21) – Social running app with real-time coaching

#24

Post by aloukissas »

RoryJustin wrote: post #22
aloukissas wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great! Will definitely try it out. Is there an option to get the benefit of the app w/o the "social" part? Running for me has always been a solo sport, closer to meditation.

Excited you're going to try it out, and we would love the feedback! At the current time, we don't have any option for omitting the social aspect. We've been laser-focused on creating an addictingly social experience that drives users back into the app in order to push them harder and further than they would alone. With that said, we do know that some runners enjoy solo running more, so we are working on future featur…

Will wait until the solo mode is available then :)

Re: Launch HN: Charge Running (YC W21) – Social running app with real-time coaching

#25

Post by spotman »

Hi - very cool idea! Will probably try it out. Apologize if this is on the site (could not find it) but do you plan to offer any features to "meet" local runners in person? I am always trying new run clubs, and some have stuck and some have not, but I would absolutely LOVE a way to meet local runners that run similar terrain/fitness levels as me. Thanks!

Re: Launch HN: Charge Running (YC W21) – Social running app with real-time coaching

#26

Post by Humdeee »

I used to be a marathoner, having logged over 10 thousand and some kilometers across various fitness apps. I'd led a few clinics and very much enjoy the running world. The running community sorely needs connectivity solutions like this imo. Especially with Covid, most communities have seen local running groups halt and essentially disperse. Strava is still strong however, and Zwift running is the closest thing I seem to use for building connections live with other runners. Something is still needed to make the experience more personable though in this space. I wish you and your team the very best of luck.

Re: Launch HN: Charge Running (YC W21) – Social running app with real-time coaching

#27

Post by immy »

Why did you already build an Android app? You now have to maintain it as you iterate the product. Did you reach some growth milestone and decide to expand platforms in order to maintain growth? Or did you determine that the p2p nature of your app requires maximal network potential in order to have any traction?

Congrats on your progress. This is a difficult and risky path you’ve undertaken! Having used RockMyRun early on, and the new Nike coaching, I definitely appreciate the coaching and am curious how real-time will help (yay accountability) or hinder (ugh, scheduling) me getting my runs in.

Re: Launch HN: Charge Running (YC W21) – Social running app with real-time coaching

#28

Post by mknippen »

firstSpeaker wrote: post #16

This look like something that I would have used when I started running. Most running injuries happen because of overtraining, heel striding, wrong shoes, rigid posture, stride length, bad upper body form and dynamics Would any of these being taken into account? Considering the sensor data is from the phone I guess not. It would be interesting to see a video of app in action as well as how the trainers view and give f…

Great points. We do use the accelerometer and pedometer data in the phone to give the coaches many key parts of data such as cadence, average pace, stride length, and more.

Regarding form, one of the best ways that we've found to fix it is by doing routine "form checks". During this part of a run, a coach will walk you through your posture, and make suggestions. An example would be something like this:

"Let's take a minute and look at our feet. Where is your foot hitting the ground? If it's on your heel, focus on leading on the center of your foot." They would then proceed to do the same with your arms, shoulders, back, and more.

While we can't get exact data here, we can provide runners with a way of actively thinking about these form issues.

Re: Launch HN: Charge Running (YC W21) – Social running app with real-time coaching

#29

Post by mknippen »

crazypython wrote: post #18
mknippen wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great point, thank you! Because this is a live experience with a coach in your ear, there is a cost involved

What if you used GPT-3 and 15.ai (currently down, but it produces voice-actor-quality audio) to offer your service?

As a developer, I would love to have this! However, after talking to our users, the biggest thing that we consistently hear is that they love the community, and the coaches.

For example they can talk with Coach Amy on social media, chat with Coach Rory on Clubhouse, and see Coach Justin making a funny TikTok. The relatable coaches may not be the reason that runners are coming to the app, but they're definitely a major reason into why they stay.

Re: Launch HN: Charge Running (YC W21) – Social running app with real-time coaching

#30

Post by mknippen »

spotman wrote: post #25

Hi - very cool idea! Will probably try it out. Apologize if this is on the site (could not find it) but do you plan to offer any features to "meet" local runners in person? I am always trying new run clubs, and some have stuck and some have not, but I would absolutely LOVE a way to meet local runners that run similar terrain/fitness levels as me. Thanks!

Thank you for the kind words. As of right now, we don't have an option to meet-up through the app, but we do have many users that are organizing their own meet-up groups via our Facebook Run Club.
Post reply on HN