Anyone used MyAthleteLive tracking device?

I used it at IMTX in 2011.  Worked perfectly once I remembered to stop about a mile into the bike and turn it on

It was great that my husband at the race could track me on his iPad and my family at home could also see where I was.  It was worth the price.

DAniel: When someone uses it, does it overlay your position on an actual map in real time? or at least with pretty frequent updates?

I have looked at those in the past and may be great to get one before my IMLP next year

Ijust used it for Lake Placid this year, and from what what my family said.  It was great for everybody that was not in LP during the race.  So all my friends and family back home could see me moving along but in LP it was tough because of cell reception and everybody and there dogs have smart phones and was eating up space on the cell towers.  Though in bigger cities I would imagine it would not be a big problem.  (This is not myathletelive's problem but cell tower problem) I can say it was worth it to get it.  I just put on the belt during the T1 and forget about it, (Just remember to turn it on when you put it in your Bike bag).  It has a long battery life so you could leave it on for over a day it will still work.  

My wife and I use Garmin GTU 10s for training all the time and we also have used MYAthleteLive for several different races. While each unit has a different form factor, they are both about the same size. The way both of these units work is that they send a small packet of data on a set interval via a cellular connection to a server. The downstream user then access this information via a web interface and/or smartphone app. If there is no cell service, neither device will work. So in some races they work great, but in others they can be spotty. In Lake Placid for example there are several locations where both will not be able to transmit data. However the data packet they transmit is tiny, so they do not need much of a connection to work. I have found both to work in locations where I am not able to place a call. The GTU uses AT&T's network - I am not sure what network MYAthleteLive uses.

The GTU was originally designed for an individual to track a pet, child, etc. Until recently the only way to have others use it to track you was to give them access to your primary account. You can set the frequency with which the unit transmit data - I think anywhere from every 30 seconds to "on demand." This allows you to control battery life, which can be anywhere from 20 hours to a full week. This year they upgraded their premium service ($5 per month) to include the the option to do "continuous tracking." This allows you to invite other people to track the device via their own login - you do not have to give them your account info. They do have to register for their own free garmin account however. In continuous mode the device sends a packet every 5 seconds, which can really chew through some battery life. You get 50 hour of continuous tracking per month and can set up a session to last anywhere from 1 hour to 5 hours and schedule in advance the exact time when the session starts and ends. You track the device through an interface that utilizes google maps, so it is very familiar in look and feel.

MyAthleteLive has a public interface so you can see everyone that is using it for a particular race and there is no login for the public to track you in a race, which is kinda nice. In the map view, it also has the actual course track overlaid on the map, so you can actually see where the unit is on the course, while the GTU just shows where the unit is on the map, a subtle but important distinction I think when you are following folks in a race. When I have used it in IMs I have just turned it on before the swim and attached it to my race number belt so that it was with me on both the bike and run. It seems to have plenty of juice to last the entire race.

I really like both of these nits, but I think that while the GTU is great for training I still like the public tracking features MyAthleteLive offers.

I am in the process of creating a similar thing, but able to use a t-mobile simcard  with the "Pay by the day" plan...so you essentially only pay the service when you turn it on.  It will have the capability to update other phones, update blogger and facebook status'.

I think it is odd that the Garmin product is $199.  It should be much cheaper than that, since you can get a GPS-enabled phone for less than half of that, which essentially is the same product.

Instamapper for Iphone.  Free.  I've only tested it out, will use for first time Sunday.  Wife tracks my iphone via her iphone.  I have a little sweat proof case on my race belt.  I'll put behind my number on the bike and most likely move it to my fuel belt (more sturdy) on my run.  That's the tentative plan.  Will try this out tomorrow.  

If you use a race belt you won't be having to keep track of anything extra. They send the unit in a little pouch that slides onto a race belt - I think they even sent a race belt with it.

I used one for Louisville last year - family on iPhones and iPads raved about it and were able to catch me many more times than the previous IM without it.

PS your wife is awesome

Our Ragnar Relay team used one last fall, and it worked great. It comes with a little race belt, which we passed from each runner to the next at the exchange points. It was useful for the friends back home to track us online (I agree that the public access and the path display feature are very useful), and it was also really useful for other team members. One van could keep track of the progress of the runners in the other van. And at one point in the middle of the night it helped us to identify that our current runner had got injured, as the tracking came to a near standstill a couple of miles from the exchange. 

The battery lasted ~20 hours, so we had to suspend tracking for a while during the race so that we could recharge the unit.

It's a small price to pay for her devotion to your endeavor. Just strap it to your race belt that you'll throw on in T1.  I never even noticed it was there.

Your wife rocks!

Oh and be sure to turn it on BEFORE the race.  The battery will last long enough.  If you don't you will likely NOT remember in T1.

For training I have been using the Find My iPhone app.  The wife uses it to make sure I'm still moving. It's also good to track all the other apple products you have and see where they are (Kids, laptops etc).  I use it for the real purpose which is I have to keep finding my wife's phone so you can send a message to it and it will beep until you find it (The Wife is a very good at hiding it ).  You can also lock your phone or even erase it in case it gets stolen or what not.  Pretty nice app all together.

I just sent this job description to the wife.  Though I can't complain she watches the kids, though if I could get her to make the kids stay out there handing out nutrition then it could be a win-win. Though they would probably sell all my nutrition and I would be left with none.  I'll have to remember that.