What the heck is Yarl and why would I want it?

Well, it all started as an exercise (no pun intended) in learning Java. All these 20-something developers around me were thumping their chests about the language and about how great they were programming in it, so I just had to see for myself what it was all about. Plus, it helps me separate the truth from the lies when I interview candidates for programming positions.

Once I had decided that I wanted to learn Java what better way to do so than to combine my interest in running with my interest in programming. I had been using a running log program called (Log-A-Jog, available at http://www.logajog.com), and while it was ok, I found myself reverse engineering its database structure, extracting and massaging data, and occasionally getting frustrated that it couldn't do something. Thus, Yarl was born.

The name "Yarl" was chosen originally as a play on the programming world's now trite "Yet Another" software naming (e.g. YACC, of Lex and Yacc fame). So "Yarl" stands for "Yet Another Running Log", but since then has also been referred to as "Your Anal Retentive Log".

Call it what you will, but the goal of Yarl is let you capture as much or as little information about your running as you need. It is of course biased toward the running and logging that I do, with accommodation of some great advice of others that I consulted. If I had to define Yarl's most salient feature, it would be the ability to identify types of running within a run. For example, if you run intervals, the intervals themselves can get logged as such while the recoveries between the intervals can get logged as "easy" or "recovery". Since it is my opinion that it is the quality running that one does that defines one's training, Yarl allows you to define whether a "run type" (such as "Interval") should be logged as quality running or not. And of course, all the reports (weekly, monthly, and yearly) show both total mileage/pace/time and quality mileage/pace/time. I feel that this prevents important information about one's running, be it good or bad, from being hidden in the data.

Yarl does lots of other stuff too, and I hope it is designed such that any and all of your suggestions are easy to accommodate. So if you have any, feel free to email me at prescottbalch@yahoo.com. I also hope that it is relatively self-explanatory since the documentation on its use is non-existent.

Prescott

SUPER-DUPER, REALLY IMPORTANT NOTE:

You must have a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) installed on your machine prior to installing Yarl. Yarl is a Java "application", not an "applet". That means it does *not* run within your browser (browsers have their own JVM's). URLs for each operating system are shown below:

Operating System	Java Virtual Machine (you need this to use Yarl!)	Yarl 2.0
Windows 95/98/NT	http://java.sun.com/products/jdk/1.2/jre/download-windows.html	Download Yarl 2.0 for Windows 2.61 MB
Windows 2000/Me	http://java.sun.com/products/jdk/1.2/jre/download-windows.html	Download Yarl 2.0 for Windows 2000/Me 2.61 MB
MAC	http://www.apple.com/java/ BIG-TIME IMPORTANT NOTE FOR MAC USERS: The Apple Java run-time does *not* include the Swing libraries. You must download and install them separately. They can be found here. Also, and a big important "also" it is, there are instructions in the run-time download for moving some files around after the Swing installation that you must follow. If you install Yarl, and you get nothing, it is most likely a problem with the Swing installation/ configuration. So, just this one time, read the Readme! That is of course presuming that you've read this readme.	Download Yarl 2.0 for MAC 2.57 MB NOTE: It is possible that Yarl will not open after the first time you use it. If this happens, remove file 'cpa3.gif' from the Yarl folder, then try to restart Yarl.
Linux	http://www.blackdown.org/	Currently not available