Training alone outdoors: a safety checklist and emergency contacts.

• Before leaving: route, return time and contact notified; phone charged; weather and daylight checked.
• During the outing: shared location, a pace that lets you talk, hydration and awareness of your surroundings.
• Set 1 or 2 emergency contacts who know they are and how to react if you do not answer.
• An inactivity alert tool is a complementary aid: it does not call emergency services for you.
• In a real emergency, call 112 (in the EU) or your country's official number.

Running, training on a beach or climbing a trail alone gives freedom, but reduces your ability to ask for help if something happens. The most common problems are falls and injuries, heat stroke or low blood sugar, weather changes, getting lost and encounters with traffic or animals. Most of the time it is not serious; what matters is that, if it were, someone knows where you are.

No app can remove those risks. A good routine can reduce them and shorten the time until someone notices that something is wrong.

1. Choose the route and check the weather, daylight and temperature. Prefer familiar stretches with signal.
2. Tell a contact your route and approximate return time.
3. Check that your phone is charged, location is on and the emergency card is visible from the lock screen.
4. Carry water, some fast sugar, an ID and, if the outing is long, an extra layer.
5. Review your emergency contacts: make sure they are still the right ones and know they are.
6. Turn on location sharing or your app's inactivity alert before starting.
7. When you get back, tell your contact you are done.

The checklist takes under two minutes and is the part that protects you most. Do it every time, including on routes you know.

• Keep a pace at which you can talk: if you cannot, you are above what suits a solo outing.
• Hydrate and carry some fast sugar if the outing is long.
• If you use headphones, leave one ear free or use bone conduction so you can hear traffic and warnings.
• Always look at the next stretch: terrain, crossings, dogs, cyclists.
• If the weather changes (heat, wind, fog), shorten it or turn back; the route is not going anywhere.
• If something hurts or you feel dizzy, stop and sit down. Do not try to "finish the set".

Depending on the weather, go through the guides on heat and on cold, mountains and rain. There is a local example in the guide on training outdoors in the Canary Islands.

• Pick one or two people who usually have their phone at hand and are in a similar time zone.
• Ask their permission and explain when they will receive an alert and what you want them to do: call you, alert someone nearby or call 112.
• Agree on a reasonable waiting time before worrying (for example 15 minutes without a reply after your return time).
• Give them the route, the starting point and, if possible, a place where you live or train.
• Update the list if someone changes number or city.

Store useful medical information (allergies, medication) in your phone's emergency card, reachable from the lock screen.

There are several ways to let someone know where you are, with different limits. A summary of what the sources consulted say (always check each one's current terms):

• Live location sharing: some sports apps let you share your live location with a limited number of people; conditions (whether it is free, limits) vary by app, so check them.
• Incident detection on watches: some sports watches, after detecting an incident during certain activities, alert your contacts with your GPS location, and the manufacturer warns that it is a complementary feature and you should not rely on it as your only way to ask for help.
• Inactivity alert in the training app: SafeTrack, from Zoku Athletics, detects if you stay still for five minutes during an outdoor session and asks whether you are OK.

None of them replaces an emergency call. All depend on battery, GPS, signal and phone permissions.

1. If you can, call 112 (in the EU) or your country's official emergency number and say where you are.
2. If you have no signal, try to reach a high or open point, or ask someone else to call.
3. Stay calm, remain where you can be seen and avoid moving if you suspect a serious injury.
4. When you can, let your contacts know.

SafeTrack accompanies the outdoor sessions of Zoku Athletics: if you stay still for five minutes, the app asks whether you are OK and, if you do not answer within thirty seconds, opens your phone's messaging app with your location ready for your emergency contacts. The message is only sent when you tap "Send"; contacts who have confirmed their email also receive an email. SafeTrack with SOS is included in the Free plan, always.

Its limits are clear: it is not an emergency service, it does not call 112 or any other emergency number, it only monitors while SafeTrack is active, it does not work with the app closed and it depends on GPS, battery, signal and permissions. In an emergency, call the official number.

The app is not public on the stores yet. It is in testing and there is no launch date.

The Free plan is free, with no card and no expiry. Pro and Elite are paid; what each includes is shown in the plans section of the home page.

Who is behind the website and the app: About Zoku Athletics.

• Checklist before training alone: A practical list before heading out to train alone: route, emergency contacts, battery, weather, ID and how to start SafeTrack in the app.
• Training outdoors in hot weather: How to train outdoors in hot weather: timing, hydration, pace and load, warning signs and when to stop. An indicative guide, with no medical figures.
• Training in cold, mountains and rain: How to train outdoors in the cold, in the mountains or in the rain: layers, visibility, pace, terrain, phone battery and how to share your route.
• Training outdoors in the Canary Islands: A guide to training outdoors in the Canary Islands: heat, sun, calima, volcanic terrain and how to share your route; what to check before heading out.