Back in the balmy days of summer 2016 I started a thread about taking up the Couch 2 5K running program. For a variety of reasons, I didn’t get very far with it.
However, I recently took it up again, and I’m delighted to say that I finished the program on Friday.* (I’ve also lost 40lbs since that I started that thread).
Now that I’m no longer using the C25K app to shout instructions at me, I find myself tracking my own times and distances. The Fitbit app on my phone (I have the cheapest Fitbit, the Flex) works OK for this, but I have to start and stop the tracking manually and fiddling with my phone on a run is annoying and impractical. This sounds like an excellent excuse to buy some tech, so I started looking at running watches.
My requirements are as follows:
GPS to track where I’ve been and automatically log distance. For what it’s worth, I don’t think I’ll ever be running without a phone, so piggy-backing off the phone’s GPS is OK, as long as it’s accurate.
It should be as easy as possible to tell the watch “I’m running now”. Part of what’s driving this is that I always warm-up and cool-down with a walk, and if I start the Fitbit app tracking as soon as I step out the door, it includes the warm-up in the stats. Likewise, if I don’t stop it tracking as soon as I finish the run, it includes the cool-down. This leads to misleading time and speed data. To manage this, I manually start tracking at the point when I start running, which is awkward, because I have to unlock the phone, jab at the screen and put the phone away, all while shifting from a walk to a run. If the watch could sort this out for automatically, that would be great, but if not a simple button-push would be OK.
It should be as easy as possible to see how far I’ve run, and for how long. Again, at the moment this requires fishing out my phone, unlocking it, etc… all while running.
I’m not especially wedded to the Fitbit social features, so there’s nothing tying me to that ecosystem especially.
I use my Fitbit Flex for step counting. I assume whatever I get will replace it for that task.
I can see the appeal of a smartwatch features such as notifications and the like, but the priority is the run tracking.
I’m unlikely to need to track sports other than running and walking.
If I’m going to be wearing this all day (because of the step counting) then it needs to not look too ridiculous with office wear.
I’ve had a look online, and the Fitbit Ionic and Garmin Vivoactive 3 seem to fit the bill - but I’m open to suggestions. Any thoughts?
Well, sort-of. The specific app I use measures time rather than distance. It builds you up over eight weeks to running for a continuous 30 minutes, which I’ve done. Sadly, this doesn’t equate to an actual 5K in my case, because I run at the pace of a geriatric snail with some heavy shopping. The full 5K will come in time…
When I started running, I used the Runkeeper app on my iPhone to track all of that, and, yes, it was cumbersome.
I bought a Garmin Forerunner 210 GPS watch, which definitely meets your needs as far as one-button stop-and-start. It’s an older Garmin model, and I don’t think they sell it anymore, but any of the current lower-end Garmin watches probably have similar functions. The one downside to it, for me, is that it doesn’t have a Bluetooth connection – to download run data, you have to use a hard-wire USB connection to a comuter.
Are you interested in the heart rate-function (it’s useful if you want to improve)?
Reason I mention it is that some of the watches don’t seem to be very accurate in this department, so a recommendation of something reliable might be good. My wife is on a bit of a fitness drive at the moment and I’ve been out cycling with her wearing her tomtom watch, HR data is rubbish with loads of cutouts.
I have a Garmin Fenix 5X.
It would probably do everything you want, and has great battery life. It has a ton of features I never use, but might be useful for a dedicated trail runner.
The iPhone and Web console is very well done.
The downside (for me) is - I can’t read the display without my reading glasses, which means that I only use the basic functions, which I can enlarge (heart rate, distance, time).
I’ve been wearing Garmin Fenix watches for a few years now - currently a Fenix 3 HR. I only take it off when I shower.
I like it because it has proper physical buttons instead of a touchscreen. Starting tracking for an activity just takes a few button presses. If it’s the same type of activity that you last used, it just takes 3 button presses - START/STOP button to shot list of activities (cutomizeable), same button to select the default (i.e. the last one you used), then the same button again to start. Stopping just takes 2 or 3 button presses as well. The log is automatically saved to your linked smartphone.
Also, unlike most smartwatches, it is perfectly visible in bright daylight, and it has battery life measured in days, not hours. Exact battery life depends on usage - if I have Bluetooth sync enabled and I use GPS an hour a day, the battery seems to last 3 or 4 days. With no sync and/or no activity tracking, it will last longer. One time I forgot to take my charger on a 1-week business trip, and battery was already down to 60%, so I turned off sync and didn’t track any activities. It still showed the time and tracked steps, and the battery lasted till I got home.
Yes, if you don’t want to spend a trillionandahalf dollars on a watch with a boatload of features you’ll never use, what you want is a Garmin Forerunner 35.
It’s inexpensive enough that you won’t be TOO upset if you break or lose it, but it has wrist heart rate and Bluetooth pairing with your phone. It doesn’t start with one click, but if it’s already set for ‘outdoor running’ you’re good with two.
It’s pretty tough, too…my FIRST STUPID RUN with mine I wiped out and landed on top of it, scratching it to hell on some rocks. Still worked/s fine.
It has been superceded but I love my Garmin Vivosmart 3. Small, unobtrusive and really cheap if you can find one. You may need to swipe and tap to get to your run depending on the warm up but it recognises running after a minute, walking after 10 (can be changed).
Thanks everyone. I’ve looked at all the models mentioned in the thread. Thinking about it, I need to add (or at least consider) another requirement: I’ve found that with some - but not all - rubber watch straps, I either have some kind of skin reaction, the rubber corrodes or both. I’ve had to replace the straps on watches before. I think that replaceable straps would be a good idea. I see that some running watches have that, and some don’t.
Another vote for the Garmin Forerunner 35. A quick search on Amazon shows a number of after-market replacement band options. My wife replaced her dead Forerunner 305 with the 35 a few months ago and is very happy with it. Vivosmart seems to have more smart watch capabilities. Fenix looks like it’s meant for mountaineering or serious back-country exploration.
Thirded for the Garmin Forerunner 35. I bought mine for under $200.00 last summer, after I bricked my phone by sweating into it too often. Easy to read, easy to use, tells me pace, time, and distance at a glance. Plus, it automatically synchs my runs to Strava. The Apple Watch doesn’t, which is why I returned to her the $300.00 model my mother gave me for Christmas.
Another vote for the Fenix 5X. I love mine as a running watch since it allwos me to not worry about my phone except as a source of music during my run. There are days I’ve gone out without my phone and it does it all. I also use it for my backpacking where it does a great job. I’ve had it for almost 3 years now and it still works great. You can replace the rubber straps if you wanted to with metal or just drop in replacement bands fairly easily.
Three of the Garmin models now have music; no need for the phone at all. However, be careful, they have both music & non-music versions; make sure which one you’re ordering if you go that route.
[ul]
[li]Vivoactive3 Music[/li][li]645 Music[/li][li]Fenix 5 Plus[/li][/ul]
I’ve ruled out the Fenix range on cost grounds (they look great though). I’m leaning towards one of the Garmin devices - the Forerunner 35, or maybe the 235. I’m hoping to get into a store to have a look at them in the flesh, as it were.