For Christmas I’m going to ask for a Garmin Forerunner or suchlike, but I’d like some advice.
I want something that gives me a rough idea of my pace, location, time, distance, etc. All them things. I also want it to be a heart rate monitor. I’ve been using an iPhone app for this stuff, but it’s kind of unreliable and plus the iPhone is a pain to run with. I’d rather use my little Shuffle with its built in clip.
Also, I am a girl! I am a fine-boned girl with tiny little wrists.
So, I was looking at the Forerunner models, and while the 405 seems way sleeker and easier to mount on a girl-wrist, there are quite a few negative reviews on it. The 305 seems to do everything I need, but it looks HUGE and all the pictures are of this thing on a guy-wrist.
So, first of all, any personal experiences with these things? Likes, dislikes?
Are there any other makes that I might be interested in besides the Garmin ones?
Any women strap one of these giants onto their arms?
I’d really like something in real-time - that’s one of the drawbacks of my little iPhone app. I want to know how far I’ve gone now - i.e., can I turn around yet?
I used the 2nd generation of the Timex Bodylink system and really liked it. True you have 3 devices to wear vice one with the Garmin, but the watch is watch sized, so it doesn’t feel cumbersome on your wrist. I hardly even notice the GPS reciever after a few minutes. It is a pain that in order to download the data to computer you have to purchase an additional piece of equipment, but if all you’re looking for is something to give you feedback during your actual run, it works well enough.
As I said, I’ve never used the Garmin, but the Timex system does have a drawback in that you have to start the watch and data recorder separatly. For me at my fairly novice level of running, the tenths of a second the two were off wasn’t that big a deal.
Be warned that the software is very rudimentary. Basically just a line graph showing your speed/distance/heart rate. I don’t know that you could use if for any sort of advanced analysis or anything.
I currently have a 305 and a Nike Pod, and after a while I quit using both of them. The Garmin is way too big to be comfortable (and I’m a 6’ tall, 175 pound guy), and the Nike wasn’t accurate enough to be worth the trouble. Actually, even the Garmin wasn’t that great if you do trail runs it will lose the signal and become worthless.
After running for about 5 years now I just run with a watch that has a stopwatch with multiple “laps”. All you need to do is this, find 3 good rountes, say 3,4, and 5 miles. I promise that within a month you’ll know, “OK, I should make it to this corner in 22 minutes, faster than that and I’m running fast, slower and I’m a little off today.” On my 6.5 mile route I know basically where 1,2, and 3 miles are, and I have 2 seperate 1 mile sections that I sprint. I know all of the requisite “times” for these instantly. I promise that you’ll figure it out quicker than you’ll figure out the Garmin or the Nike. (The Nike theoretically gives you real time info, but the accuracy changes based on how fast you run, which shoes you’re wearing, where the pod is on the shoe, etc.).
I currently have a 305 and a Nike Pod, and after a while I quit using both of them. The Garmin is way too big to be comfortable (and I’m a 6’ tall, 175 pound guy), and the Nike wasn’t accurate enough to be worth the trouble. Actually, even the Garmin wasn’t that great, if you do trail runs it will lose the signal and become worthless.
After running for about 5 years now I just run with a watch that has a stopwatch with multiple “laps”. All you need to do is this, find 3 good rountes, say 3,4, and 5 miles. I promise that within a month you’ll know, “OK, I should make it to this corner in 22 minutes, faster than that and I’m running fast, slower and I’m a little off today.” On my 6.5 mile route I know basically where 1,2, and 3 miles are, and I have 2 seperate 1 mile sections that I sprint. I know all of the requisite “times” for these instantly. I promise that you’ll figure it out quicker than you’ll figure out the Garmin or the Nike. (The Nike theoretically gives you real time info, but the accuracy changes based on how fast you run, which shoes you’re wearing, where the pod is on the shoe, etc.).
I’m a big “toy” guy, that’s why I have both of these. The Garmin is now on my bike, where the size doesn’t matter and I’m almost never under enough tree cover to make it lose signal. The Nike is now the watch that I wear, but the pod thingy just sits in my closet collecting dust. The point is, even though I love all the techno stuff, I’d still say just stick with a watch. Forgot the heartrate issue. Again, I’ve had it, found it overrated, and dropped it. Knowing all this stuff won’t get you out the door!
Go run! If you run down at the river the miles are nicely marked for you anyway.
I have the 305 and it is very good for what it is. It IS a little big though, but not obnoxiously so. Not a daily wear watch, but not uncomfortable while running. I have but don’t really use the heartrate monitor…works well but I don’t like the feel of the strap and don’t find myself caring all that much about heartrate…time and distance is good enough. What I do like is the footpod you can get that allows you to use it indoors or when the GPS in unavailable. Useful for running when its blizzarding in Alaska. what I really wish they’d do is make the damn thing waterproof for use while swimming…
What I really really want is for the Nike+ deal to work with the iPhone. Which app do you use now? I haven’t found any particularly useful but am always looking for suggestions!
Well, the thing is, I want to do this marathon thing this coming year, so it’s not like I’ll just be doing three miles today, two tomorrow, three the day after - it’ll be different distances and more every week, you know? And even using various utilities it’s a pain in the ass to measure out twelve miles, say, and then remember exactly how I did it so I can be sure I actually ran twelve miles. That was kind of my thinking.
You mean all that riverside stuff they’re trying to link up with that CanalSide thing? I’ve never actually gotten out of my car and looked at all that stuff.
ETA - JackofHearts, you snuck in under my post. I use TrailGuru, which is cool, but when it says it has to be “on top” it is not kidding and if something happens to “top” it it won’t record your run. It gives you some real-time data (but it’s not very convenient to look at your iPhone while you’re running) but when you post the track to the website it gives you a very nice little map with a summary of your elevation gains and losses, average speed, top speed, etc. It isn’t perfect, but it’s neat.
Sounds decent…I’ll have to check it out…thanks for the recommendation! By “on top” does this mean I can’t also be listening to music, etc? That would suck.
What you have to do is start the iPod, start the TrailGuru, and run. (I’m not exactly sure what happens if you just pull up that little mini iPod interface to skip a song or something, because I have my playlist set when I start.) The phone can ring and you not answer it and you’re fine, but if you do answer it it all goes to hell. Evidently this isn’t really TrailGuru’s fault - it’s the way iPhone makes them do it.
Yep…one of my few points of objection with the iphone (not to derail into an iphone thread…)…the restriction against things running in the background. I may jailbreak my phone just to allow this…
I hear what you’re screamin’. Yeah, the stuff at the river wouldn’t be long enough for you if that’s what you’re doing. But aren’t they making it longer? It’s been a while since I’ve been down there. Again, I found the Garmin to be annoyingly large, but judging by other posters maybe I was the outlier. Good luck finding something that works for you.
I use a Garmin 305 and my wife uses the Nike+iPod thingy. She’s had some trouble getting repeatability with it because she’s a racewalker and her stride varies somewhat depending on the length of her workout, but it’s been very useful to her.
The Garmin is a little bulky on me…I’m a smallish man…but I got used to it quickly. Got used to the heart monitor strap, too, once I got over feeling like I was wearing a bra, lol.
The heart rate monitor has been a very useful tool for training, although the numbers are too small for me to read on the run (58-year old eyes). If you don’t wear the strap snugly enough, or sweat enough to make good contact you tend to get some peculiar spikes in the readout, but you generally know to disregard rates in excess of 100% if you don’t feel it. Distances vary by a tenth or two day to day over a 5-mile run. Oddly, it seems to read a little longer on dark, cloudy days. Often, “back” reads shorter than “out”. The speed and pace graphs are pretty jaggedey, and the altitude and grade readouts aren’t acurate enough to be really useful.
In short, both devices have helped us, and neither would trade the other!
Well, TrailGuru told me a few days ago that my top speed was 39 miles an hour, and that I teleported three blocks. So I guess any consumer-level GPS thingy is going to have a few… problems.
I know they’re trying to connect all those pieces down by the river on both sides, which might make a nice run if you include both sides and a bridge, but damn if you can find anything useful about it online. I may have to, gasp! Go look at it!
I got a Garmin 301 - it is big, but you could strap it to your upper arm. I really like it - it has help me improve my running and biking immensely. The Virtual Partner really helps, I keep improving the target pace. And I get to see my heart rate improving as I get fitter. To be honest, I love it. Best thing I ever got.
But I got the older Forerunner because it was really cheap. So your mileage may vary.
The garmin 305 might be a little bulky, but it’s still pretty light, and the strap can adjust for a very small wrist, so I don’t think you’ll have a problem there. Its display is customizable, so that you can show whatever data is most important to you. It also comes with a desktop app so you can review your run, compare it to previous runs, etc. I used to have one of the cheaper Timex GPS things, and the Forerunner blows it out of the water.
I prefer the footpod-based, as opposed to GPS-based, gizmos: I currently use a Polar RS800sd and previously used a Polar S625X, and have been happy with both. Lots of runners I know have the Garmin 305, and all seem happy with it - but it is bulky. The 405 is stylish, assuming you’re into Lego or Star Trek, or recently banged your head very hard, but it is still rather chunky. One problem with the GPS devices is that their estimated ascent achieved during a run is typically nonsense. However, a nice point is being able to see where you went, especially great if you’re doing a track session (yay! i went round in circles for an hour!).
