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GPS Watches for running

booyah31183

booyah31183

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Feb 5, 2003
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I took a 5-year hiatus from running (caused by the chaos of baby-rearing) and have gotten back into things pretty seriously the last 3-4 months. I'm training in hopes of running a decent time in the Indy 500 Half Marathon in May.

Things have come a long way in the last 5 years for run/fitness tracking and I'm looking at getting a GPS watch, preferably with a built-in heart rate monitor.

Any suggestions from the 1-2 of you that aren't disgusting fat slobs? I'm looking at a few Garmin watches, but the Microsoft Band 2 looks really interesting.
 
All I hear is, "Blah, blah, blah...my body is bangin' now, and I'd like to show it off."

You gotta close a post like that with a pic of yourself shirtless and in compression shorts. Way to let us all down.
 
Running kills...........

6353418_127174144519.jpg
 
I really like the GPS watch and it comes in very handy when you are running out of town or a new course that you aren't that familiar with. I did not have one with the heart rate monitor, but have used a separate monitor before.

They both have lots of good information that eventually you will grow tired of tracking and your high tech equipment will sit in a drawer while you run with a regular watch.

On the plus side, your infatuation with the new equipment and information should carry you through May. I doubt that you will still be using it by May of 2017 though......
 
Capitol Hoosier said:
All I hear is, "Blah, blah, blah...my body is bangin' now, and I'd like to show it off."

You gotta close a post like that with a pic of yourself shirtless and in compression shorts. Way to let us all down.
Click to expand...

I'm a long way from bangin.' I've lost 12 pounds from my heaviest, but I'm still 25-30 pounds heavier than my peak college running weight. I was too skinny then, as I was able to put on 40 pounds without looking overweight at all. I wanna lose another 5-10 pounds for now.

Anyway, I'm just running right now without any other strength/weight workouts. Not really trying to do anything looks-wise. I just want to be healthier and don't want to feel lazy anymore.
 
Capitol Hoosier said:
All I hear is, "Blah, blah, blah...my body is bangin' now, and I'd like to show it off."

You gotta close a post like that with a pic of yourself shirtless and in compression shorts. Way to let us all down.
Click to expand...
also, you could p
R2 said:
I really like the GPS watch and it comes in very handy when you are running out of town or a new course that you aren't that familiar with. I did not have one with the heart rate monitor, but have used a separate monitor before.

They both have lots of good information that eventually you will grow tired of tracking and your high tech equipment will sit in a drawer while you run with a regular watch.

On the plus side, your infatuation with the new equipment and information should carry you through May. I doubt that you will still be using it by May of 2017 though......
Click to expand...

The HR monitor isn't essential, but it would be nice to know if my perceived effort matches my real effort. I've been carrying my iphone with me using the Strava app and it has started to get pretty annoying to lug around.

That's a good point about losing interest. Might be a good idea for me to start off with an entry level watch. If I'm still using it regularly after a year, I can think about upgrading.
 
I don't know what it is with the Garmin watches, but they hardly work in Chicago. "Searching for satellite". Gf had the same problem with a different model. Keep your receipt
 
Last edited:
The Vid said:
I don't what it is with the Garmin watches, but they hardly work in Chicago. "Searching for satellite". Gf had the same problem with a different model. Keep your receipt
Click to expand...
What about outside Chicago? I'm running mostly in rural areas around Ft Wayne. I'm in NYC a few weeks a year, though. Thanks for the heads up.
 
booyah31183 said:
I took a 5-year hiatus from running (caused by the chaos of baby-rearing) and have gotten back into things pretty seriously the last 3-4 months. I'm training in hopes of running a decent time in the Indy 500 Half Marathon in May.

Things have come a long way in the last 5 years for run/fitness tracking and I'm looking at getting a GPS watch, preferably with a built-in heart rate monitor.

Any suggestions from the 1-2 of you that aren't disgusting fat slobs? I'm looking at a few Garmin watches, but the Microsoft Band 2 looks really interesting.
Click to expand...
Dumb question alert! Why does a runner need a GPS gizmo?
 
Knowing exactly how far you've run, your current and overall pace, consistency of your pace, etc. In real time.

Add a heart rate monitor and you can know whether to adjust your effort level for the run/workout.
 
booyah31183 said:
What about outside Chicago? I'm running mostly in rural areas around Ft Wayne. I'm in NYC a few weeks a year, though. Thanks for the heads up.
Click to expand...
Not sure, I never tried. I did try different areas though... Downtown, Logan Sqaure/Bucktown, and the lakeshore. I think was able to log one run without it dropping the signal. I ended up just using the Map my Walk app with my iPhone. It works great for cycling as well.
 
booyah31183 said:
Knowing exactly how far you've run, your current and overall pace, consistency of your pace, etc. In real time.

Add a heart rate monitor and you can know whether to adjust your effort level for the run/workout.
Click to expand...
I thought maybe you just got lost a lot?:D
 
largemouth said:
I thought maybe you just got lost a lot?:D
Click to expand...
Well...I still get turned around sometimes if I do trail running in unfamiliar areas. I actually got quasi-lost in a park in NYC a few years ago. Went off the marked paths in Van Cortlandt Park sometimes and came a across a few places where some shady business clearly takes place. Shady like if I ran into the wrong people at the wrong time, nobody would find my body for weeks.

The GPS watches don't generally have mapping capabilities on the watch. It's purely to log your location throughout the workout, then you can sync it with your PC or apps on 'the cloud' to map your run and see all kinds of info.
 
booyah31183 said:
Well...I still get turned around sometimes if I do trail running in unfamiliar areas. I actually got quasi-lost in a park in NYC a few years ago. Went off the marked paths in Van Cortlandt Park sometimes and came a across a few places where some shady business clearly takes place. Shady like if I ran into the wrong people at the wrong time, nobody would find my body for weeks.

The GPS watches don't generally have mapping capabilities on the watch. It's purely to log your location throughout the workout, then you can sync it with your PC or apps on 'the cloud' to map your run and see all kinds of info.
Click to expand...
Got a favorite running shoe?
 
booyah31183 said:
I took a 5-year hiatus from running (caused by the chaos of baby-rearing) and have gotten back into things pretty seriously the last 3-4 months. I'm training in hopes of running a decent time in the Indy 500 Half Marathon in May.

Things have come a long way in the last 5 years for run/fitness tracking and I'm looking at getting a GPS watch, preferably with a built-in heart rate monitor.

Any suggestions from the 1-2 of you that aren't disgusting fat slobs? I'm looking a few Garmin watches, but the Microsoft Band 2 looks really interesting.
Click to expand...

I had a Garmin a 2-3 years ago, but stopped using it. I actually prefer the "MapMyRun" app I use on my phone. I have my phone any way to listen to music and run the app at the same time. It keeps track of my runs, distance, pace, etc.. I prefer MapMyRun over GPS watch, but my watch is 2-3 years. I travel IN, OH, MI, PA, NY for work and haven't had any problems in getting the app to work for me in successful tracking/mapping my runs.
 
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I've had a Garmin 610 for the past four years and love it. I travel semi-frequently for work and it does have a tougher time picking up a signal in bigger cities like Chicago, but for the most part it's fine. I've run in Central Park a few times and never had a problem. I think it has a tougher time finding the satellite signal around taller buildings, but that's just a guess.

I'd highly recommend it. The other nice thing is that Garmin has a "heat" map that shows where the most heavily recorded runs are in a city. I've used that to determine where I might run on a given business trip.
 
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booyah31183 said:
I took a 5-year hiatus from running (caused by the chaos of baby-rearing) and have gotten back into things pretty seriously the last 3-4 months. I'm training in hopes of running a decent time in the Indy 500 Half Marathon in May.

Things have come a long way in the last 5 years for run/fitness tracking and I'm looking at getting a GPS watch, preferably with a built-in heart rate monitor.

Any suggestions from the 1-2 of you that aren't disgusting fat slobs? I'm looking at a few Garmin watches, but the Microsoft Band 2 looks really interesting.
Click to expand...
I bought my wife a Garmin last year and she loves it. Tracks her time pace etc. According to her it was her favorite gift I got her a long with cordless headphones. I can't remember the model I bought her I think it was around $200. I did some research on them and from what I read Garmin had the best reviews.
 
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