Need some gadgetry advice....

Moondog

posted: 9/13/2007 at 11:24 AM

New to running and doing a good job of sticking to the program, eating MUCH better, etc... Granted, it has only been a little over a week but I feel so friggin' good I won't be stopping anytime soon. As I start heading into other phases of my training, it is clear to me I really need to get a fitness watch to help me track time, distance, heart rate, etc... I do not need GPS. I would greatly appreciate everyone's advice/recommendation as to which watch I should consider. Money isn't much of an issue but I don't want to waste any of it either. Quality is definitely important though. Also, what's the best place to purchase one? Thanks in advance for your help!

Bonkin

posted: 9/13/2007 at 1:14 PM

You may not need GPS - but if you want to keep track of distance and pace - you want GPS. I don't think you can beat the Garmin 305 for price/performance. One of Trent's recent threads mentioned that he got a new one very recently for $155.

Passion is a rather frightening thing because if you have passion you don't know where it will take you.

When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?

mikeymike

posted: 9/13/2007 at 1:38 PM

Get THIS watch. And measure all your routes on THIS site. That's all you need. If you get a heart rate monitor I'll never talk to you again. I realize this may push you to run out and get one immediately, in which case, oh well, another one lost to the dark side. But hey I will have tried so I can still sleep at night.

Runners run.

va

posted: 9/13/2007 at 1:51 PM
modified: 9/13/2007 at 1:53 PM

Or get this watch. If you want something that does distance and is cheaper than a GPS, get this.

modal

posted: 9/13/2007 at 2:29 PM

My Timex versus My Garmin Forerunner 305 Timex - I stick to a rigid paths so I can map them out later and figure out the distance I traveled. Garmin - I can go all over the place and it records where I go, my current pace, distance run, time, run time, lap time, blah blah blah oh yeah it has a heart rate monitor too which I have yet to use. (Great for my personality - I let my mind run all over theplace sometimes Wink

) If you run on a daily basis the 305 is worth the 155 bucks. Here is the Timex model I recommend. I've owned two of these so I MUST like the watch. Timex Ironman 100-Lap Triathlon Flix System Watch It's called Flix because you flick your wrist to do the Indigo night light.

Vim

zoom-zoom

Fanatic #3965

posted: 9/13/2007 at 2:32 PM

I have that Timex 50 lap watch. It's a nice stopwatch, but I still want a garmin 205 for all the reasons modal mentioned (in addition to race courses that are poorly marked, wanting to be able to be consistent during a race, being able to analyze things like pace and elevation...effects of elevation on my pace, effects of distance on my pace, etc.). I don't care about heartrate, so the 305 would be wasted on me. k

Kirsten

'07: 1324.5 | '08: 1561 | '09: 1810.9 run ~ 208.7 bike | '10: 1,000.3 run ~ 3513.5 bike | '11: 710.3 run ~ 4157.9 bike '12: 659.9 run ~ 3365.6 bike (100% benched by ortho last 4.5 weeks while in long-arm cast)

'13 Goals:

• DON'T BREAK ANYTHING!!!

• get within 5#s of 130#s (and stay there, gotdammit!)

• 1st olympic distance duathlon

• 1st Iceman Cometh mtn bike race

• Half Fanatic

• punch Type 1 in the junk

derek

posted: 9/13/2007 at 3:32 PM

Quote from zoom-zoom on 9/13/2007 at 2:32 PM:

I don't care about heartrate, so the 305 would be wasted on me. k

I don't use the HR strap on my 305, but I got the 305 anyway as I *may* want to check my heart rate in the future, and with the 205, you can't do that, not even by buying some other accessory.

Derek

zoom-zoom

Fanatic #3965

posted: 9/14/2007 at 6:23 AM

Quote from derek on 9/13/2007 at 3:32 PM:

I don't use the HR strap on my 305, but I got the 305 anyway as I *may* want to check my heart rate in the future, and with the 205, you can't do that, not even by buying some other accessory.

Hmmm...enabler! Wink

k

Kirsten

'07: 1324.5 | '08: 1561 | '09: 1810.9 run ~ 208.7 bike | '10: 1,000.3 run ~ 3513.5 bike | '11: 710.3 run ~ 4157.9 bike '12: 659.9 run ~ 3365.6 bike (100% benched by ortho last 4.5 weeks while in long-arm cast)

'13 Goals:

• DON'T BREAK ANYTHING!!!

• get within 5#s of 130#s (and stay there, gotdammit!)

• 1st olympic distance duathlon

• 1st Iceman Cometh mtn bike race

• Half Fanatic

• punch Type 1 in the junk

Go PRE

Member Since 2008

posted: 9/14/2007 at 8:54 AM

I use a Garin 205. It is soo nice knowing just how farI have ran and my pace is as it is happening. It also saves on gas so I don't have to get in my car and drive the route to know what the distance is I ran. Your question all depends on how mch money you have to send. If money is not an option, go Garmin. If it is go Ironman.

jEfFgObLuE

More Cowbell!

posted: 9/14/2007 at 9:20 AM
modified: 9/14/2007 at 11:46 AM

Quote from zoom-zoom on 9/13/2007 at 2:32 PM:

I don't care about heartrate, so the 305 would be wasted on me.

Heart Rate isn't wasted on ALMOST anybody! Now I don't think you should be a slave to the HRM, but it's a great way to: a) Make sure you run easy enough on easy days b) Make sure you push hard enough on hard days c) recognize when you may be overtraining / not getting enough rest d) produce really cool graphs With all the discounts these days, there's probably little difference in price between the 205 and 305. So get the 305 "because hey, it's not crack!" /Another Enabler MTA ALMOST

When you're on your deathbed, you won't be wishing that you'd spent more time at the office. But you will be wishing that you'd spent more time running. Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.

Jeff

posted: 9/14/2007 at 9:32 AM

Quote from mikeymike on 9/13/2007 at 1:38 PM:

Get THIS watch. And measure all your routes on THIS site. That's all you need.

Hypocrite. That's my watch, by the way.

The Logic of Long Distance

mikeymike

posted: 9/14/2007 at 9:37 AM

Quote from jEfFgObLuE on 9/14/2007 at 9:20 AM:

Heart Rate isn't wasted on anybody! Now I don't think you should be a slave to the HRM, but it's a great way to: a) Make sure you run easy enough on easy days b) Make sure you push hard enough on hard days c) recognize when you may be overtraining / not getting enough rest d) produce really cool graphs

Anybody? What if you already know how to do "a" through "c" without a HRM and you don't care about "d"?

Runners run.

va

posted: 9/14/2007 at 9:40 AM

Hi Mikey, Didn't you get a Garmin? What happened?

mikeymike

posted: 9/14/2007 at 9:40 AM

Quote from Jeff on 9/14/2007 at 9:32 AM:

Hypocrite. That's my watch, by the way.

I know. Do as as I say, not as I do. That's my watch by the way too. For 6 or 7 out of 8 or9 runs a week anyway. I use my 205 for big workouts on the road. It's really convenient to be able to do things like 5 x 1 mile with 3 minute recovery jogs anywhere, on any stretch of road. Other than that, the Garmin's just a cool toy for people who like gizmos. It doesn't do a lot of hte things people think it does and it surely isn't accurate enough for correcting poorly measured race courses or anything like that.

Runners run.

Jeff

posted: 9/14/2007 at 10:18 AM

Quote from mikeymike on 9/14/2007 at 9:37 AM:

Anybody? What if you already know how to do "a" through "c" without a HRM and you don't care about "d"?

Well, as Jeff reminds us, "smart technology can always be defeated by dumb users." But maybe there's a place for the HRM in learning "a" through "c" -- for those that aren't in the know. Crank.

The Logic of Long Distance

Need some "gadgetry" advice.... (Read 1172 times)

'13 Goals:

'13 Goals: