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Garmins/GPS watches
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Am thinking about buying one of these, but can't quite decide. Wondered if anyone would care to explain what benefits they get from theirs. I tend to run just with nothing and have got to where I can judge pace and distance fairly well. I like coming across someone that can give me an exact distance during a race, but I worry I might check it constantly if I were able. Set against that is the lure of all those lovely stats. Anybody got any before and after thoughts? Thanks in advance
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Comments
I must admit when I have it I on me I check it a lot as such I have recently started leaving it at home as I relax and enjoy runs more without always attempting to improve. I found the data my Garmin produced was something I associated with having a good or bad run.
I still use it for intervals, heart rate training and races but when I just want to enjoy a long slow run I leave it at home and have a better time because of it.
some love these things - Squeakz as an e.g. - for training and improving; others just love the stats for some reason; and others use whatever feature they like.
I resisted the lure of one for a long time but was offered a 405 FOC so thought "why not". I use it for pacing - despite being able to pace myself fairly well I find it useful for keeping me in check when I'm feeling good and the temptation is to go faster than I should. Sure, I download the stats into Garmin Connect as a record, and review the last run but I don't analyse the minutae of everything like many do. It's just there as a record.
One thing that it did give me a wake up call on was that the distances of a lot of my routes were shorter than the Garmin told me - that meant I'd been sub-optimal training so the Garmin gives a better method of performance measurement.
If you're not bothered by distance measurement which is Garmin's BIG plus point, you can achieve the same training benefit with just a HRM which has been used for years in training before GPS systems came along.
I agree with both Buddha and Squeakz.
I am a bit of a nerd and like to see every mile I run recorded. I use it a lot to pace myself and also run on heart rate. An HRM would do this just as well, but I like to record the milage and know how far I have run.
Sometimes when I just want to run I switch it onto heart rate only and then I cannot see pace etc, this helps me to relax or I tie it to my camelpak where I cannot see it at all. I do not use the elevation recording much as it is a 'bit' out.
Nice to use as a navigation tool when I have been somewhere I do not know I can just run and if I do not remember the way back I can track back on the map part.
What I think the Garmins are brilliant for is the advanced training workouts... Unlike you, I find it difficult to assess my pace and how far I've run, so in that sense my watch has revolutionised my training.
I bought the most basic Garmin fr60.
It completely changed my training. Ive had it a year and a half and use it every time. Including as a timer in the pool. To be able to provide actual proof of improvement I find really motivational. Plus its an easy way of keeping an accurate training log.
Id say get one!