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How your running watch has changed your life...
Hi All I have been researching different sports watches as I am ready to take my training to the next level...Until now, I've been using the Nike+ Running app on my iPod. I especially like the Garmin 210. Now, before I invest a lot of money into a new running toy, I would be interested in hearing how your sports watch (any type and brand) has revolutionised your running, if at all. Have you become faster, stronger, more disciplined? Is a sports watch really worth an investment? Thanks a lot 
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I'd never ever have bought a sports watch. A complete waste of money.... or so I thought!
Then someone gave me their old Garmin 205. Wow... what a difference!
With the continual feedback, it has keeps me to the pace I want... whether that be a slow pace if trying to beat a time.
And by being able to easily see how far I've run, it encourages me to keep a record, which encourages me.
On occasion when I've run away from my normal route, then it's nice to easily upload it up onto Google maps.
And I only use about a third of the watch's features. If I bothered to read the manual thoroughly, I know I could get a lot more from it.
Now, if ever I broke or list it, I'd replace it within a week!
I wouldn't say it changed my life, but it certainly makes my races more enjoyable.
It helps me to train for them. Doing tempo or speed sessions is much easier if you can SEE how fast you are running, and have a beep to tell you when to start/stop the effort phases.
During the race itself I can make sure I don't start too fast (which I always used to do), and keep an eye on my pace to see if I'm on target.
Keeping track of how far I've run, the splits, the max pace, etc. is also interesting
Guess I'm a secret geek!
I really like my Garmin 305, and if it broke I would want to replace it.
I don't really use the HRM features - I find I can't even walk up hills slowly enough, or run down them fast enough to stay in the zone. As it is very hilly round me, that makes it pretty hard to use as a training tool, so I just use it to monitor an average so I can tell if I run the same route faster with a lower HR I know I'm fitter.
I really like some features of the watch - being able to tell fairly accurately how far I have run and how fast. It does help with pacing, but I am a little concerned that I now don't "feel" my pace quite as much as I used to. The interval sessions can be useful. Mile splits are really useful.
However I think the best bit is that it is dead easy to download all the information after the run. I don't really use garmin connect, but use www.fetcheveryone.com as my primary log. It's amazing what you can pull out of the data. The site also has various games where it tracks where you've been and you earn points for collecting coins etc., or where you try to pinch zones off other runners. All very silly, but can be helpful motivation.
Having said all that though, it is only a sports watch, so it hasn't really changed my life. I used to run very happily with just a basic stopwatch, using a map and bits of string to work out the length of my routes!
my pace and times improved significantly when i started using a garmin, especially when doing faster runs or races where pace was important, seeing it drop off gives me incentive to push up again,