GPS watch/HRM, other running accessories?

[Scrumhalf]

How many of you runners wear watches, etc. with GPS tracking and/or heart rate montoring capabilities while running?

If so, what makes/models have worked for you? If not, how do you keep track of your distance covered and intensity levels? Drive the route beforehand to calculate distance? Use your fingers and measure pulse rate?

 

[CDFS]

I use a different site (afstandmeten.nl) but this one is in English: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/ or http://www.mapmyrun.com/. Haven't tried it..

 

[boo]

The Nike+Ipod setup works fairly well, especially if you're already running with an ipod. IME, accuracy was +/-5%, though a route with a lot of elevation changes can mess it up. You don't need the special Nike shoes, just get a little pouch for the senor and secure it between the laces and tongue of one of your shoes. Beware that rain on your ipod could mess it up. I also used the garmin forerunner 205 (without the heartbeat sensor). It was great when it was actually working, but became a pain **********. It often wouldn't charge properly if you charged it via an AC Adapter as opposed to a computer USB connection. I'd find the next morning that not only had it locked up, but battery was drained. Also, I noticed power tended to run low after two hours, making it lose connection with GPS satellites. Not a big deal for most runners, but I imagine it would be really annoying for someone doing marathon training. Last time I tried using it, it no longer seemed to hold enough of a charge to get a satellite connection and haven't touched it in a while. If you go that route, I'd only buy brand new from a place with a liberal return policy.

Now, I just use www.mapmyrun.com. I don't do much distance for now (prob 6 miles max), and already have a good idea what route I want to take for a given distance.

ps. I never used heartbeat sensors. I would control intensity by eyeing my split times. The forerunner had this really nifty feature where it display you and another animated runner on the screen that you program to run at a specific pace. You can tell how how far behind or ahead of pace you are by the distance between you and the runner.

 

[Scrumhalf]

Thanks for the link! mapmyrun.com is all I need.

I'll still look to get a HRM sometime, but that's not really essential for now.

 

[warlandsboy]

.

 

[Southern-Nupe]

I use a Garmin Forerunner 305. I have nothing but positive things to say about these watches. I usually download into a 3rd party software (due to the fact the supplied Garmin software sucks), however I truly appreciate the fact I can track routes, and monitor my training intervals.

I highly recommend these devises to anyone who enjoys running, hiking, or cycling.

 

[MsMcGillicuddy]

I've been using the Garmin 305 for just over a year now and for the most part it's great. I have been having some trouble finding satellites at times when in Europe, but that's been maybe three out of 250 days running. I've trained for four half-marathons with it, so it's good for middle-length runs - I can't speak to its effectiveness beyond 13-mile runs.

I used to use Map My Run but it became too much of a pain to have to figure out exact routes to hit my mileage targets, and I found the website maps to be unecessarily difficult to use. With the GPS watch I can just run out to half my target and turn around to run back.