Running Watch? Advice?

[shmoogrrrl]

I am thinking about asking for a running watch for my birthday. I just had a few questions that I hoped someone could answer.

1. Do I actually need one? Does it serve a useful enough purpose to be worth it? I do have an Iphone, but I hate those arm bands so I keep my phone in a little waist pack and it is hard to get out while running to check how far I've been, and it sometimes loses the GPS connection.

2. What is a good watch? I want something nice, but I don't want to spend money on more than I need.

There are so many to choose from and reviews are all about the same! I suppose that means that I can't go wrong, but I figured I would ask and see what others recommend.

 

[APrunner]

Best running purchase I ever made (besides shoes). It is nice to keep track of the pace I am running, especially in a race. Make sure I am not taking off too fast, or slacking too much. Once you run with one, you will never want to run without it.

I think Garmin is probably the best brand. I love the Forerunner 610, but it is pricey. If you want to go cheaper, the 210 and 305 are good options as well. Spend some time on the Garmin site and compare features and decide what is worth paying for. If you purchase from runningwarehouse.com, there is a code you can put in to save 15%.

Stay away from the Nike watch (powered by TomTom). Unless they fixed it, it did a terrible job of giving you your pace while running. I took it back and got the Forerunner 610.

 

[TXHauntedMansionFan]

I couldn't agree more with APrunner. I love running with my watch (Garmin Forerunner 305) and can't imagine running without it any longer either!

I also hear bad things from the new Nike running watch from my running group friends and I can't recommend the 305 enough! I got mine for less than $200 off amazon and it does everything that I need it to do.

TX

 

[fashionista311]

Ditto with APrunner - took my recommendations right out of my mouth! If you want the basic features and a small watch face, go with the 210. If you want the more advanced features and don't care about the size, go with the 305. If you wan the advanced features and a smaller watch face and are ok with spending more, go with the 610.

 

[EddieMccoy2]

I agree with what most have said. I run with a Garmin 610 and absolutely love it / depend on it. I bought my wife a 210W at the princess expo, and she absolutely loves it. It took are awhile to want one, but now, she is kicking herself for waiting so long. She like the 210 because it came in a woman's version that had a smaller band and kept the important stats to her like distance / pace / heart rate and the all important, at least to her, calories burned.

Stay away from the Nike watch. It is a piece of garbage. My running partner bought one, and used it for 2 weeks and sent it back. It couldn't keep the distance or the pace accurately. We would run the same exact route and it would be almost half a mile off each time and way different than what my watch said, and we were running side by side.

Take the plunge...you won't regret it.

 

[Tabetha]

I used to wear my iPhone in an armband, and checking it for pace and time was pretty much impossible, but I was training on a treadmill so it didn't really matter because I had all the information in front of me. I knew that knowing my current pace and interval times during the Princess was going to be a challenge since I wasn't used to doing anything but going with the treadmill.

I bought my Garmin 405CX on Amazon a week before the Princess and loved it the minute I took it out for a test run. I wished I'd had it for my whole training, frankly. It was wonderful to have the intervals beep for me, and for the watch to beep and let me know if I wasn't meeting or exceeding the pace I'd set as a goal. And it was nice to be able to look at my wrist to see my actual current pace. To be honest, it's probably a big reason I was able to run the half so very comfortably.

 

[jmasgat]

If you want something to track your routes/provide you data/etc, then a Garmin is the way to go. I have a 305 and like it. If you don't care about HR monitor (and I only use it for cycling XT), then the 205 is the same. This is their old model and while the form factor is slightly clunkier, you may be able to find one for cheaper.

Unfortunately, though, the prices seem to be pretty high these days. I got my 305 at Amazon for $125 and that kind of price is nowhere to be seen now.

Maura

 

[John VN]

I have to also agree with Garmin. I had the 305 and found it to be excellent and the price can be very reasonable. I now have the 910XT and it is fabulous! I am a bicyclist first, speed walker second, 72.2 duathlon in 2 1/2 weeks and just starting swimming training for triathlons. I am a firm believer in HR monitoring.

 

[hungrygreenhippo]

I have the Garmin 205 and I love it, although I'm sort of kicking myself for not getting the 305 with the heart rate monitor. At the time (about 3 years ago) I didn't think I'd want a heart rate monitor, but lately I've been thinking about training more based on heart rate.

I used to train with an iPod shuffle and my Garmin, but since I got my iPhone I pretty much use it exclusively for training. I like having just the one device and it makes me feel safer to have a phone with me while running. I don't listen to music during races, so I still use my Garmin for racing. It's great to be able to easily look down at my wrist and get the stats that I want.

 

[erinna]

This is very helpful. So, many thanks!

My ideal watch would be a women's (I've got really really small wrists), would track pace, heart rate, distance, and give you a fairly accurate read of current pace (this last one seems to be a toughie?).

Right now, I'm thinking I'll get the Garmin 405CX. It seems a balance of these features and a decent if not great price ($175 on Amazon). I'd be most appreciative of the opinions of experienced individuals, though!

 

[APrunner]

This is very helpful. So, many thanks!

My ideal watch would be a women's (I've got really really small wrists), would track pace, heart rate, distance, and give you a fairly accurate read of current pace (this last one seems to be a toughie?).

Right now, I'm thinking I'll get the Garmin 405CX. It seems a balance of these features and a decent if not great price ($175 on Amazon). I'd be most appreciative of the opinions of experienced individuals, though!

Check me on this, but I would be inclined to stay away from the 400s on the Garmin. They use a bezel (hope I am spelling that right) screen. Alot of people have complained that it does not work well, especially when wet (think sweat!). The 405 is the one with all the complaints. I think the 410 uses the same type of screen though. So make sure the issue has been fixed before purchasing. I think the 200s and 300s use buttons. The 610 has a touch screen, which in my experience, works very well.

 

[erinna]

Check me on this, but I would be inclined to stay away from the 400s on the Garmin. They use a bezel (hope I am spelling that right) screen. Alot of people have complained that it does not work well, especially when wet (think sweat!). The 405 is the one with all the complaints. I think the 410 uses the same type of screen though. So make sure the issue has been fixed before purchasing. I think the 200s and 300s use buttons. The 610 has a touch screen, which in my experience, works very well.

Thank you for giving me something to think about. The 405 is less than half the price of the 610, so this will take some thinking, indeed ....

 

[EddieMccoy2]

Thank you for giving me something to think about. The 405 is less than half the price of the 610, so this will take some thinking, indeed ....

Take a serious look at the 210W, it is made for women and has all the info you will need and it costs around $200-250 depending on where you get it from. My wife has small wrists, and got this model and loves it. She has worn my 610 previously, and definitely prefers the 210w because of it fitting her wrists better.

 

[DisneyRunnerGirl]

This is very helpful. So, many thanks!

My ideal watch would be a women's (I've got really really small wrists), would track pace, heart rate, distance, and give you a fairly accurate read of current pace (this last one seems to be a toughie?).

Right now, I'm thinking I'll get the Garmin 405CX. It seems a balance of these features and a decent if not great price ($175 on Amazon). I'd be most appreciative of the opinions of experienced individuals, though!

I also have really really small wrists - tough to find adult watches period. I have a Garmin 610 and LOVE it! It and the Garmin I had before (205) actually have straps that will adjust all the way down for my tiny wrists.

My fav feature on the 610 is the vibration alerts. I also liked that I could buy it now without the heart strap and simply add it later if I wanted to. Great for budgeting

 

[dragitoff]

I got a Garmin Forerunner 110 for Christmas. I was hoping for the 610, but no one could find one in a store to get it for me, but I love the 110. It's fairly basic; however it does everything I need except keep my walk/run pace timers for me. My 110 keeps up with my current mile pace, total distance, total time, and mine has the HR montior although I don't use it. Great watch for under $200! Ever since I got it, I've become a faster runner and certainly more consistent. I've shaved time of my long distance runs since I'm able to pace myself better. I agree with the other poster, best investment outside shoes IF you're a pace/time watcher.

 

[Tabetha]

Check me on this, but I would be inclined to stay away from the 400s on the Garmin. They use a bezel (hope I am spelling that right) screen. Alot of people have complained that it does not work well, especially when wet (think sweat!). The 405 is the one with all the complaints. I think the 410 uses the same type of screen though. So make sure the issue has been fixed before purchasing. I think the 200s and 300s use buttons. The 610 has a touch screen, which in my experience, works very well.

I've got the 405CX, and ran the Princess with it, no problem. Like I said, I love it.

The bezel controls are on the metal casing around the face of the watch, and you can adjust their sensitivity. Like anything, it takes a little patience and time getting used to a new piece of equipment.
It also came with an option of 3 different straps (the plastic band already on it, plus 2 different sized velcro straps) so small wrists should be able to be accommodated.

 

[RunRookie]

Wow! So many Garmins out there. I have a Polar RS800CX which I just love. It does pretty much everything you need, including the ability to program your own exercises for interval training, etc. it does not have built in GPS though -- I have a small GPS unit I wear on an armband that talks to the watch and you can get all the info and route information. And I can download results to a program on my computer (or their website) to generate reports and do analysis. You can also use a stride sensor with the watch, or, use a bike sensor when you want to ride for cross training.

 

[LuzzBightyear]

Another vote for Garmin 305 here. With all the features a runner may need, I can't imagine what the more expensive models have that this one doesn't

 

[joan4mickey]

I have the nike sports watch. Love the interface with my laptop computer.
**The big reason I went with Nike is the large numbers on the screen. **
I have poor eyesight and don't wear my glasses when I run as they fog up and I can make out most of the numbers most of the time. It has pace, time lapse and some other stuff that I can't always see, but I can almost always make out how far I've run.

 

[dcr]

I wear a Garmin 210 every day, and it's a great device that is always on my wrist. It has enough features to do everything that I need. I like the fact that I uses heart rate and foot pod data, and doesn't have a touch screen. You have to push real buttons to make it work. That's a plus for me.

I do have my eye on the Magellin Switch Up, which is due out later this year. It will automatically calculate the pace you need to finish any programmed time! Since my brain quits working as the miles get long, this will be fantastic! It is a HUGE bugger, though. It also works with Garmin heart rate straps and foot pods, so that's a couple less things that I'll have to purchase.

Even if I do get the Switch Up, I don't see it replacing the 210 for training.

Derek