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GPS Watches and Smart Phone Apps |  |
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See the Index for more topics, information, hints and tips.
GPS is a wonderful invention and a great tool to help runners keep track of what they are doing and training progress by using a Running Log.
Watches are generally better than phones because they are designed for that purpose only. Phones are more generic and don’t track quite as well.
If you are doing training runs where you may occasionally stop, enable the auto pause feature. This will pause your workout until you get moving again. If you are running in a race you want to turn off auto pause because the race clock isn’t going to wait for you.
If you are running on a trail you might want to disable auto pause because the GPS sometimes gets confused when you are doing sharp turns or switchbacks. Also, sometimes your progress up or down steep hills can cause it to pause.
Some watches have the ability to monitor your heart rate, which I find is a good indicator of how hard I am working and if I am keeping my heart rate in the training zone for this workout.
Some watches have an optional foot fob that is worn on your shoe to monitor your cadence. This is especially helpful to the beginning runner because slow cadence can be a source of many problems (see Cadence). It can also keep track of your distance indoors.
But don't get to the point that you are totally dependent on your GPS. Sure they are nice for metrics like how long and far you've run and your current pace. But learn to run by feel. Learn what different paces feel like. Your body has the final say on how you feel, not the watch. Turn your watch upside down so you're not as tempted to look but still get the metrics after your run.
I have a Garmin 310XT. It has been around for a number of years and is a bit large, but it offers a bunch of really good features. It has up to 4 user definable screens. Each screen has up to 4 different values that the user can pick. The screen that I use most often has duration, distance, heart rate percent (you need an optional heart rate strap), and current pace. Garmin offers about 40 different metrics to choose from. Other parameters that I frequently use are cadence (you need an optional foot fob), clock time, and average pace for the current lap. You can set up a number of different settings like auto pause for if you stop and auto lap to automatically count a lap at every mile. It also has a virtual running partner that you can set at any pace and see how you are doing relative to it. That is, how much time and distance you are ahead or behind of your desired pace. This is great for races when you are shooting for a goal pace.
I like the flexibility and the number of parameters available for me to monitor during my run. After my run I can upload the information from my run to a Garmin website. There I can see plots of elevation, cadence, heart rate, a map of your route, and information for all of your splits.
Although they have improved dramatically in recent years, it can still take them several minutes to lock on and determine your position. Some things you can do to make this less annoying is to turn your GPS on early and set it by a window or outside while you finish getting ready and warm-up.
Another thing that is a bit annoying is that the current pace bounces around so you have to do some mental averaging or estimating. Another technique is to compare multiple devices and take an average. They usually do have an average pace but that is usually over a mile and doesn't give you an accurate feel of your current pace unless you are going at a very steady pace.
