I’ve had a couple people ask me here and there about what kind of watch I use while running – and if I wear a Fitbit.
Today I’m going to talk about what running watch I use – and why. And then tomorrow I’m going to tell you about my Garmin VivoFit (nope..we don’t wear Fitbits) and why I love it!
When I started running, a year and half ago, I wasn’t sure I would really keep it up. How’s that for being honest? I just didn’t want to dive right in a buy a bunch of gear and things I wouldn’t need if I wasn’t really going to commit to it in the end. So I started running and using a free app – Map My Run. I still use it to log my workouts. I don’t use it to record them though. Like I said, it’s free and I could download it on my phone. I built up a great community of friends there and I really like that I can encourage others and they can encourage me. Map My Run is great for community and challenges. I think Map My Run is an AWESOME free app that beginning runners can use. It’s free and a great way to track and stay motivated when you are just starting out.
Strava, is another good running app that I’ve heard good things about. My sister uses this occasionally – and the random guy who sat next me to on the bus told me all about it when I ran the Utah Valley Half. Another good one that I’ve seen Facebook running friends use is Run Keeper.
My only big beef with Map My Run was that I noticed the longer I ran that the app had its faults too. Sometimes on a longer run the signal would get lost and skip. My miles would be faster or slower. I know I can’t run a 7 minute mile…so don’t try to tell me I can! Also it would just totally quit working at times….like during my first half marathon! I was SO sad that it didn’t record my run.
The more serious I got about running the more serious I started getting about getting a running watch. I read a lot of articles and reviews. I went with the Garmin Forerunner 10. It was a great watch to track my runs for the price. My husband actually surprised me with it for my birthday! I didn’t want a heart monitor or anything super expensive. I just wanted reliable. One draw back I have read about the Garmin 10 is that the battery life is not as good as nicer Garmin watches, such as the 220. The Garmin 10 has about 4 hours of battery life until you need to charge it. I have only had it get low during a run once, and that is when I forgot to charge it the night before. (totally my fault!) I really like the half marathon distance, and for that distance I don’t need a battery life of longer than 4 hours. My sister, who runs marathons, has the Garmin 220. It does have a lot more features, and if (IF) I ever convince myself to work my way past a half marathon and train for a full marathon, I might consider moving up to a Garmin 220. I also love that I can change between pace and mileage so easy. When I was just using my phone running app, it was big and bothersome to pull out and look at. This is very easy to glance at and see how far I’ve gone, or how fast I’m running.
1. Once glance tells me if I’m on pace or not (I can also set it to beep at me)
2. Easy to sync to my computer – which I can also set up to sync to Map My Run so I don’t lose that community.
3. Cost, it is a great watch and not super expensive
4. Battery life works great for the length of my runs
5. Easy to stop, pause, start while running. IT also has a really great run/walk/run feature. I’ve used it a couple times when running with a friend. Great for intervals!
Bonus reason – I love the cute colors that it comes in!
Two things I wish I could change about my Garmin:
1. Possibly in the future I might want a longer battery life
2. It doesn’t have a heart monitor (which actually doesn’t matter to me, but some people want that)
There you have it!
I really love my Garmin 10.
It works great for me – for what I need while running!
Do you use a watch or an app to track your running/fitness?
What do you use and why do you like it/not like it?
Birthday Month: Some of my Favorite Running Gear! (& Giveaway!) – My Reading Spot
March 17, 2016[…] and my Garmin Forerunner 10. You can read some of my earlier posts about them here and here. I did a little experiment a few weeks ago and wore a fitbit for a day too. I was so […]