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Looking at getting a gps watch to track my runs. Seems like there are a lot of them on the market. I would like to have something to track my distance/heart rate. Any recommendations?

DCRainmaker is the god of the watch comparison matrix. Just plug your wishes in and see what you can get. Santa is the founder

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/product-com ... calculator

Tyr0331 wrote:Looking at getting a gps watch to track my runs. Seems like there are a lot of them on the market. I would like to have something to track my distance/heart rate. Any recommendations?

I'm looking too but there's too many choices hehe.

Barkadion wrote:DCRainmaker is the god of the watch comparison matrix. Just plug your wishes in and see what you can get. Santa is the founder

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/product-com ... calculator

That guy is absolutely brilliant in his reviews and comparing models.

Another option is to use a smartphone app to track your runs. The apps are absolutely brilliant these days.
If all you want is distance/time etc you can pick up one extremely cheap. Look at any of the garmin fr10's or 15's.
Heart rate, elevation etc is where you start to pay the big bucks.

Maxrip13 wrote:

Barkadion wrote:DCRainmaker is the god of the watch comparison matrix. Just plug your wishes in and see what you can get. Santa is the founder

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/product-com ... calculator

That guy is absolutely brilliant in his reviews and comparing models.

Another option is to use a smartphone app to track your runs. The apps are absolutely brilliant these days.
If all you want is distance/time etc you can pick up one extremely cheap. Look at any of the garmin fr10's or 15's.
Heart rate, elevation etc is where you start to pay the big bucks.

And the GPS is not that important, imho. You can always go with just HR strap and a watch as more affordable option. Google maps will give you the distance.

Barkadion wrote:

Maxrip13 wrote:

Barkadion wrote:DCRainmaker is the god of the watch comparison matrix. Just plug your wishes in and see what you can get. Santa is the founder

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/product-com ... calculator

That guy is absolutely brilliant in his reviews and comparing models.

Another option is to use a smartphone app to track your runs. The apps are absolutely brilliant these days.
If all you want is distance/time etc you can pick up one extremely cheap. Look at any of the garmin fr10's or 15's.
Heart rate, elevation etc is where you start to pay the big bucks.

And the GPS is not that important, imho. You can always go with just HR strap and a watch as more affordable option. Google maps will give you the distance.

I have found success just using the talk test to be honest. I run at a pace that I can comfortably talk at and then I slow it down just a tiny bit. Having used a HR monitor in the past, I find that erring on the side of too easy keeps you in that sweet spot. I can maintain 160bpm while still talking and feeling fine, so I just go a bit easier and I am bang on that aerobic zone.

Then I just need to track distance and pace to see any improvements. Not scientific, but it teaches me self discipline and not to push hard when I shouldn't.

Reference the watches, I have heard good things about the Garmin Fr 235 for an old around reasonable continuous heart rate tracking fitness watch. You can pick them up for a reasonable price. Stay away from the fitbit bands with hr. Mine had all the plastic ripped off, but I am pretty rough on things.

Maxrip13 wrote:

Barkadion wrote:

Maxrip13 wrote:

That guy is absolutely brilliant in his reviews and comparing models.

Another option is to use a smartphone app to track your runs. The apps are absolutely brilliant these days.
If all you want is distance/time etc you can pick up one extremely cheap. Look at any of the garmin fr10's or 15's.
Heart rate, elevation etc is where you start to pay the big bucks.

And the GPS is not that important, imho. You can always go with just HR strap and a watch as more affordable option. Google maps will give you the distance.

I have found success just using the talk test to be honest. I run at a pace that I can comfortably talk at and then I slow it down just a tiny bit. Having used a HR monitor in the past, I find that erring on the side of too easy keeps you in that sweet spot. I can maintain 160bpm while still talking and feeling fine, so I just go a bit easier and I am bang on that aerobic zone.

Then I just need to track distance and pace to see any improvements. Not scientific, but it teaches me self discipline and not to push hard when I shouldn't.

Reference the watches, I have heard good things about the Garmin Fr 235 for an old around reasonable continuous heart rate tracking fitness watch. You can pick them up for a reasonable price. Stay away from the fitbit bands with hr. Mine had all the plastic ripped off, but I am pretty rough on things.

Polar isn't too bad either. There are still old versions around for a cheaper prices..

I bought a Suunto watch a while ago when I was training for a race. It's a really nice watch. But a dumb impulse purchase for my situation. The tech it provides is completely redundant for me because I run with my iPhone. The phone does every fitness function I want + plays music + calls my wife when I bonk out 10 miles from home. So I only recommend such watches to people who are not going to run with their phone for some reason.

With that said, there's a good chance you tech ninjas know something I don't. Just think twice and make sure you really need the functions the watch provides. I could have bought a few nice kettlebells for the price of the Suunto. Lesson learned.

Also: +1 for DC Rainmaker. Guys like that are great for cavemen like me.

This article might help you narrow down your choices: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/11/win ... tions.html
I got the Garmin Vivoactive HR that he recommends as the best all around for road running. From the article:

"Last year Garmin really nailed it with the Garmin FR230 and FR235 series, and those watches continue to be very solid. Especially for those that want a bit more customization and features like structured workouts. However, I think for those that are just looking for a great all-around running watch that can double-down in other workouts on the fly (i.e. swimming, cycling, and even stand-up paddle boarding), the Vivoactive HR that was introduced this past spring is really a better bet.

The unit is about $80 cheaper than the FR235, which is somewhat funny since in many ways the Vivoactive HR has more features (both have optical HR). Where things differ though is that the FR235 has functions like structured workout support (the Vivoactive HR doesn’t), as well as VO2Max estimation (again, not on the Vivoactive HR). It also has deeper data page customization. But beyond those big ticket items, the Vivoactive HR is the winner."

The GPS tracking is dead simple and easy to set up. Based on DC Rainmakers in depth review (https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/05/gar ... eview.html), the wrist based HR monitoring is decently accurate. I mostly use it to keep my HR below 150 bpm, and it seems pretty accurate for that sort of thing. A chest strap might be a good idea if you're doing higher intensity intervals and monitoring your HR, but that's not a factor for me. I like having continuous monitoring of my HR throughout the day as well, it can be a good reminder to stop and take some deep breaths and slow down throughout the day. Or just to skip that 5th coffee of the day. Step tracking and all that is nice too.

I got the unit for $160 during Black Friday week, but it looks like it's $200 most places now. The relatively accurate wrist based HR was the selling point to me, as it eliminates the need to put on a chest strap, which is just one more step between me sitting on the couch and going for a run.

NathanC77 wrote:This article might help you narrow down your choices: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/11/win ... tions.html
I got the Garmin Vivoactive HR that he recommends as the best all around for road running. From the article:

"Last year Garmin really nailed it with the Garmin FR230 and FR235 series, and those watches continue to be very solid. Especially for those that want a bit more customization and features like structured workouts. However, I think for those that are just looking for a great all-around running watch that can double-down in other workouts on the fly (i.e. swimming, cycling, and even stand-up paddle boarding), the Vivoactive HR that was introduced this past spring is really a better bet.

The unit is about $80 cheaper than the FR235, which is somewhat funny since in many ways the Vivoactive HR has more features (both have optical HR). Where things differ though is that the FR235 has functions like structured workout support (the Vivoactive HR doesn’t), as well as VO2Max estimation (again, not on the Vivoactive HR). It also has deeper data page customization. But beyond those big ticket items, the Vivoactive HR is the winner."

The GPS tracking is dead simple and easy to set up. Based on DC Rainmakers in depth review (https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/05/gar ... eview.html), the wrist based HR monitoring is decently accurate. I mostly use it to keep my HR below 150 bpm, and it seems pretty accurate for that sort of thing. A chest strap might be a good idea if you're doing higher intensity intervals and monitoring your HR, but that's not a factor for me. I like having continuous monitoring of my HR throughout the day as well, it can be a good reminder to stop and take some deep breaths and slow down throughout the day. Or just to skip that 5th coffee of the day. Step tracking and all that is nice too.

I got the unit for $160 during Black Friday week, but it looks like it's $200 most places now. The relatively accurate wrist based HR was the selling point to me, as it eliminates the need to put on a chest strap, which is just one more step between me sitting on the couch and going for a run.

I think I will go with forerunner 235 since it has hr and we can create workout based on distance that will be useful for something like 600 meter reset without going to a track.