GPS watch

[KittyandTeal]

I have very luckily come into a little bit of extra money. I've been considering a gps watch for a few months now but could never justify the cost.

I hate having to carry my phone with me to track my run but I love seeing how I've done each time. I've become really competitive with myself.

I've been looking at some of the garmins but cannot settle on which one.

I run about 6k 3 times a week and am building up to 10k at the moment. I'd happily spend up to £150ish.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

[mintpoppet]

I have a Garmin forerunner and like it.

[GerundTheBehemoth]

I have a Forerunner 15 and would recommend it - very quick to find a satellite signal, straightforward to use, gives all the data that I would want. Also has an activity tracker, which I don't use but might be fun! It is well under your budget (about £90 from Amazon) - I expect the more expensive Forerunners would be just as good and offer additional features.

[KittyandTeal]

It's the forerunner 10 or 15 I've been looking at most.

Are they a pain to sync your data? I use strava atm, do you know if it's easy to connect?

I'm not too fussed about the heart rate monitor, mainly the gps to track each kilometre and calories burned.

[GerundTheBehemoth]

Not something I've tried, I'm afraid, but the reviews I've seen suggest it is easy to sync with Strava.

[fufulina]

I do a similar amount of running to you - also training for a 10k. Have been using Strava an got a Forerunner 10 last week.
It's great. Very glad not to have to take my phone out, and with Garmin Connect you can upload your run to Strava (through a PC or mac, though). I think some of the garmins Bluetooth to a phone app, which would then also sync. Not sure.

Anyway - the 10, which was £85 - is brilliant. Love being able to pace myself properly, rather then rely on how close to death I feel!

[CMOTDibbler]

When I was just running, I had a Forerunner 10 which was great. I now have a 910XT which does find satellites faster (and does bike, swim as well, plus talks to other things).

[KittyandTeal]

Fufulina that interesting about the pacing. I think I could do with that. How does it work?

[fufulina]

It has two screens - one is time run and distance, the other is calories used and pace (minutes per mile or kilometre - you set it). You can flip between then, but at any point I can see if I am going far too fast for me, or not. You can also set it to beep at you if you stray out of a particular pace. I've not done that yet.

I graduated couch 2 5k about 3 weeks ago, and have found the pacing without the podcasts really tricky. Had a disastrous run when I pegged it at 8.40 min miles (not fast, but far too fast for me) and totally ran out of juice after 2.5 miles. Checking the garmin means I don't inadvertently go too fast and exhaust myself.

[KittyandTeal]

Oooo I'm the same, I finished the c25k plan a few months ago but have found pacing really hard (8min mole is amazing, I'm more like a 10min mile atm! Although I prefer kilometres)

That's sounds like a great option for me

[KittyandTeal]

Bump for anyone who has opinions on other gps watches.

My DH confused things last night after doing some more research for me!

[emummy]

I have a tomtom runner, a result of dh's research! Was under £100 where he got it. When running, on the main screen it will show the time, plus at the top on one side it shows distance and on the other how long you've been running. You can then flip down through different screens showing pace, time, distance. You can programme it to allow you to do intervals and it buzzes at the end of each period, as well as laps, and you can race yourself over a course you've done before. I got it before my hm and it was great. The tomtom app links with mapmyrun and others I think.

[Doyouthinktheysaurus]

I have a Garmin forerunner, 610 I think.

It does much more than i use it but it finds satellites very quickly and has lasted well.

I'd go for a more basic Garmin like the forerunner 10 or 15 if I were you tbh. It will give you pace and average speed and you can upload your stats to wherever you wish.

I don't even upload my data anymore, I just run and review my mileage at the end of the week on the watch. Not sure why I have such a fancy watch really I used to upload Every run and enjoyed looking at the stats and little maps but I can't be bothered these days.

[KittyandTeal]

Doyouthink I think you might be right. There's no point in me spenting a fortune on a watch that I won't use all of the bits of.

[WeLoveHaribo]

I've just bought the forerunner 220 with heart rate monitor £150 (decathlon) I've not used it (tried to flipping sync with old laptop today but failed but I'll Bluetooth with phone and iPad hopefully. Hoping to use tomorrow. Kxx

[KittyandTeal]

Ooo haribo let me know how you get on with it. I think I'm settling in the forerunner 15 atm but still not 100%

[WeLoveHaribo]

I used it yesterday for 9km run. Ran with friend who has the forerunner 10 or 15..
The differences yesterday were-
Mine has heart rate monitor
Mine has auto stop detects when stops as apposed to clicking stop (stuck at rd side/traffic or just needed to pause)
Mine found satellite quicker
At the end it told me my new records Obv first run with it so next time my aim is to beat them!!

They are main differences I noticed?!?!
I prefer look/colour of mine- it's chunky but needs to be for data
Mines at least double price hers were (got a wk apart)

[KittyandTeal]

Thanks for that haribo.

I think the forerunner 15 with a heart rate monitor might be the best option for me

[Saz12]

I've a Forerunner 10, and I really like it! It seems pretty accurate re: incline /descent, which is handy. It isn't THAT quick to find satellite, so I set mine looking whilst I do a warm-up; it's usually found a satellite before I've finished - about 5 mins max. It's dead simple to use; you can set it to "beep" to time intervals; you can set a pace and it'll tell you if you're ahead or behind that pace; it'll time you for each km, as well as showing distance covered and time. Mine doesn't stop automatically if I stop (which I prefer - I'd rather record total time than time running). It probably does other stuff as well, but those are the functions I use!