Run Watch Recommendation

[Cyn]

Ok, my old TomTom Runner watch is dying slowly. Charged it up 2 days ago, go to run and dead. Looks like after 2 years of dutiful work it is on the decline. I have purposefully avoided reading watch reviews for the last year to resist the temptation. I am looking for something that will track run, bike, and walk but I want to be able to load intervals (varying lengths during same run), does this watch exist?

 

[opusone]

I would look at the Garmin 230 or 235 (same as 230 but with optical HR monitor). You can set to run or bike mode, and you can load custom intervals.

 

[Ariel484]

Forerunner 230. Check out dcrainmaker's website for excellent and thorough watch reviews.

 

[camaker]

Ok, my old TomTom Runner watch is dying slowly. Charged it up 2 days ago, go to run and dead. Looks like after 2 years of dutiful work it is on the decline. I have purposefully avoided reading watch reviews for the last year to resist the temptation. I am looking for something that will track run, bike, and walk but I want to be able to load intervals (varying lengths during same run), does this watch exist?

I'll echo the earlier recommendations. Garmin ForeRunner 235 if you want a wrist-based heart rate monitor or ForeRunner 230 if you don't need a heart rate monitor or use a strap. As @Ariel484 mentioned, check out the dcrainmaker.com site for reviews. He provides FAR more in depth information than we can convey here.

 

[LSUlakes]

The forerunner 230 or 235 looks like a solid choice. I highly recommend going to dcrainmakers web page for reviews: http://www.dcrainmaker.com/product-reviews
He has a lot of very detailed reviews and updates the reviews with updates to the watch (he often gets a prototype or first release) Issues he finds with them are often addressed and resolved via a software update.

 

[dis_or_dat]

Hi @Cyn - this was just a recent topic. Maybe you'll get a few more recommendations there. I just got a forerunner 235. I've gone on 2 runs were the HR monitor took 15 min to pick up or never picked up anything at all. That was annoying, otherwise, I like the watch.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/running-watch-garmin-etc.3508488/

 

[opusone]

I just got a forerunner 235. I've gone on 2 runs were the HR monitor took 15 min to pick up or never picked up anything at all. That was annoying, otherwise, I like the watch.

Just making sure... but did you have the watch on tight enough? I have the 225 (similar to the 235), and the only times I've had issues with the optical HR monitor is when the watch is a little loose. It needs to be tight enough such that the watch doesn't move on your wrist when you are running. Just a thought.

 

[camaker]

Hi @Cyn - this was just a recent topic. Maybe you'll get a few more recommendations there. I just got a forerunner 235. I've gone on 2 runs were the HR monitor took 15 min to pick up or never picked up anything at all. That was annoying, otherwise, I like the watch.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/running-watch-garmin-etc.3508488/

I was having trouble with my FR 235 not recording HR during runs periodically, too. I've found a couple of tricks that have eliminated the issue for me:

1. Wear the watch during the prep for the run to allow it to lock in on the heart rate. Before starting the run, toggle the watch over to the HR screen and make sure the white heart is solid, not flashing. That indicates that it is locked onto the HR and ready to go.
2. If it has trouble getting a lock, turning it off and then back on after a few seconds has resolved the issue for me. Just wait for the HR lock once it boots back up.

 

[dis_or_dat]

@opusone I've kept it at the same tightness for all my runs. Forgot to wear it for my long run yesterday, but it picked up my HR today. So that's good.

@camaker thanks for the tips! The problem is that I don't realize it's not picking up my HR until I've started running and then I don't want to turn off/on and ruin the record of the run. I've also tried cleaning the sensors.

So I kind of have to call those HR-less runs a wash in terms of data. But I'm almost always in zone 4/5 anyways - even on my slow runs. I think the watch tells me I need 72 hours to recover!

 

[FFigawi]

You might want to check out the Garmin 920. It's a bit on the pricier side of things (about $310 when ordering from overseas), but well worth the money. Works great for running and cycling both indoors and out.

 

[camaker]

@opusone I've kept it at the same tightness for all my runs. Forgot to wear it for my long run yesterday, but it picked up my HR today. So that's good.

@camaker thanks for the tips! The problem is that I don't realize it's not picking up my HR until I've started running and then I don't want to turn off/on and ruin the record of the run. I've also tried cleaning the sensors.

So I kind of have to call those HR-less runs a wash in terms of data. But I'm almost always in zone 4/5 anyways - even on my slow runs. I think the watch tells me I need 72 hours to recover!

Out of curiosity, have you entered your actual HR info (resting rate and max rate) into the FR 235? Also, have you changed the calculation method to %HRR and entered the appropriate % ranges for the zones into the watch? I ask because I was getting a LOT of zone 4 and zone 5 run times even after I put my resting and max rates in. I didn't realize that the watch's zone ranges were WAY out of whack from what they should be. Once I set the HR zones to the standard percentages those zone 4 and zone 5 runs became zone 2 and zone 3...

 

[bumbershoot]

I like my 235. I just wish I'd bought the black one b/c I wear it All The Time now. And that turquoise strap just doesn't really match much.

The HR monitor works so much better than my Polar FT7 ever did, and that Polar was a decently-rated chest strap monitor. It routinely told me I was dead, or with a HR so high I was about to be dead. I finally got tired of adjusting it 18 times an hour.

 

[dis_or_dat]

@camaker I did put in my max HR (it's pretty high) and then assumed it would just do the rest based on percentages. Maybe I have to look at it more closely ....

 

[camaker]

@camaker I did put in my max HR (it's pretty high) and then assumed it would just do the rest based on percentages. Maybe I have to look at it more closely ....

That is pretty much what I did at first, too! Boy was I surprised when I kept getting the crazy zone percentages while running. When I poked into it further, I found the watch had set Zone 5 from 70-92% of HRR. I don't remember what the rest of the zones were set to, but needless to say, they weren't close. Here's what I did to get things set right for me:

1. Put in Max HR and Resting HR (just measure your HR before you get out of bed in the morning a couple of times to get an estimate if you don't have this)
2. Set the FR 235 to measure based on %HRR (this makes more sense to me than % max HR since it excludes HR below resting from the calculation)
3. Set the zones on the FR 235 as follows (based on online definitions of HR zones):
Zone 5: 90-92% (FR 235 maxes out at 92% for some reason)
Zone 4: 80-90%
Zone 3: 70-80%
Zone 2: 60-70%
Zone 1: 50-60%

Hope this helps!

 

[dburg30]

Love my 230..

 

[dis_or_dat]

@camaker Huzzah success!! I was in mostly zone 5 with a 10:30 paced jog and then after I sync'd the changes I was in zone 3/4 for my 7:00 speed training. Thank you!!!