Free_the_thigh wrote:
Yes. You can customize distance rest everything. You can also set the intervals to go by time, distance or lap button press (which is nice for warmup and cool down) . The vivoactive 3 has this too (which is a better value watch than the 245 imo)
That is a great feature to have!! Definitely can't do that on the 35. What else does the vivoactive 3 have that makes it better?
Simple answer: you don't. It's just about how many features you're interested in having. Let's be honest, GPS watches aren't necessary at all. They are nice, though.
I recently bought a Polar Vantage M to help get me through the coronavirus epidemic.
I've owned both Garmin and Polar watches in the past but gave up on them a long time ago in the spirit of simplicity. My go-to watch for many years has instead been the Timex Ironman 50-Lap, which I think is by far the best "dumb" watch for runners.
It's cheap, has a stopwatch designed for recording and storing lots of runs/splits, and a multi-step timer (eg, 3 mins, 1 min, 3 mins, 1 minute, etc). The watch also has a light, three different alarms, multiple time zone options, is waterproof and the battery lasts for years. The only weak point is the wrist strap which have an annoying habit of breaking long before the watch stops working, and can be hard to source.
Anyway, I bought the Polar watch for two reasons. One is that it has GPS which is really useful at the moment as all my usual running routes are now packed with other people getting their daily exercise. So I'm having to find new routes and having GPS means I don't need to have to keep measuring how far I'm running - the watch does that for me. I expect there is also some benefit in that my workouts are now more varied, when I ran the same routes consistently before.
The other reason is that I've connected my Polar account to Strava, so can see what everybody else is doing. Normally I couldn't care less, but in this time of "social distancing" and as somebody who lives on their own it's really good to stay plugged into the running community. It's helping me stay connected to people in my running club and competitive too.
As somebody who has turned up my nose at smart watches I've been surprised at how the technology has evolved and, while there are still challenges with measuring heart rate in particular, some of the other tools introduced seem to be quite useful. The watch battery is lasting more than a week, and that's wearing the watch 24/7 and doing one workout a day. I'm pretty sure I'll continue using it after the coronavirus epidemic is over.
And no, I don't work for Polar, Timex or Garmin - just a runner.
RunningInTheCorona wrote:
I recently bought a Polar Vantage M to help get me through the coronavirus epidemic.
I've owned both Garmin and Polar watches in the past but gave up on them a long time ago in the spirit of simplicity. My go-to watch for many years has instead been the Timex Ironman 50-Lap, which I think is by far the best "dumb" watch for runners.
It's cheap, has a stopwatch designed for recording and storing lots of runs/splits, and a multi-step timer (eg, 3 mins, 1 min, 3 mins, 1 minute, etc). The watch also has a light, three different alarms, multiple time zone options, is waterproof and the battery lasts for years. The only weak point is the wrist strap which have an annoying habit of breaking long before the watch stops working, and can be hard to source.
Anyway, I bought the Polar watch for two reasons. One is that it has GPS which is really useful at the moment as all my usual running routes are now packed with other people getting their daily exercise. So I'm having to find new routes and having GPS means I don't need to have to keep measuring how far I'm running - the watch does that for me. I expect there is also some benefit in that my workouts are now more varied, when I ran the same routes consistently before.
The other reason is that I've connected my Polar account to Strava, so can see what everybody else is doing. Normally I couldn't care less, but in this time of "social distancing" and as somebody who lives on their own it's really good to stay plugged into the running community. It's helping me stay connected to people in my running club and competitive too.
As somebody who has turned up my nose at smart watches I've been surprised at how the technology has evolved and, while there are still challenges with measuring heart rate in particular, some of the other tools introduced seem to be quite useful. The watch battery is lasting more than a week, and that's wearing the watch 24/7 and doing one workout a day. I'm pretty sure I'll continue using it after the coronavirus epidemic is over.
And no, I don't work for Polar, Timex or Garmin - just a runner.
Glad you're enjoying using the Polar Vantage M! Is that their most elaborate model is or is it a fairly simple watch? I don't know too much about Polar compared to Garmin because most of my running friends use Garmin.
I recently started using Strava as well and it's a phenomenal way to keep in touch with others and see what the pros are doing too!
Well Ladies and Gentlemen, I am happy to announce that I have found my answer.
After the NN Running Team posted that awesome video about the Long Run, I could clearly see that the GOAT of all GOATs, Kenenisa Bekele, wears the Garmin 35, the same watch that I do, the simplest of all the GPS watches.
I looked at the video twice to make sure, and then I checked his Instagram. Yep, that's the FR 35.
No need to upgrade then, I'll stick with the 35 if that's all that Kenny the GOAT needs!
Cheers!!!!
robert678 wrote:
No. GPS watches are not necessary. Just a standard stopwatch will do the trick. I personally recommend the Timex Ironman Stopwatch. They usually last for 5 years or so and only cost like $25 or so.
5 years? More than that. Mine is going on 15 years with just 1 battery change.
I had a Timex Ironman, I think it lasted about 6 years before needing a new battery.
Upgraded to a G shock though, it's a better overall watch for my purposes (outside of running)