Why do runners always seem to have a weird relationship with their GPS watches?

Uhhh ever hear of Timex Ironman??

Throw away the GPS. Run based on time and effort.

What a silly cringe attempt.

I find it humorous to see runners at stop lights stop their watches and then press to start again. Like it matters one iota. Just run 15 miles at any pace and you have a good workout. That easy!

Just run baby

word

ong

ok then

I ran back in the day when GPS was still gaining steam. I found some big discrepancies between my GPS and my certified race times. I assume it has gotten a lot closer, but the certified course is much more accurate. GPS was and is still great at estimating your training efforts. Pretty much the same as when I drove my car around a loop and estimated my training effort.

No, because I want to know the actual time that I've been running for.

If my program says 60 minutes, then I want to run for 60 minutes - not 58, plus 2 minutes standing at a light.

Never had any of those issues with my garmin 935. Just a love relationship

If you're doing an easy run it doesn't matter. If you're doing a workout find a route without traffic lights.

Really was the best watch. Had everything you need, nothing you didn't.

I got into the GPS watches late (around 2012) but haven't used them in a couple years or so. As a map lover, I do GPS track with a phone app, since I keep my phone on me for the camera and sometimes podcasts. There's no point having both a watch and phone, and the phone win out. I understand why others pick GPS watch over phone, I just do what works best for me.

I run by feel, and don't look at or pause the app during a run. I start the app at the beginning, stop it at the end. I don't use auto start/stop because it's funky at low speeds (stopping when going slower, such as in mountain steeps when still moving). I just let Strava calculate moving time, which l know also doesn't calculate it perfectly when there are really slow parts, but at least it doesn't mess up the track like autostart/stop.

Garmins and other GPS watches are also useful for if you are using the heart rate training methodology- although, they get frustrating when they switch from tracking your heart rate to counting your steps per minute. I can literally sing "The Song that Never Ends" or something equally asinine, I would not be able to sing or even talk in full coherent sentences if I were at 170+ bpm!

I think this would have been a better thread 10 years ago. But now, the technology is so good and seamless that it isn't a "weird relationship." We love our GPS watches.

I can tell you that I ran XX miles this week, this month, and this year. I don't have to guess or estimate. It is accurate to within a mile when all of it is added up. That is useful because I have to manage my training pretty closely as I get older and busier. I never run without my GPS.

p.s. I have a Timex Ironman for days when I really need an accurate time (and splits) and don't want to have any chance of systems failure. The Timex is still the five-9s of time keeping for me.