gps watches

What was your question?

Just run by yourself if your partners are that annoying to you. Some people like to have a more precise measure of distance, and I wouldn't fault them for it.

GPS watches are a worthless and expensive junk. I don't them because they irritate my arm and become too heavy. Plus, I like running by feel, I don't trust watch.

You're awesome!

Mark Carroll runs with a GPS watch, and so does Ryan Hall.

I would say that the two have just as much knowledge, if not more, than you.

Actually, it is not about knowledge, it is merely about running, and staying in touch with your environment without silly gadgets. And it just like a Lets Run poster to make an argument that actually augurs in favor of my proposition, rather than against it. Ryan Hall (if indeed he uses such a device) trains in about as remote of an area as one can reasonable live in and run in the US - the antithesis of suburbia (or suburban like environments) where most train. No one without a learning disability is going to get lost in the wooded suburban area I run in, and any glance at a trail map obtains a result where distance can easily be estimated at any point along the trails.

One of the reasons I like running is that it compels a sense of space and time orientation and self-reliance that ordinary sedentary types can't comprehend. Fiddling with GPS devices doesn't serve that purpose.

sef wrote:

quote]

Mark Carroll runs with a GPS watch, and so does Ryan Hall.

I would say that the two have just as much knowledge, if not more, than you.

___________________________________________

Gee they do? Hmmm I wonder if they PAID for them??? No? Well then, maybe they are partially sponsored by the gps watch company? Any chance of that?

RedsoxFAN wrote:

Gee they do? Hmmm I wonder if they PAID for them??? No? Well then, maybe they are partially sponsored by the gps watch company? Any chance of that?

No. They are not sponsored by the GPS company.

They probably didn't pay for their shoes. Maybe shoes are worthless as well.

At the start of my run, I hit "start". At the end, I hit "stop". I then go inside and I put the watch on the charging cradle, and the information (distance, pace, HR, and a map) gets filed into a computer-based log. There is no "fiddling" with my watch during my run.

Back when I was a competitive athlete, we didn't have these devices, so all of my running was as you described, so I've done it both ways. Frankly, having a GPS device can provide valuable training feedback, and it would have been greatly appreciated by me and most of my teamates way back when. Not everyone is blessed with a dead-on nuts internal GPS system like you. Using a GPS has allowed me to track my training accurately, something that might not be important to you, but it is of interest to me.

I don't know you, but I'm one of the many recreational runners who wear these devices because we are really interested in getting accurate pace/distance/HR information, or we're just geeks who like this type of stuff. If you ever come out to run with my group, I'm the guy with a Garmin Forerunner 305 on my wrist. As I wouldn't want the watch I wear on my wrist to have any type of impact on your running, please find someone else to run with.

you may not be a fan of wearing a gps watch, but in general there is no 'fiddling' with themi bet all of them had distance on their display or if they didn't they knew they had to press one button to see iti stopped listening to your argument as soon as you said this blatant exaggeration (or your whole story is simply fabricated and you are writing this just to be a troll)by the way if you must know:some days i wear no watch, sometimes a regular watch and sometimes a gps watch depending on what i am doing.as one other poster said, i like that after i am done running i set it on the stand next to the computer and it downloads my whole workout to the computer without any effort

hmmmm wrote:

This caused the whole lot of them to check their GPS watches, and fiddle with them for the next quarter mile, only to determine, voila!

Just because you may run with tools doesn't mean the device is worthless. For example, many will go apeshit if you don't carry a water bottle or stop and drink from a water fountain sometime during any run that is longer than 4 miles. Does that mean that water is bad and that you should ALWAYS go without water because some people are irritating about it? Your story speaks more to about running with novice runners than it does about the merits of a gps watch.

Also, according to your story, it seems that those (besides yourself, of course) with the watch were better off than the guy without one, no?

Like others have said, it's clear that you're the man!

do garmin watches get splits and such? are they good for workouts/races or only for like long runs?

They are good for all types of runs. I will wear my GPS watch in races that I don't want to go to hard in and run a nice evn tempo pace, because yes, they take the splits for me. I also like to use them for workouts on the roads, and long runs. I love my garmin and probably wear it 3-4 days out of the week. I obviously dont wear it for track workouts and on alot of my easy or short runs. Everyone use to complain about cell phones, now everyone has one, then came the IPOD, now we have GPS running watches. The way I see it, is if you don't like them, then don't get one and dont worry about others who do have them.

RedsoxFAN wrote:

Gee they do? Hmmm I wonder if they PAID for them??? No? Well then, maybe they are partially sponsored by the gps watch company? Any chance of that?

No

yes sireebob26 wrote:

do garmin watches get splits and such? are they good for workouts/races or only for like long runs?

Yes, you can have it automatically do it by a measured time or distance.

As well as pace, distance, and time alerts.

I enjoy longer runs more. I know my long Sunday runs are better with my gps. Enough fluids, a gel or two and I'm off - not really too worried about pace or distance. I've explored trails, city parks, and neighborhoods I probably would not have without the gps. I know I could use google pedometer later, but it's nice to just run and enjoy the scenery.

A lot easier to stretch what turns out to be a 9.1 miler into a 12 miler too - just a quick out & back from the house to finish up.