Other than shoes, there are few pieces of gear that go on EVERY run. A good watch would be one of them unless you are one of the runners who run "naked" periodically which is a term used to mean totally without any electronics. I do sometimes like to leave the watch at home, but my current program of heart rate training necessitates that my monitor goes with me every single time. My first GPS watch was purchased around 2008 and was a Garmin 305. It was a big splurge, but I absolutely loved that watch. It locked into GPS mode quickly, the buttons were easy to figure out and looking at the data afterward was quick and easy. It had a heart rate monitor that I rarely used, but also had capabilities to put workouts into it so I could run different goal paces in the dark without having to peek all the time. I used that watch for approx 6 years without a hitch until the battery started getting weak. The weaker battery wasn't always a problem until I was marathon training and could only get 8-10 miles on a charge. Even though the battery was not supposed to be replaceable, I did get the guys at Batteries Plus to replace it for me and it worked great until the 2015 Grandma's Marathon. It was a rainy day and the watch worked perfectly until I stopped it at the finish, only to have it never start again. RIP Garmin 305 :-( My next watch was a Soleus Turbo. It was the most deluxe watch Soleus was making at the time. The price was much less than similar Garmins, so I opted to try it. That was a mistake. The only feature I did really like on that watch was that it vibrated at the mile marks making it easier to see splits. Otherwise, I found the features hard to use and hard to remember which button to push when. I monkeyed with that one about a year before giving it up and "gifting" it to my son's girlfriend who had a different Soleus she was also having trouble with at the time. Fortunately, before I bought my current watch I was already toying with the idea of the heart rate training and knew I wanted a watch with that feature. There was a lot of online debate about wrist based monitoring vs. straps, but I ended up choosing the Garmin 235 that monitors my heart rate on my wrist. I can also pair it with a strap if I want and I do have an old strap from my 305 if I want to use it that way. Look at my new watch with the custom watch face! The watch face along with the data screens are easily customized. You can see that I have my battery level, date, time and steps on the face I see all day. Other screens show my current heart rate, steps and I can even have my text messages delivered to my watch...but I want my running time to be my own! This watch functions not only as a running watch, but does everything the fitness trackers do such as monitor sleep. I can log into Garmin Connect to see all sorts of data. So far, I love this watch. It needs to be charged about every 4-7 days depending on how much I'm running which I feel is pretty good battery life. I can also set up customized workouts that are great to have on my current plan as today's run was 2 miles at a heart rate cap, 2 miles at race pace, 2 miles at heart rate cap, 2 miles at race pace and then the duration at the heart rate cap. I could program all this into my watch so that I got alerts along the way if I was out of my ranges. The price of the watch was pretty medium for a GPS, about $300, but since it is performing the functions of a running watch, daytime watch and fitness tracker, I think it was a pretty good value. Yesterday, Stephanie posted about running in costume. I had never attempted running in costume until this winter. It was actually Stephanie's idea that we should have tutus for the Snowflake Shuffle which encourages holiday themed costumes. We then decided we would have brown shirts painted like gingerbread men with "Run, Run, Fast as You Can!" written on the back...we thought that was both running and holiday themed! Here are my Mom, running friend, D, and I on the left and Mom with my daughter H and Charlie the running dog finishing the race on the right. Our costumes were both fun and functional. We were not hindered in our running yet festive along the course. My son D had a matching shirt (no tutu), but had injured his knee and was unable to participate. We will be bringing these out again next year and hope that Stephanie and her family can join us to make a whole gingerbread family!
Happy running! Missee Care to Comment? What watch do you use for running? Do you like it or what features do you wish you had? Have you run in costume? Attach a photo!
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AuthorMissee and Stephanie are two Minnesota sisters and moms who love to run. We are not experts in running, parenting or anything else, but we do have years of experiences that may be helpful or entertaining to others. Archives
May 2020
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