Runner's distance/HR/pace monitoring watch?

[addicted]

Looking at getting one of them fancy schmancy new fangaled high tech watches for the wife. Does anyone have one that they would care to share an opinion on. What to look out gor?

[Skyvalhunter]

My wife likes her Garmin Forerunner 210. Hasn't had any problems and can download her routes, etc.

[swanny]

Any specific features or are you just looking for a basic HRM? What's your price range?

[addicted]

I was thinking as cheap as possible but it appears i will have good options if i keep it under 150$.

She wants to be able to tell how far she's ran without a track and keep track of her heart rate.


Garmin 310 is looking like it could call in an air strike.

[ORCA_SIX]

I use the Garmin 305. I have had it for 2 plus years and it has been great for me. It will do everything you want it to do outside of swimming laps with it. You can get it off of Amazon for 130. I have used in 130 degree weather down to 0 degrees with no glitches or problems. For most people it will be great but if you end up running marathons over 3 plus hours, the battery might die on you.

[addicted]

the advertisements say 10 hours of battery life.

i hate electronics

[swanny]

To track speed and distance you have two options, it's either GPS based or the user must wear a foot pod on their shoe.

The Garmin Forerunner 110 is about as cheap as you can get with GPS. Here are all the ones we sell that display speed and distance.
http://www.rei.com/search?search=heart+rate+monitor&jxSpeed/distance=Speed%2Fdistance&sortby=Price+%28Ascending%29&hist=query%2Cheart+rate+monitor%5EjxSpeed%2Fdistance%2CSpeed%2Fdistance

You can go cheaper, but you are going to have to buy the foot pod separate from the unit. They are small and most say you can't notice wearing the pod, but to me I feel like it would be annoying probably flop around a little, that sort of thing.

If you want to get just the HRM, Polar makes some really nice units with the option to add the foot pod later if the speed/distance is something she really wants to have.
http://www.rei.com/search?search=hrm&sortby=Price+%28Ascending%29&jxBrand=Polar&hist=query%2Chrm%5EjxBrand%2CPolar

If you check the compare boxes under each item, you can pull up all the specs side by side.

[addicted]

thanks guys

[jackelope]

My little brother is a marathoner and runs about 100 miles a week right now. I asked him this question the other day for the same reason. I want to buy a good running watch for my wife. This is what he said. I gave him a little more feedback and am waiting on a response.

What does she want? IMO, you can get all you need out of a running watch in a good ole timex ironman which you can probably find for about 30 bucks. If you are looking for fancy gadgetry, it depends on what you want ... GPS, heartrate monitor, pacing device, etc. I've seen some people running with what looks like a laptop computer attached to their arm ... it's ridiculous. I, personally, don't think a fancy watch is a good investment but I know pace / distance better off the top of my head than the average joe. You gotta figure out what you want out of the watch.

[jackelope]

I spoke to my little bro again last night. His buddy Will owns a running gear store back east. Will says this is the best multi-featured bang for the buck running watch.
http://www.runtheline.com/1298/garmin-fr60-review

Maybe a better link for prices:
http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Lilac-Fitness-Watch-Monitor/dp/B001S2RCX2/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1308411578&sr=1-4

[addicted]

thanks