What Tracker Watch & runners?

alexlyons

Novice runner here, did a bit 2 years ago including the samsung 10k night run in 2014, but never really got mad into it.

Getting back into it now, planning on doing 1 or 2 5k's a week, nothing major, more to stay fit and get out. I do enjoy it, especially the feeling after, but I get ferociously bored after about 7km so won't do that many 10k's.

The MD is mad into it and I'm doing a few 10k's , one in March, one in April and maybe some others after...

He handed me a pair of ON cloud racers the other day... Used them a bit and they seem good, light and airy which is nice. Never really looked into runners, are they any good? Would you experts on here rate them at all?

I also borrowed the OH's vivofit as she's not using it to see what its like. It tracks steps etc but don't imagine its very accurate (counting when driving...).
I wouldn't mind getting myself a tracker, but having done a bit of reading I think a HR monitor would be better... GPS doesn't seem to be required, I keep my phone on me for music and use mapmyrun.

looking at the fitbit charge HR but just wondering if theres any point in getting the surge or any other brand? Not particularly price sensitive, I'll pay whats worth paying if it works well, but I prefer accuracy and constant readings. I'd like to see a run compared to the rest of the day for example. Not up for wearing a chest strap, and I'd prefer something slim hence not jumping at the surge... The Fitbit Alta looks brilliant except no HR monitor...

What are your thoughts?

Laois_Man

The latest Garmin Forerunner 235 is a pace/distance tracker watch and measures heart rate from the wrist making a strap unnecessary - does everything bar cook you breakfast. It'll set you back €358 if buying directly from Garmin. I don't have this particular version so I can't tell you if it's worth the money

Whereisgalway

Tomtom multisport is 10/10

chickey2

I wouldn't recommend a fitbit for running. It's great for daily tracking and sleep but not once your heartrate gets higher. I have one but I also have a garmin which I use for running. The garmin is pretty useless as a tracker but excellent for running. I don't know of any gadget that's good at both!

I have the Garmin 225 which has the integrated heart rate monitor. You can synch wirelessly to your phone and use the app to look at the stats (which are far superior to those you get from fitbit). My previous garmin had the chest strap but both seem to be pretty accurate once you're wearing the watch properly. Another benefit over the fitbit is that the garmin displays your heart rate constantly, but you'd have to keep pushing the button to display the HR on the fitbit. The garmins with the heart rate monitors are much more expensive than the fit bit but they do so much more so they're worth it.

Singer

Since you're just getting into the swing of things, I wouldn't bother with a dedicated running watch if you have a smartphone - see the "Is my smartphone enough?" section here:

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-running-watch/

I trained for my first marathon using the Nike+ app on my iPhone, it was fine.