The Sports Watch Informant

Five Features in a Runner’s Watch and How They Can Improve Your Training

admin — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:46:33 +0000

Sports watches today are more than just a stopwatch on your wrist. Most models, especially the more advanced offer a myriad of tracking, recording and analysis features that can optimize your fitness training and improve your competitive performances.

Here we look at five features that can be applied directly to the serious athlete’s training program.

The Lap Recall Feature

A basic sports wrist watch, keeps a running stop watch, usually with the option to take multiple splits (a split is essentially snapshot of the running time). While this is handy for a single rep, once the stop watch is reset, the record of time is lost!

Lap Memory Recall allows you to keep a recording of the reps in your session in the watch’s memory. Entire sessions can be retrieved from memory and analyzed at a future date.

Athletes who do a lot of repetition work as part of their training, need some way of keeping track of all their times. Lap Memory Recall is a perfect solution to this problem.

The Countdown or Interval Timer Feature

A countdown timer simply counts down to zero from a pre-set number of minutes or seconds. Once it reaches zero, it will sounds an alarm, then stop or perform an action like repeating the countdown or starting a running chrono. This feature is extremely useful when performing a timed repetition session.

A linked sequence of countdown timers (often referred to as an Interval Timer) is even more effective than the countdown timer alone. When an interval timer reaches zero, it starts running an adjacent timer in the sequence, which is repeated until all the countdown timers in the sequence have run. The entire sequence can then repeat or can stop after one iteration.

An interval timer is a great way to structure a timed repetion with a timed recovery.For instance you could set it up to countdown from 3 minutes down to zero and then shift to the next interval timer in the sequence, which a 2 minute countdown. The pattern could be set up to repeat as many times as you like.

Finish Time

Finish time is a feature offered in some Timex Ironman watches that is useful for predicting times in competitive races or extended rep sessions.

The way it works is, say you are competing in a race or fun run and you want to run in a certain time. You enter your target time into your watch and the distance of the race.

As you pass each marker (either 1k, or 1mile) you press a button and the watch will give you your projected finishing time. The feature can be useful if you are trying to run a personal best time and want to know if you’re on track. On the other hand it does require that you manually press a button at each marker, which is easily forgotten about in a race.

Heart Rate Zones

The heart rate zone feature is found in watches that support a heart rate monitor. It enables you to set up an acceptable upper and lower limit for an exercise session (or sometimes the watch does this for you). When you perform the session, your watch will monitor your heart rate signals and trigger an alert if your heart rate drops too low, or climbs too high.

For example, you may want to perform a gentle session that doesn’t take too much out of you. A long slow run will usually get your heart rate to about 60-70% of your maximum, so say your maximum heart rate is 192 beats per minute, your heart rate zone will then be 139-152 bpm.If your heart rate falls outside of this range and an alarm will be triggered. Many heart rate monitors will also record how much time you spent “in the zone”.

Heart rate zones can be a great way to ensure you are not over training, an situation athletes need to avoid, another useful feature that some heart rate monitors support is recovery rate measurement. If you take too long to recover, it’s another sign you’re over-doing it.

Speed & Distance Tracking

Whether on long run, in a competitive race or a rep session, it can be extremely useful for a runner to be aware of their current speed, pace and just how far you travelled in a given time.

There are various technologies found in running watches today that display real-time speed and distance information to the wearer. The cheapest and most inaccurate of these is a pedometer mechanism that keeps track of your number of steps, then calculates speed and distance statistics based on your stride length.

A similar, more accurate device (when correctly calibrated) is a foot pod unit, which clips into your running shoe and transmits a signal back to your wrist watch. The foot pod can calculate speed and distance information, based on the actual motion of your legs through the air. A foot pod can also measure your cadence.

Perhaps the most accurate measurement of speed and distance and also the most costly, is GPS tracking. GPS sports watches come in two basic types: one-piece units that contain a GPS antenna within the watch, or a light-weight external device that receives the GPS signal and transmits wirelessly to the wrist watch.

GPS tracking watches calculate speed and distance based on a network of satellites orbing the earth that broadcast a continuous signal. By locking onto three or more satellite, your location on earth can be measured, which allows speed and distance to be calculated to a high degree of accuracy, however a common problem with GPS tracking watches, is that they require an unobstructed view of the sky, making them ineffective around tall building or trees, an issue a foot pod or pedometer doesn’t suffer from.

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4 Questions You Should Ask When Buying a GPS Sport Watch

admin — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:43:56 +0000

If you are serious about your sport, whether it be running, cycling, hiking skiing, windsurfing or even skydiving, a gps watch can be a powerful tool for tracking, measuring and improving your performances.

An advanced sports gps watch can accurately measure:

Speed
Distance
Elevation above sea-level

What’s more, many watches with gps can plot 3D maps over a traveled route that can later be downloaded to a PC or Mac and then reviewed and analyzed in a custom software package.

Combining this with advanced sports watch features, like memory storage/recall, interval timers, heart rate zones and speed, pace and distance alerts and you get a complete wrist-watch training computer, capable of taking you to the next level!

While having all these features can be exciting, it can also be overwhelming when you first start shopping around for the right watch. As most gps watches are quite sophisticated, this makes it difficult to know which features suit your needs and which are nice, but most likely not ones you’ll use in day-to-day use.

Our guide will take you through the process and will familiarize you with the key questions you need to ask yourself when you are comparing watches. With, the most common questions clear in your mind, selecting the right model will hopefully be a breeze.

Question 1: How will you be using your watch?

There are different types of GPS watches for different purposes; Your buying decision hinges on how you will use your GPS watch, so this is an important thing to be clear on.

This may seem obvious, but knowing which of these categories you fall into can save you a lot of time and effort.

Some watches will cater to fitness and sport, among other things, these models will have a lot of features that will suit runners, cyclists, triathletes and other athletes, like memory storage and recall, interval timers, heart rate monitors and pace and distance alerts. Other models will have navigational features allowing you to mark locations, plot courses, then navigate between waypoints in your area. Some watches will even support both.

GPS Sport Watch Models
The watches below utilize GPS for fitness and performance.

Navigation GPS Watches
The watches below utilize GPS for navigation.

Question 2: Do you need real-time signal reliability?

A common complaint about GPS systems is the signal dropping out without warning.

This is especially common GPS watch models with older chipsets. This problem can be somewhat resolved by ensuring you only use your GPS watch in places where there is a clear, unobstructed view of the sky – i.e. not around tall buildings or trees.

The latest GPS watches use the SirFStar III chipset, which is more sensitive and reliable than older chipsets. This is not to say the older watches are not good choices, some have dropped considerably in price making them great value for money, but deciding if high reliablility is important will impact your choice.

If you only wish to pinpoint your location infrequently, then high reliability is not such a big deal.

For instance, say you are out kayaking on the Amazon river, you come to a fork and need to decide whether to go right or left… chances are you probably don’t care too much if your GPS signal drops occasionally, so long as you can quickly pick it up again when you need it.

On the other hand you are running your 5th London Marathon and need to know your exact kilometer pace at the 10km mark so as to know if you are running too fast or too slow - then a signal drop out is highly undesirable.

An alternative to gps that may be worth considering is a foot pod device that measures your leg turn-over or cadence and calculates speed and distance and all the other good stats based on your leg-speed alone. When correctly calibrated a foot pod can be quite accurate and does not suffer from signal obstruction like a gps unit does.

GPS Sport Watch Models with Older Chipsets
These GPS watches utilize older chipsets. They are generally slower to link to the satellites and may lose the signal more frequently.

Garmin Forerunner 101, 201, 301, 205, 305, 405
Suunto X9Mi Wrist-Top GPS Computer Watch
Suunto X9i Wrist-Top GPS Computer Watch

GPS Sport Watch Models with Modern Chipsets
These GPS watches utilize a modern chipset like the SiRFstar-III or equivalent.

Question 3: What level of comfort and style do you need?

While tons of features are probably main reason for buying a GPS watch in the first place, if you like to wear your watch in a casual setting as well as for sport then it goes without saying you should find one you like the look of. But I’m sure you don’t need us to tell you.

The latest watch from Garmin, the Forerunner 405, has a few less features than it’s predecessor, the 305, but looks pretty darn cool, whereas the Forerunner 305 is more like a brick on your wrist! The Suunto T series watches models that support GPS look as natural in town as on the track.

The Garmin Forerunner 405 (Left) and Suunto T3C (Right) are stylish as well as functional sports watches.

Also consider comfortably the watch fits your wrist. If you are more comfortable with an external gps device attached to you, then you can enjoy a smaller wristwatch, whereas a single gps-watch unit is a lot bulkier.

Step 4: What other criteria are important?

Often the most heavily promoted features of popular products, are not the ones you are really interested in. This is an unfortunate part of marketing, but luckily we’ve dug deep and come up with a list of some less obvious features that might be just what you’re looking for.

Sunrise & Sunset Time: Forerunner 405, 205/305
Computer Fitness Opponent: Forerunner 405, 305/205 (Virtual Partner Feature)
Goal Tracking: Forerunner 405
Touch Sensitive Bezel: Forerunner 405
Wireless Data Transfer: Forerunner 405
Compete Against Historical Sessions: Forerunner 405, 205/305 (courses feature)
Distance Traveled While Paused: Forerunner 205/305
4 field customizable display: Forerunner 205/305
Vertical Speed: Suunto X9/i, X9M/i, Timex Bodylink Trail Runner T5J985
Altitude Alarm: Suunto X9/i, X9M/i, Timex Bodylink Trail Runner T5J985
Thermometer: Suunto X9/i, X9M/i
Barometer: Suunto X9/i, X9M/i
Barometric Altimeter: Suunto X9/i, X9M/i, Suunto T6C Multisport Pack
Weather Alarm (Barometric Pressure): Suunto X9/i, X9M/i
Altitude Stats: Suunto X9/i, X9M/i, Suunto T6C Multisport Pack,

Compass Feature: Forerunners 101, 201, 301, 205, 305, 405, Suunto X9/i, X9M/i, Timex Bodylink Trail Runner T5J985, Globalsat GH-615B/615M
6400 MILS Bearing Display: Suunto X9/i, X9M/i
Beat to beat variation in heart beat intervals: Polar RS800G3
EPOC: Suunto T6C Multisport Pack
Training Effect: Suunto T3C and T6C Multisport Packs

A note about power

Let’s make one thing clear. GPS watches suck up a LOT of juice! Fortunately, many models use rechargeable batteries.

There are generally two types of GPS sports watch – those that you wear on your wrist and those that require you to attach an external device to your body. The wristwatch type are almost always rechargeable, whereas external gps watches generally use AA or AAA batteries.

Most provide around 8-14 hours of continuous gps tracking and allow the gps to be switched off when not needed, so as to save power.

For you ultra distance runners, even 15 hours might not be enough. Fortunately popping a spare battery into an external gps is a trivial task, even on the run. For everyone else, I’m guessing 8 hours of gps time is more than adequate.

A Note about Water Usage

Like fire and cats, gps watches don’t mix too well with water. Most units can survive a few splashes, or the accidental dropping in the kitchen sink, but using your watch for swimming or diving is definitely not recommended and the signal reception can not be expected to be accurate under these circumstances.

This is unfortunate for Triathletes for who a gps watch would be a valuable tool for recording and assessing their performances over multi-disciplines

By now you should (hopefully) have a better understanding about which gps sports watch unit is right for you. You may even know what you’re looking for. If you are pretty sure what you want, but want more information head to our website, where we have more information about gps and other types of sports watches.

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How do Garmin Forerunner GPS Watches Differ?

admin — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 04:16:37 +0000

GPS-enabled sports watches can be extremely capable training tools for runners, cyclists, hikers, skiers, windsurfers or even skydivers. An advanced sports GPS watch can accurately measure:

Speed and Pace
Overal Distance Travelled
Elevation above sea-level

Many GPS watches can plot 3D maps over a traveled route which can later be transferred to PC or Mac allowing reviewing and analysis of your workout in detail.

Few would dispute the Garmin Forerunner GPS watches are currently the most sophisticated sports watches in this market today. While offering all the benefits of GPS, the Forerunner watches offer much more.

There are currently six GPS-capable Forerunner watch models, but what can you expect? The table below summarizes the the features found in most of the six Forerunner watch models:

Feature	Description
Virtual Partner	Lets you train against a digital person
Courses	Lets you compete against previous workouts
Routes	A route is a straight line path between two or more waypoints
Auto Pause	Pauses and resumes timer based on speed
Auto Lap	Automatically starts a new lap
Auto Scroll	Cycles through data pages during a workout
Sports Profiles	Changes sport mode with a press of a button
Simple Workouts	Lets you input time, distance and calorie goals
Advanced Workouts	Lets you create custom, goal-oriented workouts
Pace Alert	Triggers alarm if you vary from preset pace
Time/distance Alert	Triggers alarm when you reach goal
Interval training	Lets you set up exercise and rest intervals

Forerunner 101, 201, 301 models compared

The older Forerunner models are cheaper, support considerably greater memory storage capacity and support a lot of the features of the latest Forerunner watches, but these watches don’t offer support for a bike cadence, or foot pod devices and have a less receptive GPS antenna than it’s successors.

	Forerunner 101	Forerunner 201	Forerunner 301
Amazon Price	$69.99	$117.15	$79.99
Specifications
Unit dimensions, WxHxD	8.28 x 4.35 x 2.3 cm	8.28 x 4.35 x 1.8 cm	8.28 x 4.35 x 1.8 cm
Weight	74 g	78 g	78 g
PC transfer		(serial)	(USB)
Battery Type	2 AAAs	Rechargeable	Rechargeable
Battery Life	15 hours, typical	15 hours, typical	15 hours, typical
Heart Rate Support
Map Navigation
Display Data Fields	3	3	3
Bike speed/cadence support
Foot Pod support
Memory
Lap History	5000 laps	5000 laps	5000 laps
Waypoints	100	100	100
Routes	0	0	10
Software
Garmin Connect
Garmin Training Center
Features
Virtual Partner Feature
Courses
Auto Pause
Auto Lap
Auto Scroll
Sports Profiles
Simple Workouts
Advanced Workouts
Pace Alert
Time/distance Alert
Interval Training
Customizable Screen(s)

Forerunner 205, 305 and 405 models compared

The more modern versions of the Forerunner watches all support the SiRFstar-III giving them better GPS sensitivity and reduced signal-loss.

The Forerunner 405, has a more “standard” watch shape, but lacks navigation features. It features a smaller watch face, only displaying three data fields in the display, compared to four in the 205 and 305 Forerunner models.

	Forerunner 205	Forerunner 305	Forerunner 405
Amazon Price	$144.99	$169.99	269.91 (no hrm) $349.99 (hrm inc.)
Specifications
Unit dimensions, WxHxD	5.33 x 6.86 x 1.78 cm	5.33 x 6.86 x 1.78 cm	4.8 x 7.1 x 1.6 cm
Weight	77 g	77 g	60 g
PC transfer	(USB)	(USB)	(USB/Wireless)
Battery Type	Rechargeable	Rechargeable	Rechargeable
Battery Life	10 hours, typical	10 hours, typical	8 hours, typical
Heart Rate Support			(supported)
Map Navigation
Display Data Fields	4	4	3
Bike speed/cadence support
Foot Pod support
Device to Device Transfer
Touch Sensitive Bevel
Memory
Lap History	1000 laps	1000 laps	1000 laps
Waypoints	100	100	100
Routes	50	50	0
Software
Garmin Connect
Garmin Training Center
Mac Support			(coming soon)
Features
Virtual Partner Feature
Courses
Auto Pause
Auto Lap
Auto Scroll
Sports Profiles
Simple Workouts
Advanced Workouts
Pace Alert
Time/distance Alert
Interval Training
Customizable Screen(s)

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Our Favorite Christmas Gift Watches

admin — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 02:02:44 +0000

Looking for that perfect Christmas gift for your active friend or family member?
A fitness sports watch is a popular gift that rarely fails to please.

We have selected our favorite ten Christmas gift sports watches.

All support the basic features athletes need, making them suitable for anyone taking more than a passing interest in their fitness and performance.

Whoever you are buying for, or whatever your budget, there should be something to suit everyone.

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Marathon World Record Holder Gebrselassie Wins the Great Australian Run

admin — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:43:25 +0000

The Great Australian Run took place on the weekend, attracting in the realm of 4000 participants to the 15 kilometer fun run held in the city of Melbourne, Australia.

The race had some big-name draw-cards including Ethiopian distance king Haile Gebrselassie, Australia’s Craig Mottram and Kenyan Patrick Makau.

Gebrselassie, suffering from jet-lag, still managed to dominate his rivals, wining the inaugural event in 42 minutes and 40 seconds.

Ethiopian great Haile Gebrselassie burnt off his rivals for a commanding win in the Great Australian Run through the city streets here on Sunday.

Makau trailed in 35 seconds behind Gebrselassie to take second in 43:15, with well performed Australia athlete Collis Birmingham beating Olympian Craig Mottram for third placing in 43:35.

Kenya’s two-time world marathon champion Catherine Ndereba easily won the the women’s event in 50:43, Ndereba, 36, was second behind Romania’s Constantina Dita in this year’s Beijing Olympic marathon, but finished well ahead of sixth-placed Dita in the shorter event.

New Zealand’s Alice Mason was second in 51:27 and third-placed Lisa Weightman was the leading Australian in 51:31.

Click on the following link for a more thorough report on the Great Australian Run of 2008.

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The “Rules” of Running

admin — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 22:06:13 +0000

Joe Kelly has put together 53 Rules of Running. A collection of tips and truths that’ll ring true with anyone who has experienced life as a distance runner.

It includes the motivating…

5. “Keep promises, especially ones made to yourself”
14. “When standing in starting lines, remind yourself how fortunate you are to be there”
16. “A bad day of running still beats a good day at work”

… the practical…

4. “During group training runs, don’t let anyone run alone”
33. “Never throw away the instructions to your running watch” - never forget that one
34. “Don’t try to outrun dogs.”

… through to the wise and downright philosophical…

3. “Don’t make running your life. Make it part of your life”
21. “Approach running as if the quality of your life depended on it”
45. “Winning means different things to different people”

Joe’s list reminded me, once again how running is not just about faster times.
Running is about becoming a better, more rounded person who enjoys a greater quality of life.

Enjoy

The 53 Runner’s Commandments

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10 Running Watches that Won’t Ruin Your Budget (Correction)

admin — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 03:14:00 +0000

I just wanted to announce that I seem to have put down the wrong link in the last post.
I guess that’ll teach me to publish a post when I’m tired!
My apologies and here is the correct link to Ten Running Watches that Won’t Ruin Your Budget.

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Ten Running Watches that won’t leave you in the Poor House

admin — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 03:26:33 +0000

Many people think that to take running seriously, it is necessary to splash out on an expensive watch. Thankfully this is simply not the case. While a more expensive will certainly offer a lot of advanced features for recording and analyzing training and performances, there are many affordable watch models that nicely cater to the needs of performing athletes.

Here are our ten favorite running watches that won’t cost you an arm and a leg.

Technorati Tags: Running Watch, running watches

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The Art and Science of Carbo Loading

admin — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 22:58:15 +0000

Photo courtesy of Mike Warren

Athletes have been practicing carbo loading since the late 1960s. But what’s the big deal with carbo loading? What the heck is it? Why do it? What are the benefits?

The short answer is that carbo loading enhances endurance performance by increasing the amount of glycogen in the body. More glycogen (Carbohydrates) stored in the muscles and livers equates to more energy at an athlete’s disposal.

The benefit? You’ll last longer in an extended endurance event!

In practice the body normally has enough Glycogen for events up to 90 minutes in duration. But if you are doing an extended event like a Marathon, there are some obvious benefits to extra glycogen stores.

So how does one carbo load? There are various carbo loading practices, which have changed over time with new Scientific findings. These are elaborated on at great length in an article I discovered the other day titled The evolving art of carbo-loading.

A Swedish physiologist named Gunvar Ahlborg was the first to introduce some scientific basis to the fact that the muscles and liver are able to store above-normal amounts of glycogen when high levels of carbohydrate consumption are preceded by severe glycogen depletion.

The stress of severe glycogen depletion triggers an adaptive response by which the body reduces the amount of dietary carbohydrate that it converts to fat and increases the amount of carbohydrate that it stores in the liver and muscles as glycogen -a phenomenon Ahlborg referred to as glycogen supercompensation.

From his findings he developed The Ahlborg method:

Perform an exhaustive workout one week before a long race (90 minutes-plus).

Consume a very low-carb diet (10%) for the next 3-4 days while training lightly.

Consume a very high-carb diet (90%) the next 3-4 days while continuing to train lightly.

Endurance athletes around the globe began to use Ahlborg’s carbo-loading plan prior to events anticipated to last 90 minutes or longer.

While it worked, it had its share of drawbacks. Many athletes weren’t keen on performing an exhaustive workout just a week before a big race. Also maintaining a 10 percent carbohydrate diet for three or four days carried some nasty consequences including lethargy, cravings, irritability, lack of concentration and increased susceptibility to illness.

Fortunately research later offered an alternative method that increased glycogen storage without first depleting it.

The no-depletion method came onto the scene:

Perform a long workout (but not an exhaustive workout) one week before race day.

Eat normally (55-60% carbohydrate) until three days before a longer race.

Eat a high-carb diet (70%) the final three days before racing while training very lightly.

The method was more pleasant to athletes and carried fewer of the risks associated with the Ahlborg method. Athletes were no longer required to perform a long depleting workout a week before a big race!

However, in 2002, however another method was devised by scientists at the University of Western Australia. This was perhaps the easiest method of all to follow as it only involved one day of preperation:

During the pre-race week, eat normally while training lightly until the day before a longer race.

On the morning of the day before the race, perform a very brief, very high-intensity workout. (In testing this consisted of two and a half minutes at 130 percent of VO2max (about one-mile race pace) followed by a 30-second sprint).

Consume 12 g of carbs per lb. of body weight over the next 24 hours.

The result? A 90-percent increase in muscle glycogen storage!

The method works best if preceded by a proper taper - several days of reduced training with the purpose of rendering your body rested, regenerated and race-ready.

So when should you use Carbo Loading?

Carbo-loading in general has been shown to enhance race performance only when athletes consume little or no carbohydrate during the race itself. If you do use a sports drink or sports gels to fuel your race effort - as you should - prior carbo-loading probably will have no effect. But it doesn’t hurt to do it anyway, as insurance.

Article Link:

The evolving art of carbo-loading

Technorati Tags: Carbo Loading, Diet, Performance

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Timex Ironman 100-Lap T5F001 - Runner’s Heart Rate Monitor Watch

admin — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:08:38 +0000

Features:

100-lap memory with average heart rate per lap
4 Linked Interval Timer Workouts with warm-up and cool-down
3-Line Display with customizable format
8 Target Heart Rate Zones - 5x preset, 3x customizable

The T5F001 is a heart rate monitor watch designed with serious runners in mind and in terms of delivering on the features runners need, we think Timex has hit the nail right on the head!

While loaded with advanced features, this is not to say the watch does not have a certain amount of aesthetic flair in it’s own right, sporting a striking silver face, durable black resin strap, and large buttons for easy access to timing functions - suitable for both men and women, the T5F001 is a looker as well as a performer!

This training watch includes 100-Lap Memory with Recall, a clear 3-Line Digital Display and 4 Linked Interval Timers plus a few extra Timex goodies thrown in for good measure!

Interval Timer Mode is a flexible six-interval countdown timer that is perfect for timed repetition training and can record five different sessions of up to four intervals that can be repeated up to 99 times. Optional heart rate zone goals can also be set for interval groups, the groups also include warm-up and cool-down intervals - a nice touch that caters to the natural structure of an athlete’s sessions.

This heart rate monitor watch has great support for setting heart rate goals with 8 target heart rate zones - 5 pre-defined and 3 custom. When a heart rate zone is in use, the watch will alert you if your heart rate rises too high, or falls too low, ensuring you are in your optimal zone. Heart rate recovery is supported as well - an important indicator of overtraining, so of particularly interest to athletes.

All Timex heart rate monitor watches use Digital FM, synchronized transmission preventing cross-talk from other heart rate monitor devices. The monitor transmits readings continuously and features user-replaceable batteries.

The watch is very easy of use out of the box and presents a clear, digital display with three data lines and selection of real-time data fields that will vary depending on the watch’s mode of operation.

The T5F001 watch presents three, clear
data lines in the format above

GPS Tracking (not included in all buying options) is supported and when in use can display speed, pace and elevation data. Auto-start and auto-stop features will start/stop the chrono timer based on your movement alone, saving a button press. An auto-split option records a lap split when you cover a specified distance - did we mention this watch is extremely convenient to use?

Detailed summary modes present workout data at the end of a session.

Summary Mode, summarizes your most recent activity, including Total Session Time, Speed/Pace/Distance, Elevation and Heart Rate Information.

Lap Data Mode, displays a summary of stored session laps including, lap and split times, pace, distance, elevation and heart rate data of each lap.

Timex Data Recorder Compatibility

If you wish to download your session data to PC for later analysis, the watch is compatible with the Timex Data Recorder. The recorder interfaces Heart Rate Monitor and GPS devices recording data continuously when activated.

The Data Recorder offers the following benefits:

Records multiple workouts
Simultaneous collection of Heart Rate and Speed + Distance data from Heart Rate and GPS Sensors
Stores up to:
- 72 hours of heart rate data
- 26 hours of speed and distance data, and
- 14 hours of combined heart rate and speed and distance data
Easily clips onto your shorts or slips into your pocket
Includes Timex Trainer software with USB cable
Logs navigational data including altitude, elevation, latitude, longitude, ascent and descent
Has up to 2 Year of battery life
Is Splash-resistant (but NOT designed for heavy water useage)

Please Note: The Timex Trainer Software is only compatible with Microsoft Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP and Vista operating systems.

Starting from $81.95 on Amazon, the T5F001 gets a big thumbs up from us! In fact, in terms of features and price, the T5F001 is one of the best running watches we’ve seen! While probably a bit complicated for absolute beginners, this watch is highly recommended for athletes who are training at the next level.

The following configurations are currently offered on Amazon for purchase:

Please Note: This watch does NOT record calories. This should not concern athletes training for performance, but those purchasing for diet and weight-loss might consider one of the other Timex Ironman heart rate monitor options:

Technorati Tags: Add new tag, GPS Tracking Watch, Running Watch, T5F001

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