Sports watches featuring GPS are becoming more and more popular and it is little wonder when you consider the benefits that GPS to fun runners and athletes. A GPS watch can accurately measure speed, pace, altitude and can create a route profile of your runs.

A somewhat unrepresented area of the GPS market are Ladies GPS Watches. While there are GPS options for ladies available, sadly many of these watches tend to be much bulkier and more suitable for larger, more masculine wrist types.

So what exactly makes a GPS suitable for female athletes? The first feature as mentioned is size. Ladies tend to have sleeker wrists than men, so watch designs suitable for women, should feature thinner, sleeker designs with smaller wrist straps.

Another quality of a ladies GPS watch is a feminine design that is comfortable for women, these are usually lighter, with less masculine colors and usually with smaller watch faces and digits.

If you only wish to measure speed and distance, consider a footpod device

Two distinct benefits of GPS watches are:

• The ability to navigate with your wristwatch and
• The ability to recording maps of your runs

Yet these are two features many runners can live without.

If you only wish to measure your speed and distance, then an alternative you might consider is an accelerometer foot pod.

A foot pod attaches to your running shoe and measures your leg cadence to accurately calculate your speed and distance. It then transmits this information wirelessly to your wristwatch.

While it requires a little calibration in some cases, it is surprisingly accurate and equivalent to GPS accuracy in most cases.

Because a food pod device does not require a bulky GPS aerial be mounted in your wrist watch, this makes for a smaller, more comfortable fit for ladies.

Pros Of A Footpod:

• A smaller sized wristwatch
• Measures speed and distance accurately
• Unlike a GPS, a footpod is not affected around buildings and other large objects

Cons Of A Footpod:

• Cannot be used to navigate or record routes
• Cannot measure altitude

Follow the link to view a comprehensive collection of accelerometer foot pod watches.

If you do want to experience the full range of benefits of a GPS wristwatch, there are options that do suit girls, but due to the lack of options in this market, in some cases you may have to sacrifice femininity in style and design for the features you want.

Many GPS watches designed for guys, fit just as easily on a women’s wrist. In many cases, these are the Best GPS watches for female runners, despite being marketed at a more macho audience.

Here are a few recommended options…

Recommended Ladies GPS Watches

	Loaded with serious training features for runners. Simple, Advanced, Heart Rate & Interval Workouts, Courses, Virtual Partner + Pace/Time/Dist Alerts and Zone Training Compatible with wireless digital heart rate monitor Share locations, advanced workouts and courses with other Forerunner 405 users Wireless ANT+ technology, automatically transfers your data to your personal computer when your watch is in range Innovative, Touch-sensitive bezel for quickly setting and configuring your watch
Garmin Forerunner 405CX
Price:
The Garmin Forerunner 405CX was released in the first quarter of 2009. It is an upgrade of the Garmin Forerunner 405, featuring better GPS, an improved calorie measurement mode and the ability to change the wrist band for a smaller one. Stylish and packed with a lot of great features for runners, it may be a little on the bulky side, but the ability to switch wristbands, makes it a suitable GPS sports watch for female runners who want a maximum range of options. For more information check out: How Garmin Forerunner Watches Differ The new Garmin Forerunner 405CX Below is the official Garmin demonstration video for changing the watch band. It’s a little fiddly, but doable.

	GPS Speed/distance + vertical and heart rate monitor for serious athletes in training Digital Chest heart rate monitor with target zones features, alarm + time in zone Real-time speed measurement: speed, avg speed, max speed + Pace: pace, avg pace, best pace + Overall session distance Timex Ironman 100-hour chrono with 100-lap memory recall and 5 alarms Timex Ironman water resistance to 50 meters (165 feet) + up to 2-year battery life
Timex Bodylink T5G311
Price: $274.99
The Timex Bodylink T5G311 watch is an advanced sports watch that is actually designed for ladies. It comes with a heart rate monitor and an external GPS. Timex watches tend to be intuitive and very easy to learn, so if you want a sports watch that you can use right out of the box without reading the manual, then this might be the perfect choice. Unlike the Garmin Forerunner, the Timex wrist watch is not bulky at all, but requires you wear the GPS device on your upper arm or on your running attire. The T5G311 does not have a navigation mode or the ability to transfer data to a PC without the Timex Data Recorder device which is a separate purchase. The watch does, however feature altitude measurements plus almost all the sports features that are useful to runners. Learn more about Timex Bodylink Watches Here

	Measures your real-time heart rate and calorie consumption Presents your real-time Training Effect Interference-free digital ANT transmission and coding, for securely pairing your Suunto devices Workout summaries that includes calories, lap information and session history New comfort belt heart rate monitor strap for extra comfort
Suunto t3c + GPS Pod
Price: $339.00
The Suunto Training Series watches feature three models that support GPS, the t3c, t4c and t6c. Only the t6c is capable of measuring altitude, so it might also be worth thinking about a foot pod instead of GPS in all but this watch. The foot pod is supported in all the Training Series watches. These watches have increasing functionality (and cost) and like Timex Bodylink watches require you to attach an external GPS device to your body. Overall, the Suunto watches have better quality heart rate monitors than the Timex watches and are geared at increasing your overall fitness level, but have fewer running features. The Suunto watches have less memory capacity to store training sessions, but do feature some advanced measurement capabilities such as Training Effect, a realistic indicator of workout effort. The t6c can also measure EPOC: excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. The ability to measure Training Effect and EPOC are not found in any other sports watch, which puts the Suunto watches in a class of their own. Learn more about the Suunto Training Watches

	Tracks speed and distance data for serious athletes Tracks your speed (real-time, average, and maximum), pace (real-time, average, and best), and overall distance Continuous odometer displays total distance for a workout or for a group of workouts 100-hour chronograph with either lap/split in large digits 100-lap memory with recall 100-hour, 3-mode countdown timer
Timex Speed and Distance
Price: $199.99
Another line of Timex Ironman Watches is the Speed and Distance watches. The Speed and Distance line is a cheaper alternative to the Bodylink watches. Like the Bodylink watches these watches feature an external GPS, but the GPS in this watch only tracks your horizontal movement, not the altitude component, so are the equivalent of an accelerometer foot pod. There is also no heart rate monitor support. The advantage of this watch is that it is relatively inexpensive compared to the Bodylink bundles and contains most of the Ironman sports watch features that runners need.

More Ladies GPS Watches

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View our Information Page to learn more about the LADIES GPS WATCHES
Follow the link to BUY WATCHES WITH GPS or view MORE LADIES WATCHES here.

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Tags: Accelerometer, Garmin Forerunner, Suunto Training Series, Timex