Nike + or running watch

[Boozy]

Hi all,
so I'd like to start keeping track of my runs and improving them, is the Nike + the best way to do this? more than happy to go and get one if it is, however, they don't measure heart rate, would a watch be better than using the Nike + for distance?

thoughts and experiences appreciated,

(already have a mark one Ipod touch so don't really need to buy the + for music)

thanks!

[ewenm]

For distance and pace, the Garmin Forerunner series seem to be well thought of. You can get ones with a HR monitor too.

Alternatively, just use a bog-standard digital watch and www.mapmyrun.com when you get home.

[Boozy]

Hi there,
but the heart rate monitor means you can do interval training right?

[ewenm]

Boozy said:

Hi there,
but the heart rate monitor means you can do interval training right?

It helps, but you can do intervals without one. To put it in perspective, I've been running competitively for over 20 years and only started using a HR monitor this year.

The concept of intervals is pretty simple - run hard for a set period of time, then jog for a recovery period, repeat until session complete. If doing it on a track the intervals can be precisely measured in distance, if on roads/paths/fields you can do it to a set time. For example, I did 6x1km in 3mins with 3mins recovery on the track last Tuesday (plus some other stuff afterwards) - HR wasn't relevant, merely completing the session successfully was the target.

It's essentially up to you how much you want to spend on technology to measure your efforts.

[The jiffle king]

I use a Garmin (205 I think)
I also use a Nike basic watch

The garmin is useful for setting up intervals and it sorts out the rest periods for you and counts you down. Also nice to see a fair approximation of your pace over each rep. I use it for long runs sometimes to measure distance (It is a little out, but it does not worry me) and in races to see consistency of pace. My wife has a 305 which has a HRM which she hardly uses (Others swear by them)

I use my basic Nike watch for when I travel with work to take with me and run by time, or do reps on it. I sometimes use this watch when I want to focus on running how I feel and not looking at the time

I love the Garmin (New one looks a bit fiddly) and they are not badly priced now

T-J-K

[anonymous-user]

if you are on a budget, i would recommend the polar fs2c, mapmyrun.co.uk and an excel spreadsheet.

the fs2c is cheap (can be found for £40), bombproof and practical, records your last run and has min/max hr levels with audible warning.

mmr is pretty useful and i have found it to be quite accurate, finally just dump all the data after each run into excel or access.

of course this might not be suitbale if you are doing 100s of miles a week but its a cheap solution and works for me.