Tracking my Running

[colinjm]

I've just started running again, with a view to doing a 10k race in a couple of months. I've got a Nokia E71 phone with built in GPS and Nokia Sportstracker installed. This works excellent mounted to the handlebars on my bike, but when I go running, I think the constant movement where it's not fixed in place is messing up the GPS signal.

Today it says i've run a top speed of 17mph, and when I look at the googlemap layout it looks like a pissed bloke walking home from the pub.

Does anyone have any experience of tracking their running? Would I be best using a seperate bluetooth reciever? or maybe getting something like the Nike+ thing, but then i'd need to buy an iPod Nano, or a Garmin GPS Watch thingy.

Any Ideas??

Thanks

[ewenm]

If you really want to know while you're running, one of the Garmins would be good. I use a Suunto T6 heart rate monitor with their footpod that gives pretty accurate readings when properly calibrated. Alternatively, just use a watch and www.mapmyrun.com when you get home.

[Parsnip]

If you are bothered about your route, a garmin Forerunner GPS is what you want - a 205, 305 or 405.

I use a Forerunner 50 with the footpod - for two reasons - it works inside on the treadmill and i have little girly wrists - the 205 and 305 are huge. It is fairly accurate once calibrated, and is normally about 95-99% correct at distances - last marathon came out at 42.04km on the garmin. Granted, it doesn't tell me what route i took, but i dont really care - HR, distance and speed are all that im bothered about.

[colinjm]

Thanks for the replies. After speaking to my wife, she reminded me that we dont really have the money to spend at the moment...and maybe I should wait and see if I get back into it properly before I start splashing the cash...Damn her sensible ways

So, that mapmyrun.com site looks like it could be good to use for a while until i'm properly out of lazy bd mode.

Thanks again.

Colin

[The Ben]

I can vouch for the Nike+ thing, it really is great, you can set up challenges, map your runs, and id say it was fairly accurate...

[FoolOnTheHill]

garmin 305s are getting cheap now as new models come out. I use mine all the time, very good piece of kit.

[anonymous-user]

i use map my run all hte time, its pretty good once you have set up your regular runs and unless you are taking things seriously, you can build up quite a good and effective training log. i use it along with my polar fs2c and dont really see the need for anything else

[Jer_1974]

I just downloaded Imapmyrun on my Iphone (its free). I did 5 miles today and it seemed quite good but lost GPRS while running through trees. Anyone else used it?

[ewenm]

Jer_1974 said:

I just downloaded Imapmyrun on my Iphone (its free). I did 5 miles today and it seemed quite good but lost GPRS while running through trees. Anyone else used it?

That's the issue with the GPS-based devices - signal strength can be patchy in trees or if running in urban environments (bridges, tunnels, underpasses etc).

Take all distances measured as approximate values and remember it doesn;t really matter if the 5 miles you've run is actually 4.75 or 5.25 until you're racing.

[Jer_1974]

ewenm said:

Jer_1974 said:

I just downloaded Imapmyrun on my Iphone (its free). I did 5 miles today and it seemed quite good but lost GPRS while running through trees. Anyone else used it?

That's the issue with the GPS-based devices - signal strength can be patchy in trees or if running in urban environments (bridges, tunnels, underpasses etc).

Take all distances measured as approximate values and remember it doesn;t really matter if the 5 miles you've run is actually 4.75 or 5.25 until you're racing.

Yes, I have just had a look at the run from google maps. You can see the path as it's round a loch but the gps is all over the place some places it looks like i've been swimmimg. You can edit the path and get a more acurate route which is a plus point.

[colinjm]

Jer_1974 said:

You can see the path as it's round a loch but the gps is all over the place some places it looks like i've been swimmimg. You can edit the path and get a more acurate route which is a plus point.

This is exactly what was happening to my gps readout from the phone. It looked like I was zig-zagging all over the place...but once it's fixed onto the bike handlebars it's stable as anything.

I've been using Mapmyrun for a few days and it seems pretty good. I did a bit of cycling aswell, and it accepts google earth or garmin downloads which Nokia Sportstracker can output to.

At the moment, my runs are very much on set routes, so a little time mapping them out has worked brilliantly. If I keep it up, i'll invest in a decent garmin unit, but until then, the website it ideal for me.

[Boozy]

I use a Garmin 405 and have to say it's brilliant, not lost the signal once and run through some wooded areas, you can create your own plans and track your progress, not cheap though.

[LittleRedHead]

How much are the the Garmin's now?

My Nike+ sportband has stopped communicating with the sensor thingy and I can't get it to work again (*sob*) so a new tracker may well be on the books...