How to choose a new running watch
A sports watch is a runner’s second most important tool (after shoes).
Choosing the right one can be a harrowing experience, and it’s easy to choose the wrong one. It took me until I was 24 years old to find a sports watch that I really liked, and it lasted longer than any of my other watches.
The first thing you have to When choosing a new running watch, you need to be fit, because if a watch isn’t comfortable, you’ll never wear it. If you have a small wrist, you may have to forgo large numbers or buttons to avoid getting an ill-fitting watch. Most watch straps can be replaced, so if a sports watch doesn’t quite fit you, you can always get a more comfortable watch strap (or steal one from a well-fitting watch) to improve the look. comfort level.
The next item to look for is how well you can wear the watch while it’s on your wrist and on the go. If the numbers are too small and you can’t see what they say, the watch won’t be able to help you train. If the interface is confusing or difficult to use, then you will probably end up leaving the clock behind or not using it to its full potential.
Water resistance is surprisingly important for anyone running outdoors. I have had two watches die on me due to water damage. The first got wet in a storm and just stopped working, while the other got slightly submerged while hiking through a creek on a trail leading to barely readable numbers.
Another feature you tend to take for granted is that a sports watch will have lap and split memory. I always assumed that any watch that had a stopwatch function (which is a given in a sports watch) and could show you your lap and split times would be able to remember them until the end of the workout, or even store multiple workouts. However, I had a watch that had nice big numbers, but could only display a lap and split time when you pressed the button. Once you hit the button for your next lap, that split is lost forever. It was fine on random runs, but not for any kind of interval work.
That split-and-lap memoryless watch also had a “data bank” function, which was worthless. Be careful with features like this, especially if there’s a chance they’ll impede usability and make it hard to use the features you really want.
Some other cool features you may want to look out for are large lap memories, storing multiple exercises from those lap memories, programmable countdown timers and interval timers, and pace guides. Some watches will allow you to input how far your run is and how long you expect it to take. When you hit the lap button every mile (or kilometer) or if it’s GPS-enabled, you can see how far in or out of your pace you are.
If you get really fancy, you can find some watches that come with GPS tracking, or that interface with your iPod and tell you how far and how fast you’re running, your heart rate, and a thousand other features that may or may not be. well worth the extra money you would have to pay for them.
These basic features will guide you in choosing your next watch.