Running watch recommendations please - Bridge to 10K

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Running watch recommendations please

Biddy62 profile image
Biddy62Graduate10
18 Replies

Well I’m truly hooked now and slowly collecting all the gadgets 😬😂

Please can you recommend a running watch that does all the usual GPS tracking stuff but will also:

pause if I pause

Has tracking so hubby can see where I am if I go AWOL.

And please elaborate if you recommend one because of another feature I haven’t mentioned.

Many thanks to you all and for all the continued support on here 😊😊😊🏃🏽‍♀️🏃🏽‍♀️🏃🏽‍♀️

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Biddy62 profile image
Biddy62
Graduate10
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18 Replies
cheekychipmunks profile image
cheekychipmunksGraduate10

Mine’s a Garmin Forerunner 235. I love it and it gives me more stats than I know what to do with! You can set it to pause, set intervals, pretty much anything running related. All it doesn’t do is play music, but that doesn’t bother me unduly as I like having my phone with me for safety anyway.

The watch is fairly pricey at the full retail price, but they’re often on sale somewhere (Amazon Black Friday sale in my case) so it’s definitely worth looking for a good deal. 😀

Sigered profile image
SigeredGraduate10

Another recommendation for the Garmin Forerunner 235. It does everything I want and a whole lot more. I have had it for about a year and I am only just starting to use some of the features such as setting it up for intervals. I bought mine from Amazon Warehouse, it was an open box return but it was as new.

If you want something that will allow your husband to track your location then I suspect something like an Apple Watch will do this but will be much more expensive.

linda9389 profile image
linda9389Graduate10

I also use Garmin Forerunner 235. You can set it to auto track your runs, or just track inividual runs. It sends an email to whoever you have set up as a recipient and they can follow your progress by clickling the link in the email. I have it set to email hubby whenever I'm doing a long run or an 'off the beaten track' run. I like the workouts that you can set up - if you're playing with intervals or pace in any way, they're really useful. I have mine set to automatically downolad my runs to strava too,

Alissum profile image
AlissumGraduate10

Mines a Garmin Forerunner 35, it is one of the cheaper Garmin running watches. Lots of stats and features with this watch including Livetrack. At the start of an activity send an email to someone and they can track you in real time through a Garmin webpage. I think it is possible to set up this feature so you can be tracked without the need to send an email every time. This is the one feature I haven’t used yet.

Amazon have this watch for under £110

Dexy5 profile image
Dexy5Graduate10 in reply toAlissum

Ooh I’ve got the 35 too and love it but I didn’t know it did that. Thanks Alissum, I’ll keep track of the OH on his long runs.

ArthurJG profile image
ArthurJGGraduate10 in reply toAlissum

That’s good to know. I’m happy enough with my Fitbit Surge for now but it’s starting to show its age so I might need to replace it in the next year or so.

Biddy62 profile image
Biddy62Graduate10

Many thanks everyone. Seems Garmin is the way to go. I’ll look st the 35 and 235.

That’s a great help. Thanks again. Happy running everyone 👍🏻🏃🏽‍♀️

ArthurJG profile image
ArthurJGGraduate10

Not a watch but Strava does both of those things if you subscribe to the Beacon feature. Haven’t used Beacon myself yet though so can’t say if it’s a good solution. You can link Strava to your existing watch.

Jogunlikely profile image
Jogunlikely

If you take your phone you can use Google to allow someone to follow your location in real time

GoGo_JoJo profile image
GoGo_JoJoGraduate10 in reply toJogunlikely

Yes, this free feature on any smartphone is so useful.

There's also a free app called Life 360 which you can add your family members to, it will give an alert when they arrive or leave home and you can check location and location history at any time. We've used it for years just for things like knowing when I could put dinner on etc 👍

martinhermanus profile image
martinhermanus

I have a polar m430 .... excellent does everything including giving vo2max ... gives an exercise plan ... wear it all the time checks heart rate ... does a fitness test ...

Knittingrunner profile image
KnittingrunnerGraduate10

You can also use WhatsApp location on your phone for tracking too. Although I’ve only used it on its own not with my Garmin. Haven’t quite figured out how to use the Garmin for that yet.

GoGo_JoJo profile image
GoGo_JoJoGraduate10

I have a Garmin 645M. I wanted something to allow me to leave my phone at home if I wanted so this does music too.

In practice I still take my phone for emergencies and photos.

I haven't actually figured out how my other half can see my location from Garmin but with Google location sharing and Life360 he can see where I am at any time.

I wear my Garmin 24/7 and am totally addicted to it 🤣

Jonno34 profile image
Jonno34Graduate10

Do not get a fitbit charge 3, what a piece of junk!

Biddy62 profile image
Biddy62Graduate10 in reply toJonno34

😬

Sorry to hear that.

Sell it on eBay and buy something else from there?? Good luck!

Gingernutter profile image
Gingernutter

I have a Garmin vivoactive 3 music which is amazing, great quick GPS, music and podcasts very easily transferred via laptop and it looks good too! You can even take it for a swim. I've tried others but all too bulky or limited only to premium price music providers. I wear it all the time, highly recommend!

Deals1 profile image
Deals1Graduate10

Ohhh good comments here. I'm thinking of buying one too. Currently just use Strava. So some good advice

Langley-Loper profile image
Langley-LoperGraduate10

I've just bought a second hand Garmin Forerunner 35 off ebay for under £70. After reading up, I decided it had more than enough features for me. It looks like new and included the set up booklet and charging cable. I just wiped all the existing data (not sure why the seller didn't do that) and set it up for me. Been out on 1 run with it so far and it worked a treat. It has the Live Tracking function but I haven't used that yet.

if you are new and/or not sure what to get, do consider second hand as it will save you lots of money. Forerunner 35 is £100+ new so I decided I'd be patient and bid for excellent condition listings at max price of £75 inc P&P and after a couple of weeks of trying I got one. I am sure the more advanced models with extra features like the 235 come up a lot on ebay too.

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