Hello,
In celebration of my hitting the 2000km mark, I'm thinking about getting a sports watch. I often use the Nike Run Club guided runs for longer runs and for interval training but can't figure out on which watches I could use the guided runs. I assume it would be on those watches with a music function but so far my searching on the internet hasn't yielded much.
Any ideas?
After reading your post I think the garmin forerunner 45 will do what you're looking for but I'm not sure . Better waiting to see what others say 😊👍
I'll check out that model online. I had been looking at the Forerunner 35 but it does not correspond to my needs. Pity though - it was the cheapest option I found 
Even online it looks like you need an Apple watch for what you're looking for👍
Thanks Buddy34. Yes, it seems that way but someone pointed out that the Apple watches are not accurate. So, it looks like I will have to continue with my phone and NRC app for guided runs and Runkeeper for monitoring - since I've used that second app for longer. Happy running!
The Apple Watch series 3 does the guided runs on Nike run app. I’ve never used a guided run with Nike so don’t know how reliable it as I’ve been having a lot of issues lately with the run not syncing with the app . It may be different if it’s guided and u can download music to the watch from iPhone but u may need to have a Apple Music subscription.
I’m not sure I understand the question. I have the Garmin Vivoactive 3, and I use the NRC guided runs a lot. But I use my phone with the NRC app and Bluetooth headphones. I start/stop my run on my Garmin, and I set up the NRC app to get the stats from my Garmin, it’s just a connectivity thing, swapping data. The Garmin isn’t running the NRC app. So I think any Garmin would prob do the same thing. The vivoactive 3 is a fairly old model I think. I got it on sale because I believe now there’s a vivoactive 4. I don’t have the vivoactive 3 music.
Edit: just wanted to add, if you go into the NRC app, under Settings, Partners you will see “Garmin” as an option. That sends you to the Garmin Connect app which is how you do your setup and see your stats etc for your Garmin device. That’s where you give the NRC app permission to get the data from your Garmin watch.
Hi Catwise,
Thanks for your response. Sorry if I wasn't clear. I know that the NRC app works with Garmin (via the Garmin Connect app) but I don't know if/how the NRC guided runs can work with that. I assume the watch would need some sort of music/audio feature. I use the guided runs a lot for speed work and intervals - it is useful to have someone in my ear telling when to to start sprinting and how many seconds I have left
But from your message I can't see how you access the audio guided runs. Are you "pulling" from NRC via Garmin Connect? Or do you download the NRC guided runs into the Garmin Connect.
Yours is the first response that gives me hope that what I'm looking to do is actually reasonable so I'm curious. Apologies for the basic questions - I'm clearly no expert in this!
I love the guided runs too! I panicked a bit when I finished the C25K podcasts because I really needed that voice in my ear too!
Ok, so the Garmin watch isn’t working with the guided runs at all. When I run, I take my phone with me, in a waist belt, so I’m using my phone to play the NRC guided runs (just like you are already doing now). I start the guided run in the NRC app on my phone, I put my phone away in my waist belt, I push the button on my watch to tell it I’m starting my run, and that’s it. My Garmin really has nothing to do with the app or the guided runs, except that after the run, Garmin will automatically interface with the NRC app and give it my run stats.
Does that make sense?
I think what I’m trying to say (awkwardly) is that your sports watch doesn’t really need to know if you’re listening to music or podcasts or an app like NRC’s guided runs. You don’t need your sports watch to run that app or music, you’ve got your phone doing it for you just fine already. Your sports watch is simply going to track your pace, distance, route, heart rate, etc regardless of what app you’re listening to. As long as you are willing to keep your phone with you, and really, I thought about it before I bought my Garmin, about how it’d be nice to use something like an Apple Watch so I didn’t have to take my phone with me but I realized pretty quickly I WANT to have my phone with me. It makes me feel more secure, and I often finish up at a park and chat/text with a friend or check email when I’m done running, so I like keeping my phone with me.
Hi again, Catwise. I see more clearly now. But I still have a question for you - if you're taking your phone anyway (and I see the advantages - security, podcasts, music, etc) then why do you need a watch? Apologies for being naive - but why not track runs with the NRC app or another app on your phone? I use Runkeeper too - and find that it lines up more or less with the NRC mileage/time. So, why the need for a watch if you're taking your phone anyway? Which stats are you getting from your watch that you're using on a regular basis?
Your responses are much appreciated!!
That’s the funny thing, I DON’T need a watch at all! 😀. Before I got my Garmin I was tracking my stats with MapMyWalk and it did everything I needed it to do. The ONLY thing I started to want that I didn’t have was heart rate. I read a post here on the C25K forums where a man said he was now using heart rate as a guide to know when he was pushing himself too hard or not enough. I looked into heart rate monitors and devices, and realized pretty quickly that to get a fairly reliable one I would end up paying almost as much as a fitness tracker! I didn’t want a chest strap heart rate monitor. really I was only kinda curious about my heart rate anyway, not enough to go all out on something fancy, but it sent me down the road to shopping for fitness watches.
Once I started looking at watches, well...that was the beginning of the end! I can’t stop myself from buying new tech...I know I don’t need it but I like it! I have the same problem with kitchen gadgets. 🤣
Anyway, other than heart rate my Garmin tracks sleep (I wear it 24/7), steps, “intensity minutes“ per week, you can set goals, calories (obviously just an estimate), all sorts of interesting inessential stuff! My Garmin was on Amazon for $131 which is pretty inexpensive I thought, compared to so many others. And the heart rate trackers I was looking at were nearly $100, so I went for it!
Thanks for explaining this Catwise. I'm resorting to this after having a Fossil Gen 5 smartwatch and the guided runs and tracking cut out due to poor GPS when cloudy. I have a Garmin 645 music but you can't do the guided runs from NRC on it. So I'm going with NRC and Spotify on phone for music and guided runs, while tracking with my Garmin and push to NRC after. I had this thought after yet another interrupted tracking run today and glad to google and find out it's doable!
Hi, I use Nike guided runs and I use them on my Apple Watch series 3. You don’t need to take a phone with you with this series but anything below you do.
Nike Run Club
Nike Run Club App
Early run, 9k Runs Club!
