Measuring distance

[loisamelia]

I see some of your posts about knowing how far you are running while you're out. What's the best thing to use? I don't have a smartphone (I know! I must be the only one) so that's out. Is there anything else I could use, bearing in mind Christmas is approaching and I could start dropping hints to the husband for pressies

[melly4012 Graduate]

My smart phone is a bit bulky so I find my running watch brilliant - I couldn't do without it now. I have a tomtom cardio2 which monitors distance, pace, heart rate, etc but if you don't want bells and whistles then you can get simple watches. I know garmin are generally considered the king of running watches and lots of people here can tell you about them.

Another alternative is to go on to walkjogrun.net and you can track the route you ran on a map and it will tell you your distance. You can check other people's routes around you as well and I used that a lot before I got my watch. If you do get a smart phone then there are loads of apps for tracking time and distance. I just find it easier to have the watch on my wrist then lug my phone around. If I were you I'd have a google to see what kind of thing you might like and then get writing to Santa...

[loisamelia Graduate in reply to melly4012]

Thanks A running watch sounds good, I'll look into those. I use plotaroute to work out how far I've gone after I've done my run, it'd just be nice to have something to check while I'm out.

[MrNiceGuy]

Until Santa arrives, use mapping websites (I'm sure you can do it on Google Maps), marking out your route before you head out, so that you know the distance of your run.

Equally, if you take a detour while out running, map the distance upon your return home.

Having dropped enough hints, hopefully you'll wake on Xmas day morning to be gifted a Garmin watch or something similar.

[loisamelia Graduate in reply to MrNiceGuy]

My husband is a big Garmin fan so fingers crossed

[MrNiceGuy in reply to loisamelia]

If that happens to be the case, your Christmas wishes may just come true.

[misswobble Graduate]

I used goodrunguide to chart my runs. I use it a lot to measure runs before setting off. it shows offroad tracks and footpaths too, which is handy for me as I like trails. once I graduated I got a garmin f10. it's fine 😊

I don't have a smartphone either 😊

[nhs2015 Graduate]

I have a TomTom Watch with GPS. I like it. Most people have Garmin and swear by it.

[Argonaut Graduate]

I use a TomTom Spark 3. I originally bought it to help pace myself as I had a habit of running to quickly and exhausting myself. I went for the Spark as it is great for other sports too (cycling, swimming, gym activities etc) and can be used on the treadmill (although I hate the treadmill so it never gets used). It also picks up GPS quite quickly.