What do you time your runs with?

[Hellcat80]

Hi everyone, posting this for a friend who is not on the forum. She is a C25K graduate and has been running now for around 9 months and is still knocking out her 30 mins 3 x each week. She did C25k with the app and had her phone in an armband but she is sick of wearing it (and it slipping down her arm) and having her phone with her. She wants a watch where she can set an alarm to let her know when her 30 mins is up (so she doesn’t have to use the phone). There seem to be loads of activity trackers around but not all have alarms (and do they work if not within distance of a paired smartphone)? What does everyone use to track their runs if they don’t want to take a phone with them???

[Jay66UK Graduate]

Several people on here have the Garmin Forerunner 35. It works independently of a phone whilst running.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Garmin Forerunner... link it with Strava..great stuff.. I started with Garmin10 and worked up...

[Hellcat80 in reply to Oldfloss]

Thanks Oldfloss and J66UK. Too high end for my friend (she’s looking to keep it basic) but I will definitely keep it in mind for myself when I’m looking to upgrade my fitbit

[Hidden]

A cheap and cheerful solution is the Gymboss, which can be used to set two alternating intervals of the same or different times. that can be repeated up to 99 times. Setting two intervals of 15 minutes just once will give an alarm midway (good to mark the turning back point) and one at the end. It is worn round the arm or even leg if purchased with an optional velcro armband, but has a clip to attach to the waistband or inside a bra, etc. The alarm can be set to vibrate or beep or both. The batteries are just ordinary AAA ones and last for a very long time. It's also good for doing interval training, which was its original purpose I believe, and also for people who use Jeff Galloway's run-walk-run system, which is where I heard about it. Obviously it won't give all the extra data that a running watch does, but if only an alarm is needed, it does the job.

[Hellcat80 in reply to Hidden]

Strega this sounds great and just what my friend is looking for! It looks like they’re pretty reasonable on amazon too!

[MarkyD Graduate]

Garmin ForeRunner 235, again, it works without a phone. But it probably does 3000% more than your friend actually needs. If it is just a simple count-down timer for 30 minutes, then something more simple would do. I used to have a FitBit Flex. The new Flex2 is about £40 and you can set a 30 minute alarm - the tracker will vibrate to tell you the 30 minutes are up.

BUT

I'd never, ever recommend running anywhere without a phone. Running is a solo activity (mainly) and running with a phone (for emergencies) is highly recommended. Your friend got fed up with the phone-on-the-arm holder. Those things are dreadful... encourage her to get a running belt, and to wear that (with the phone) whenever she runs.

[Hellcat80 in reply to MarkyD]

Thanks for this. The fitbit flex sounds like it has potential. Personally I agree about running with her phone - I’ trying to convince about trying a running belt but I don’t think she wants to wear anything. Personally I agree - I would never run without my phone.