LD runners who use Apple Watch

[wrz0170]

Hey everyone. I currently own a Garmin 610 and have used it for a couple of years. However I grow a bit tired of waiting for it to connect to the Sattelites and hold my breath wondering if it will connect to Garmin Connect, which in turn will sync with Strava when I get home. I grow really tired of trying to charge it. Garmin didn't really think the charging mechanism through too well. Sometimes, it even reverse charges and you wind up at 0%!!!

So I have looked at a few Garmin replacements, Forerunner 620 and even Forerunner 225. Also looking at the Apple Watch sport. I own an iP6+, iPad and an iMacR, so it would fit nicely within our ecosystem. But I would need this is for long distance training and for it to hold up for races. Everything else on it would be "nice to have".

1. For you LDRs, what kind of battery life have you been getting for your long runs? 12/15/18/20 miles even full Marathons?

2. Heart rates accurate? Not that I used the HR Strap a lot, but paying for the feature, it should work.

3. I carry my iP6+ on runs of about 5 miles or more. Anything under that, I don't bother. With the Strava App, does that still work without the phone tethered to you? I read that it learns after several runs. Can this information be uploaded to Strava?

4. With the iPhone and AW, how accurate has the mileage and pace been? This is very important to me.

5. With Garmin, I set it to vibrate every mile, helps me keep track of my fluid intake. AW support this?

6. How is it holding up with sweat and the rains? Is it difficult to manipulate the watch when it's wet. How's the charging after a run?

Any other experiences about the AW from you Marathoners that you wish to share? Admittingly, I am leaning towards another Garmin product but want to do my due dilligence.

Thanks!

 

[Spicedham]

i have a forerunner 220 and an apple watch. the garmin does a better job at recording runs because the gps is in the watch. the apple watch running app sometimes crashes and isn't reliable for me. i only prefer the apple watch because the convenience of having everything on one watch.

 

[Julien]

1) I do a 10 to 12 miler every Saturday (hate going much past 10) and do weight training/cardio, running or biking during the week that are often 100 to 120 minutes of Workout recordings. I hit the bed with 15% to 25% left and have NEVER ran out. Battery life is fantastic for a smart watch.

2) Have a Garmin 620 and the Watch is dead on accurate, but must be worn snug and slightly up the wrist.

3) Apple offers no export (GPX files).

4) Poor to decent, the Watch doesn't do GPS mapping. It just uses the iPhone's GPS to calibrate the accelerometer.

5) Yes, but I almost never feel it (and it's not reliably accurate anyway). The Garmin is much easer to feel running.

6) 40 showers, 3 runes in the rain and 3 car washings.

My advice and what I do. Get the Watch and use as an overall health/activity monitor and my Garmin as my official run/cardio recording device. Garmin is due to release the 625/630 in the next couple of months. Wait on it. Use your Garmin (610 for now) and Watch together on runs (Garmin on right wrist).

M

 

[thefredelement]

You can use Strava on the watch to make things a little easier but it will just use your phone's GPS, so you'll need to take it with you. I suggest just using a HRM strap w/Strava to get more accurate calorie burn results. Then you can let Strava write to Health and see all of your data there. If you calibrate your watch (use the outdoor walk or run activity for at least 20 minutes in a clear open space) it SHOULD be able to passively track your runs (without starting it in the Workout app).

 

[srshaw]

I think as yet the Apple watch isn't suited for running. The built in heart rate data doesn't seem that accurate and you can't export data as a tcx file to get it into a proper website such as strava/training peaks. The Strava app works well, and does produce data that can be exported, but can't read the watches built in heart rate data (it does work well with external heart rate monitors though).

I am not convinced yet that fhe Apple watch will replace my Garmin 620/910XT or Polar V800. To be fair I never thought it would, and didn't buy it for its ability to record exercise.