What is a GPS watch?

Using a GPS Watch

A GPS watch is a great piece of equipment for anyone trying to get solid results in sports that have a big running or cycle component involved.

The main difference to the common sports watch is it enables you to get access to important data such as mileage , speed, or even calories burned. On the other hand a simple chronograph watch will only show basic time and split information, which is ok as long as you have a coach or a friend to watch your workouts, lets say not very likely for most of us.

Bellow is some cool and unique features a gps watch can give you

Where’s my mileage at?

It is a classic assumption that your weekly mileage goes hand in hand with your performance: in general the higher it gets the better the results.

A gps watch enables you to gather and experiment with the best mileage for yourself, helping to answer such important questions as:

• more mileage equals better fitness?
• Am I getting faster from increasing mileage ?
• Decreasing my weekly distance keeps me less exposed to injury?

Basically you become your perfect coach having the ability to try and test what works best as everyone is a different game.

What is my personal best?

Most runners have an approximate idea of what their Pb is for a certain distance until they enter a race-not the best method.

Having a permanent control of how much time you need to cover that exact distance during training is a powerful tool: no more surprises or disappointments on race day.

Run fast for dummies: train faster

Almost every runner after some experience and training realizes that mileage is not The challenge but getting faster.

Getting faster is actually quite linear as you just have to run at a higher pace,usually working some interval sessions or tempo runs.

Having a track available is not always attainable so there is no way to tell exactly what half a mile or a mile represents. A simple sports gps fills the gap as it enables control over time and distance so you rest assured the distance covered is always the same.

Learning how to pace

To run or cycle an even cadence or pace is a fundamental skill to develop and it takes years of practice to perfect.

Wearing a gps watch makes life easier and teaches our body how a 7 min per mile pace feels as opposed to a 6 min per mile pace, etc. the beauty of this is having instant information of your current pace not just after the workout so you can adjust pace according to your fitness and goals.

Unchain my heart

Research constantly shows us the importance of training according to our heart rate zone , not just pace or perceived effort. Almost every modern gps watch like the Garmin Forerunner 305 comes with a heart rate option available so all you have to is wear the strap belt and run safe and strong.

Planning your workout

One of the top features of a gps watch like the garmin forerunner series is all the workouts and setting you can work on using their software.

You can create, edit, set goals, to your workouts, export them using a usb connection to your watch and you’re done: no more need to carry papers, to guess what today’s workout is like, etc – just press ok and let it roll.